Premiership Weekend Preview

All eyes will be on the Premiership summit as Chelsea and Man Utd meet in a top of the table clash at Old Trafford. Man Utd are currently a point clear of Chelsea but Ancelotti's team will feel they are well equipped to beat a Man Utd team who will be without their talismanic striker Wayne Rooney.

Chelsea have not played a match since last weekend, when they took the liberty of resting Didier Drogba, whereas Man Utd had a Champions League Quarter Final to contend with on Tuesday night. Ferguson will not be happy that this fixture falls so early in the weekend.

Much will depend on whether Dimitar Berbatov can replicate the kind of form which saw Alex Ferguson splash out in excess of 30 million pounds for his services. The mercurial Bulgarian scored two goals last weekend in the absence of the rested Wayne Rooney and Man Utd will be hoping he can return to goalscoring form against a Chelsea defence which will be missing three of their first choice back four.

Arsene Wenger will be praying for a draw which would allow his side to close the gap on league leaders Chelsea to two points with a home victory against Wolves. Arsenal have injury problems of their own, losing the services of Gallas, Fabregas and Arshavin in the midweek match with Barcelona, who join Robin Van Persie on a rapidly expanding injury list.

Anything other than three points would still be a major disappointment to the Gunners and Mick McCarthy's Wolves team will travel to the Emirates more in hope than expectation.

Carloz Tevez recent form will have Man Utd fans wishing it was him, rather than Berbatov, who had been retained. While Berbatov can appear lethargic at times Tevez's work rate is second to none and has instantly endeared him to the Man City faithful. He scored a hat trick in his last outing against Wigan on Monday night and Roberto Mancini may need him to put in another man of the match performance if City are to come away from Burnley with all three points.

With four teams in contention for the final Champions League spot there is little margin for error and nothing less than three points will suffice for Mancini's men. Burnley, by contrast, are in deep relegation trouble and urgently need to recapture some of the early season home form which has abandoned them in recent months.

All of Man City's major rivals also have tricky looking away ties as Tottenham travel to Sunderland, Aston Villa to Bolton and Liverpool to Birmingham on Sunday. Tottenham still have fixtures against all three of the title chasing teams and will need to pick up three points in order to consolidate their grip on fourth place. Aston Villa's recent form has been dire and anything less than a win today will effectively end their Champions League hopes.

Liverpool, with Fernando Torres in frightening form once again, are finding form at just the right time but with Tottenham four points ahead of them with a game in hand the beleaguered Benitez will realize that there is little margin for error.

West Ham are unlikely to halt their run of sixth consecutive losses away to in form Everton, who surely would be chasing a Champions League place themselves had they not endured such a disastrous start to the campaign. Burnley and Hull, who have a tricky away fixture against Hull, need to start picking up points if they are to take advantage of the Hammers recent slump in form.

Both teams currently occupy two of the three relegation places, with Portsmouth's presence in next year's Championship a foregone conclusion but Hull could overtake West Ham with a better result than the Hammers this weekend.

This season has been almost unparalleled in Premiership history for both excitement and entertainment and this weekend is no exception. Chelsea's match against Man Utd has all the ingredients you could ask for in a Premier League match and is a potential highlight in what promises to be an intriguing weekend of football.