Sunderland are still not safe after losing 2-0 at Newcastle United in the day's second derby, Michael Owen scoring twice for Kevin Keegan's resurgent side at St James' Park.
Liverpool completed a quartet of weekend wins for the top four with a 1-0 defeat of Everton at the Merseyside derby.
Liverpool will play Manchester United and Queens Park Rangers face a potential tie against Chelsea, in what would be a re-run of two matches at the heart of recent racism rows in English soccer, after Sunday's FA Cup fourth round draw.
Chelsea and Arsenal experienced contrasting late drama in the Premier League on Monday with an 89th minute Frank Lampard goal giving Chelsea a 2-1 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers while Bobby Zamora's last-gasp strike handed Fulham a 2-1 win over Arsenal.
Everton went ahead of Liverpool into fourth place in the Premier League on Monday with an impressive 2-0 victory at Manchester City.
The Football Association has rejected appeals by Chelsea left back Ashley Cole and Aston Villa defender Zat Knight for wrongful dismissal in the 4-4 draw between the teams in the Premier League on Wednesday.
Wayne Rooney continued his remarkable scoring streak with his 28th goal of the season to seal Manchester United's 2-1 win over Aston Villa in the 50th League Cup final at Wembley Stadium Sunday.
Arsene Wenger and Alex Ferguson are backing Italian Fabio Capello to take over the vacant job of England manager.
Birmingham City presented Alex McLeish as manager on Wednesday then cast doubt on the likelihood of Hong Kong businessman Carson Yeung taking control of the Premier League club
Jose Mourinho has invited the Football Association to approach him about the vacant England manager's job.
England internationals were the target of boos up and down the country on Saturday in a backlash to the national team's failure to qualify for Euro 2008.
Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill has emerged as the early favourite to succeed Steve McClaren as England manager, English bookmakers said on Friday.
Roberto Mancini, the King of the Italian Cup, took his first step towards Wembley when his Manchester City side earned a 1-0 third-round FA Cup win at Championship side Middlesbrough on Saturday.
Tottenham Hotspur rallied to hold Aston Villa 4-4 in a Premier League match after two dreadful errors from England goalkeeper Paul Robinson looked to have sunk them.
Premier League champions Manchester United suffered a shock League Cup exit for the second season running when they lost 2-0 at home to second division Coventry City on Wednesday.
Avram Grant lost his opening match as Chelsea's coach with his side going down to 2-0 defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford in the Premier League on Sunday.
Blackburn Rovers heaped more misery on Arsenal when they came from behind to beat Arsene Wenger's side 4-3 in the Premier League on Saturday with the Gunners conceding two second half own goals at Ewood Park.
As Chelsea and Manchester United undergo a Premier League title-tussle, a different battle emerges this Sunday when Arsenal visit a Liverpool side aiming to protect their 'big four' status.
Arsenal will host Newcastle United in the outstanding League Cup third-round tie after the draw was made on Saturday.
Darron Gibson fired holders Manchester United through to the last four of the English League Cup on Tuesday with a 2-0 win at Old Trafford that ended Tottenham Hotspur's hopes of a third successive final.
Liverpool substitute Adam Lallana struck deep into stoppage time to snatch a 5-4 win over shell-shocked Norwich City in an extraordinary Premier League game at Carrow Road on Saturday.
Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez will get a close-up of the missing piece of his jigsaw puzzle on Saturday when Gareth Barry runs out for Manchester City at Anfield for a match with huge implications for both clubs.
Manchester United may be the bookies' favourites to defend their Premier League crown but after a summer of big spending there are no safe bets this season.
Manchester City needed Gareth Barry's stoppage-time winner to earn a 1-0 win at home to bottom club Reading on Saturday and exert some pressure on Premier League leaders Manchester United.
Manchester United will look to shore up their shrinking lead at the top of the Premier League this weekend in a northwest derby against Bolton Wanderers.
An injury-hit Newcastle United stunned Tottenham Hotspur with a 3-2 victory in the EPL.
Brazilian midfielder Gilberto converted a penalty in each half as Arsenal trounced Tottenham Hotspur 3-0.
Steven Gerrard scored a hat-trick as Liverpool maintained their stunning recent form by crushing Aston Villa 5-0 at Anfield on Sunday to close the gap on Premier League leaders Manchester United to just one point.
Manchester United were given an early scare at Newcastle United on Wednesday before hitting back for a 2-1 victory that restored their seven-point cushion at the top of the English Premier League. Fourth-placed Aston Villa's Champions League ambitions were dealt a blow with a 2-0 loss at Manchester City while Stoke City climbed out of the bottom three with a 2-0 home victory over Bolton Wanderers. West Ham United won 1-0 at Wigan Athletic.
Werder Bremen produced a rousing fightback at the San Siro to eliminate favourites AC Milan from the UEFA Cup on Thursday and heap further pressure on coach Carlo Ancelotti. The Italian shrugged off fresh speculation this week that he could be sacked in May but will face further calls for his head after Claudio Pizarro scored twice as Werder hit back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 and reach the last 16 on away goals after the tie ended 3-3 on aggregate.
The defending champions beat Blackburn Rovers 2-0 to move to fourth place in the Premier League.
Chelsea begin their bid to become only the fifth team in 119 years to win a third successive English league title this weekend.
Dimitar Berbatov scored what proved to be the winning goal against his former club as Manchester United beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 in a pulsating FA Cup fourth round tie at Old Trafford on Saturday. Berbatov, who left Spurs for United in August, beat the offside trap to put the home side ahead two minutes after a deflected long range shot from Paul Scholes had cancelled out Roman Pavlyuchenko's fifth minute opener for Tottenham.
Chelsea missed the chance to reclaim top spot in the Premier League when they were held to a 1-1 home draw by West Ham United on Sunday, a day after Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal also drew.
Premier League leaders Liverpool stumbled again at home and needed two Steven Gerrard goals to salvage a draw with Hull City. Luckily for the leaders two of their title rivals also dropped points.
The top four failed to muster a goal on Saturday as Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United drew 0-0 while Arsenal went down 3-0 at Manchester City. Premier League leaders Chelsea could find no way through Newcastle United at Stamford Bridge. Liverpool had the same problem at home to Fulham and third-placed Manchester United were held 0-0 in a lively game at Aston Villa.
Udinese inflicted more misery on hapless Tottenham Hotspur with a 2-0 UEFA Cup group stage victory.
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