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.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
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