Chelsea look to exploit missing Kompany

With our La Liga preview here (ok, so it's an El Clasico preview), we're going to focus on the Premier League matchups, while I continue to ask Tio Pelotas for his MLS preview - he's doing it apparently, but is hungover and needs something greasy in his stomach.

Arsenal and Liverpool will be looking to pick up 3 more points against Crystal Palace and West Brom respectively, and if either are to seriously challenge for the title, then they have to win games like these. I think both have good chances of making the top 4, but that's not good enough for Arsenal, although it may be for Liverpool this year.

The huge game of the weekend is Chelsea against Manchester City. Both are coming off good wins in the Champions League, but City may be a little more fatigues after a trip to Russia, and playing on a pitch that looked like it was from the 1980s.

City are a different team without Vincent Kompany, and I'd expect Chelsea to try and expose Javi Garcia or Joleon Lescott. Pace is huge, and Samuel Eto'o still has plenty of that, even if he is trying to steal the ball off the goalkeeper just to open his account. Fernando Torres may start after his two goals in the week, but reports of him being back are stupid - yes, he's judged on how many goals he scores, but he (and Eto'o) needs a run in the team as the main man. Strikers need confidence, and neither has it in abundance at the moment - maybe they should stand next to Sergio Aguero at the kick-off in teh hope of catching some.

The teams returning from European action need wins too. Spurs will be hoping not to repeat what happened to them last time they played after some Thursday night action, while West Ham will hope Swansea are as generous as Tottenham were.

If Sunderland lose to Newcastle, Poyet will be out. I'm just kidding, but Gus needs a win (or at least not to lose), and a local derby changes everything. Form goes out of the window and passion comes through - I don't care how many 'johnny foreigners' are playing, the crowd will inspire whoever is out there.

Gervinho flying in Italy; Man United continue to struggle

I'm going to start with Italy as I still don't know how to describe Arsenal's first goal, either of the first two goals in the Chelsea game or why Manchester United will be lucky to finish fourth.

Roma are legit. There's no doubting that. 8 wins from 8 is fantastic in any league, but they have beaten Inter, Napoli and local rivals Lazio, scoring 22 goals and conceding just one. In four away wins, they have yet to let one in. And who plays for them? If I told you Gervinho was looking like a real footballer, no one would believe me. But he is, and Totti and De Rossi hold the team together, allowing Adam Ljajic, Miralem Pjanic and Allesandro Florenzi to flourish. When they sold Dani Osvaldo to Southampton, and labored (a little) to a 3-1 win over the MLS All-Stars, I thought mid-table may be their best bet this year. It may still be as Napoli, Juventus and Inter are all going to be sniffing around, but for now, Roma deserve the praise they are receiving - including Gervinho.

A hat-trick for Giuseppe Rossi for Fiorentina against Juve was nice in a World Cup season, he'll be in Brazil - but could have been the star the US really needs.

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Barcelona could only draw and Atletico lost, with yet another late dubious penalty for Real Madrid ensuring they made up some ground on the early front runners.... Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund are starting to pull away, but Bayer Leverkeusen are still riding the coattails right now... PSG and Monaco remain unbeaten, but it's to be expected with the money they spent.

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Okay, so I had a chance to think about the Premier League and what went on this weekend. Arsenal looked great and scored a fantastic goal - in fairness they threaten goals like that most weeks, just this time it came off. Chelsea's goal is bizarre to me. I don't think it should count. The ball is in the goalkeeper's possession, and that's nine tenths of the law in my view. The fact Samuel Eto'o couldn't finish when Hazard passed back to him, then got hit in the head on the floor was some rough justice, but it is just going to lead to more hassle. 'Keepers don't need to bounce the ball, and hopefully this will cut that out, or they'll be argument of consistency.

Manchester United look average at best. Southampton are a good side, and bossed it at times, but United should still fancy themselves, even with a $40 million microphone in midfield. Fellaini isn't bad, but he's not good. Moyes couldn't get anyone else and overpaid, but the Belgian is just not up to it - he can play, but he's not the leader they need in midfield. And what it comes down to me is that Fergie got out at the right time. Rooney and van Persie are still quality players, but there isn't much else right now. They have no structure or creativity, hence the excitement about Adnan Janujaz - he could be great, but wouldn't be the focus yet if United had other players on form right now.