Chelsea strive to stop their domestic slide at Bolton

It is surprising to find Chelsea outside the top four and in eighth position in the current Premier League standings in England.

This never happened while the team was under the guidance of Jose Mourinho. However, it's time the players and fans show some maturity and start looking at the future with a more positive approach giving all their support to the new man in charge, Avram Grant.

The fans' abuse, bordering on racism, towards Grant is pathetic to say the least. Maybe they will now turn against Roman Abramovich as well, the man who has made them rub shoulders with the world's elite.

On to the football scene, and Chelsea have not won in their last four Premier League matches and have only one point to show from a maximum of 12.

Their lack of punch up front is another aspect that needs to be solved.

The dismissal of Didier Drogba, who was returning from injury, certainly did little to help the Blues against Fulham last week as they were left to fight with ten men against their London rivals.

Tomorrow, Chelsea will play at lowly Bolton with high hopes of starting to climb up the league table with their fourth win of the campaign.

Chelsea, who beat Valencia 2-1 away in midweek in a Champions League group match, have won on all four of their recent visits to Bolton without conceding a goal.

Emirates Stadium. Arsenal are looking forward to further stretching their undefeated run when playing Sunderland.

The Gunners are unbeaten in 14 Premier League matches and have acquired maximum points at home in the four encounters played.

Manager Arsene Wenger, in his 11th season in charge of table-topping Gunners, uttered he was still cautious because it was only the beginning of the season. Wenger remarked his players need to prove that they are consistent at that high level throughout the whole year.

In their Champions League match in Romania against Steaua Bucharest, the Gunners continued with their good work and chalked up another win.

Roy Keane's Sunderland are placed three places above the drop zone and have not won on their travels, obtaining two draws at Birmingham and Middlesbrough.

Old Trafford. Manchester United claimed three priceless points in Europe with a 1-0 win over Roma in front of their own fans on Tuesday.

Despite not playing to their full potential, the important thing for Alex Ferguson and the fans is that the positive results continue to come.

Edwin van der Sar will again be missing through injury so Tomasz Kuczszak continues in goal.

Cristiano Ronaldo opened his goal account for this season's Premier League against Birmingham. He remarked that he wanted to stay with United for many more years.

This afternoon United square up to Wigan, who deserved a point in their home encounter against Liverpool.

City of Manchester Stadium. Sven-Goran Eriksson's City continued to flourish when they eased past Newcastle 3-1 last weekend to consolidate their third placing in the standings.

The Citizens can improve their unblemished home record when they cross swords with Middlesbrough.

The Boro keep blowing hot and cold and their upset at Everton has now seen them win one league encounter in the last five, at home to Birmingham.

The Teessiders have failed to claim a clean sheet to date.

Anfield. Liverpool continue to play like a side made of strangers as they persisted with their erratic passing.

The symptom has now spread into Europe as for the first time they lost at Anfield against a French side. On Wednesday, they were beaten by Marseille 1-0.

Rafael Benitez's rotation policy keeps running headlines at Liverpool, and it is the manager's responsibility to answer his critics and create a positive-looking team.

Captain Steven Gerrard admitted that he did the right thing to turn down Chelsea when he was on the brink of leaving Liverpool.

Tottenham, having shared eight goals with Aston Villa at White Hart Lane on the 125th anniversary of the club, will continue to strive to emerge out of the relegation zone.

One of the most consistent players for Spurs has been Gareth Bale, who is destined for stardom.

St James' Park. Newcastle, who won twice in the league in their last six matches, host Everton.

The Toon had another misfortune as midfielder Joey Barton has been forced to delay his return from injury by another fortnight.

Michael Owen is still undecided about risking his return early and will be much more cautious after his latest setbacks.

Everton registered their first clean sheet of the season in the home 2-0 win over Middlesbrough and watched Dutchman Steven Pienaar score his first goal for the club.

Villa Park. Aston Villa still cannot believe that they fumbled a 4-1 advantage in the four-all draw at Tottenham. They will be glad to make amends at their own backyard against West Ham.

Past results in 'clashes of the clarets' at Villa's patch have seen the home side win five out of 12, including the 4-1 (Hendrie, Leonhardsen, Dublin, Vassell - Di Canio) win of 2002-03.

The away side have won twice and drawn the remaining five.

Last week, the Hammers expected to at least snatch a point from Arsenal considering the positive way they have been playing. The chances were created but the forwards failed to cash in.

Craven Cottage. Portsmouth fans are still musing on their highly-entertaining 7-4 win against Reading at Fratton Park.

The scoreline is a Premier League record, surpassing Blackburn's 7-2 victory over Sheffield Wednesday in 1998 and the nine that Manchester United put past Ipswich in 1995.

Fulham chairman Mohamed Al Fayed insisted that he would remain as committed as ever to his club, even if they have not won in their last six Premier matches.

Ewood Park. Seventh-placed Blackburn play hosts to Birmingham at Ewood Park.

After putting one under his ex-team-mate Roy Keane, Mark Hughes will do his utmost to hand the same medicine to another former team-mate, Steve Bruce.

Bruce is hoping to finally sort out his long-term future at St Andrews.

At this same venue last month, the Rovers toppled the Midlanders 3-0 (Bentley, Derbyshire, Santa Cruz) in the third round of the League Cup.

Madejski Stadium. Poor Reading continue to falter and their latest setback came in the 4-7 loss at Portsmouth.

The Royals, who clash with bottom-placed Derby, have won once in five outings.

The Rams have also had a very difficult start and they will be involved in another fierce struggle for dear life after their 1-1 home draw against Bolton.