Terry to take centre stage as Arsenal visit Chelsea

It's been a tempestuous week for the Premier League with the end of the transfer window and several players and managers finding themselves plastered over the front instead of the back pages.

But the likes of John Terry, Avram Grant and Eidur Gudjohnsen will be looking forward to getting back to the business of football over the weekend, and there is another fascinating round of matches in store.

The headline clash of the weekend comes on Sunday and once again features Arsenal, who visit Chelsea knowing that a defeat would surely rule out their title hopes for another year. A Chelsea win would leave Carlo Ancelotti's men top of the table with only one realistic challenger for the Premier League.

Arsenal's preparations have been dealt a blow by the news that Eduardo is out with a hamstring problem, but big Dane Nicklas Bendtner is back and ready to lead the line. Abou Diaby may also return to bolster the midfield and Sol Campbell and Theo Walcott could both feature.

Chelsea have not lost at home this season and with Didier Drogba straight back in the goalscoring groove after returning from African and Arsenal old-boy Nicolas Anelka in good form, they will fancy knocking a few past Manuel Almunia.

The real story is at the back though: What sort of reception will John Terry get from the Stamford Bridge crowd? Will he still be England captain come Sunday? And, most importantly, what sort of performance will he produce?

After seeing off the Gunners last weekend Manchester United can go top on Saturday afternoon if they can beat bottom club Portsmouth. Few would bet against it with Wayne Rooney in the form of his life and United riding high after last week's scinitllating display.

Alex Ferguson is expected to keep faith the the players who overpowered Arsenal, but he will be forced to play Wes Brown alongside Jonny Evans at the back once again as Rio Ferdinand is banned and Nemanja Vidic is still nursing his calf injury.

Pompey head to Old Trafford in even more turmoil than usual. Their manager Avram Grant been accused of visiting massage parlours the club's financial woes just seem to get worse and worse. The players have received their wages, but the ownership of the club is now in dispute after Hong Kong-based businessman Balram Chainrai claimed a 90 per cent stake after the current owners defaulted on loan payments due to him. He is the fourth man to own the club in the last year.

To make matters worse poor old Pompey have not won at Old Trafford since October 1957. On the plus side, Nadir Belhadj, Hassan Yebda, Aruna Dindane and Kanu are back from the African Cup of Nations. Papa Boupa Diop and Michael Brown remain sidelined.

Aside from the title race there is also the little matter of the Merseyside derby on Saturday lunchtime. This clash could set up the rest of the weekend nicely as both teams are in good form, so something may have to give at Anfield. Liverpool have won four and drawn two of their last six games and are now fifth in the table, and a win would lift them into the hallowed fourth spot, if only for a few hours.

Everton will have other ideas, they are unbeaten in nine and could mount a late push for Europe themselves. The Toffees' last defeat was to Liverpool in November.

Fernando Torres, Glenn Johnson and Yossi Benayoun are all still out for Liverpool, but Everton could welcome Mikael Arteta and Joseph Yobo back if they pass fitness tests.

There will also be plenty at stake at White Hart Lane where Champions League hopefuls Spurs and Aston Villa lock horns on Saturday afternoon.

Spurs are currently in fourth spot and could blood new signings Eidur Gudjohnsen and Younes Kaboul.

Villa have gone three games without conceding a goal and even though they lie in seventh a win leapfrog them above Spurs in the table.

Manchester City also have designs on that all-important fourth spot, and a win over Hull could see them jump from sixth to fourth, depending on other results. Roberto Mancini is still lacking some key players like Joleon Lescott, but he could hand debuts to Patrick Vieira and Adam Johnson.

Elsewhere on Saturday Fulham travel to Bolton, Burnley play host to West Ham, Blackburn travel to Stoke and Sunderland entertain Wigan. The rather tasty-looking h'ors d'oeuvre before the main event on Sunday is the midlands derby between Birmingham and Wolves. ·