In a week where the managerial merry-go-round took several spins, Arsene Wenger -- one of the Premier League's longest-serving bosses -- will hope his youthful Arsenal side can bounce back from their first defeat of the season when they travel to Aston Villa.
The Premiership leaders' 3-1 reverse away to Sevilla in the Champions League on Tuesday ended Arsenal's 28-match unbeaten run.
Worse still was the hamstring injury sustained by Cesc Fabregas which looks likely to rule the midfielder out of the trip to Villa Park.
"We are very pessimistic for him, but he is still thinking he has a good chance," Wenger said of Fabregas.
"We will make a test tomorrow [Friday], we think he will be short for Saturday," said Wenger as he prepared his side to play a Villa team that beat Blackburn 4-0 on Wednesday.
Victory would see Arsenal go six points clear of Manchester United ahead of their second-placed rivals' match against Fulham on Monday.
Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp will look to end a week where he was arrested as part of an ongoing police probe into soccer corruption by guiding the high-flyers to victory over Everton.
Pompey face an Everton side which thrashed Sunderland 7-1 last time out.
Chelsea manager Avram Grant has been happy to let the club's results speak for themselves since he replaced the charismatic Jose Mourinho in the hotseat at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues, who thrashed Rosenborg 4-0 in the Champions League on Wednesday, have gone 13 games unbeaten since the Israeli took charge and head into today's match with London rivals West Ham just five points off top spot.
Manchester City's rise to third in the table has been one of the most unexpected achievements of the season thus far, transforming both the club's reputation for self-inflicted wounds and reminding England fans of the ability of Sven-Goran Eriksson, whose spell in charge of the national side was marked by a series of controversies over his salary and private life, as a club coach.
The Swede's side are away to Wigan today in what will be Steve Bruce's first game in charge of the drop candidates since his arrival from Birmingham.
Bottom-of-the-table Derby, under new boss Paul Jewell, are away to Sunderland.
Meanwhile struggling Middlesbrough are set to be without injured goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer for their match with Reading.
Today's other match sees Blackburn at home to Newcastle with visiting manager Sam Allardyce facing criticism from some fans despite the north-east club's best start to a league season in 10 years.
Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez takes the Reds to Bolton tomorrow, who will look to build on their surprise win over Manchester United.
Another match tomorrow sees Birmingham, in former Scotland coach Alex McLeish's first match in charge, away to Tottenham Hotspur.
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