Arsenal strive to regain confidence after severe loss

After Sunday's 3-1 upset to champions Manchester United at the Emirates Stadium, Arsenal will be keen to revive their championship hopes when they travel to Stamford Bridge to tackle league leaders Chelsea in another mammoth clash.

The Gunners looked well below their best against United and never got going as they suffered their second home defeat of the campaign.

Victory handed United a double of wins over Arsenal and Chelsea will be looking to achieve that feat tomorrow, having beaten Arsenal 3-0 in North London in November.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger admitted that his team had committed 'massive errors' with goalkeeper Manuel Almunia the biggest 'offender'.

Wenger denied that the collapse at Stoke in the FA Cup, when he left eight regular players out, was behind the downfall against United but added that his players looked naive and lacked intelligence on the day.

Chelsea are also feeling the pressure in the run-in for the title.

In midweek, the Blues dropped two precious points when they were held at lowly Hull City.

John Terry's off-field misdemeanours are not helping the club either as owner Roman Abramovic has reportedly advised coach Carlo Ancelotti not to take the captain's armband from the central defender.

Chelsea have now drawn once is seven league and cup matches and their last defeat came at Manchester City in the Premier League in early December. Chelsea and City are the only two sides who are still unbeaten at home.

In their last three visits to Stamford Bridge, Arsenal won once, 2-1, and drew 1-1. In between they lost 1-2.

Wayne Rooney has been in hot form lately for United, scoring six goals in his last three outings, including the all-important winner over rivals City in the League Cup semi-final.

The goal at Arsenal on Sunday was Rooney's 100th in the Premier League. This season he has netted 16 times in the top flight, four more than he garnered throughout the whole of the previous campaign.

This afternoon, United face bottom side Portsmouth.

Tottenham held on to their fourth placing even if they dropped two points in the final minute at Birmingham. In their last four league matches, the Spurs won only once.

Today, they will take on Aston Villa at White Hart Lane. The Villans are two points adrift of Tottenham. They are back in contention for a place in the Champions League after coming through a poor run and are unbeaten in their last seven domestic encounters.

Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez stated that he was honoured to be linked with Juventus but insisted that his future still belonged at Anfield.

The Reds simply adore Rafa and he has found the fans backing him through thick and thin.

In today's early kick-off, Liverpool will be involved in the Merseyside derby against Everton after they had won 2-0 (Yobo og, Kuyt) at Goodison Park earlier in the season.

Liverpool are undefeated in their last seven league matches and Everton unbeaten in their last nine. The last time Everton won all points at Anfield was in September 1999: 1-0 (Campbell).

Today, Manchester City will be on their travels as they combat Hull at the KC Stadium. The Citizens have two games in hand at present and if they win both they will move to fourth place.

Meanwhile, Birmingham were glad to earn a last-gasp point at home to Tottenham to stretch their home record of undefeated league matches to nine. Tomorrow, they play hosts to Midlands rivals Wolves.

These past 50 years or so, there have not been many occasions when the Blues topped Wolves in the standings. But Birmingham, backed by the cash of Hong Kong tycoon Carson Yeung, appear well placed to challenge for a slot in the Europa League this season as Wolves continue to struggle.

Injury-hit Fulham have faded lately but got a boost in midweek following a hard-earned 1-0 win over Portsmouth at home.

Today, Fulham take on Bolton at the Reebok Stadium. From their last six Premier League matches, the Londoners only managed four points.

At the Britannia Stadium, Stoke cross swords with Blackburn after they held on to a point at Sunderland on Monday night.

Stoke paid £3.25m for Portsmouth reserve goalkeeper Asmir Begovic just before the transfer deadline last Monday. However, Rovers manager Sam Allardyce failed in his attempt to replace Benni McCarthy who moved to West Ham.

After their failure to beat Stoke City, the Sunderland supporters booed manager Steve Bruce off the field.

The Black Cats are just outside the drop zone after chalking up a single win in their last 14 outings.

Today, Bruce may find himself in hot water if Sunderland fail to beat fellow strugglers Wigan at the Stadium of Light.