Manchester United play Sunderland away this afternoon.
The champions regained their place at the summit of the classification on Sunday after a last-gasp 3-2 win over Aston Villa at Old Trafford. They leapfrogged rivals Liverpool who held the top place temporarily after beating Fulham with another last-minute goal the day before.
At the end of the match against Villa, manager Alex Ferguson reserved special words for Italian teenage striker Federico Mac-heda, who scored the winning goal in stoppage time.
Macheda also described the occasion as the 'best day of his life'.
Ferguson admitted that he liked to gamble on situations when the team is in arrears and his introduction of Macheda, with United 1-2 down, paid off.
Yet, in the Champions League quarter-final first leg at home to Porto on Tuesday, the Red Devils only managed to share the spoils in a 2-2 draw.
Sunderland are just a place outside the relegation trap door after a 0-2 defeat at West Ham.
For the third time this season the Wearsiders suffered three defeats on the trot (vs West Ham, Manchester City and Wigan).
Manager Ricky Sbragia, who took over from Roy Keane, said the fight to avoid the drop will go down to the very last match and added that he would not want to be remembered as the one in charge if the Black Cats are relegated.
On the seven occasions that Sunderland met United in the northeast in the Premier League they won only once, 2-1 in 1996-97.
At Craven Cottage last week, Rafa Benitez was indebted to Yossi Benayoun, having delivered the goal that mattered as he did against Real Madrid away.
However, Liverpool were shocked by Chelsea in the Champions League and lost 1-3 at Anfield on Wednesday.
Today, the Reds square up to Blackburn at Anfield in their quest to close the daylight between them and leaders United.
Rovers' 2-1 win over Tottenham was massive and could spell survival at the end of the season. They are now five points ahead of the third side from the bottom.
Chelsea, on the verge of gaining a semi-final place in the Champions League, take on Bolton at Stamford Bridge today.
Blues' boss Guus Hiddink remarked that the defeat at Tottenham still hurts since the loss of all points have left his side adrift of the top two.
Dutchman Hiddink added that even if Chelsea would claim a double of Champions League and FA Cup that would still not be enough for him to stay at the end of the season.
Bolton's awesome 4-1 win over Middlesbrough at the Reebok Stadium was their biggest of the season, along with the one by the same scoreline against Sunderland away earlier in the campaign.
This week, Arsenal played brilliantly away to Villarreal to earn a 1-1 draw in the Champions League quarter-final, first leg.
Yet the misfortune of injuries hit the Gunners once more when they lost defender William Gallas for the rest of the season. Goalkeeper Manuel Almunia was also injured in that match.
At home, Arsene Wenger's team will continue to strive to earn more ground. The Gunners still have to play United and Liverpool both away.
Emmanuel Adebayor, now in his fourth year at Arsenal, scored a gem of a goal at Villarreal.
Today, Arsenal play Wigan at the JJB Stadium, where the Latics won only once in their last four matches − against Hull 1-0.
Aston Villa play Everton in a duel for a UEFA Cup place.
Martin O'Neill gave credit to his players after the loss at Old Trafford. However, critics pointed out that his side was leading 2-1 and failed to claim at least a draw against a side shorn of at least six regulars.
Gianfranco Zola should be proud of his team, now in seventh place. The Hammers' famous youth academy continued to produce the goods and the latest two youngsters to emerge are James Tomkins and Junior Stanislas.
Today, the Hammers will be involved in a London derby with Tottenham at White Hart Lane.
Harry Redknapp, of Spurs, remarked that he is still concerned about the club's future even though at present, Tottenham are nine points off the drop zone.
At the City of Manchester Stadium, Mark Hughes's Citizens clash with Fulham tomorrow.
Both sides finished on the losing end in their last outing − City at Arsenal and the Cottagers at home to Liverpool. On Thursday, Man. City went down 3-1 to Bundesliga high-flyers Hamburg in the first leg of the UEFA Cup quarter-finals.
All the euphoria at Tyneside with the arrival of Alan Shearer as the new boss of Newcastle fizzled away in the second half of last week's match against Chelsea.
But Shearer is not a miracle man. Yet, he has a big heart and will continue to fight for his team to stay up.
Today they travel to Stoke, who for only the second time this season registered back-to-back wins in the Premier League after beating Middlesbrough and West Brom in their last two matches.