Face-off: Ancelotti vs Benitez, Part Tres

OCT 3 — What a difference a week makes. Seven days ago Chelsea were unbeaten and doing a fancy jig atop the good ship Premiership. However, a stunning 3-1 reverse at Wigan Athletic was followed by an equally uninspiring 1-0 win against APOEL Nicosia and all of a sudden the fans are worried and Carlo Ancelotti seems to be nervous.

Chelsea will be aiming to bounce back from their first English Premier League (EPL) defeat of the season when they host a Liverpool side bidding to leapfrog them into second spot.

After ending Chelsea's 86-match unbeaten home run last season, Liverpool return to Stamford Bridge aiming to recover from a disappointing mid-week Champions League defeat which left manager Rafael Benitez fuming.

Chelsea-Liverpool encounters rarely produce edge-of-the-seat drama and hopes should not be high for tomorrow's contest with both Ancelotti and Benitez reduced to promising that their sides will play better at the weekend than they did in their mid-week Champions League outing.

Liverpool appears to have solved last season’s woes of dropping points at lower placed sides. Though it must be noted that the Reds have come up against three fairly decent teams (Spurs, Aston Villa and Fiorentina) so far this season and have lost to all three. In all these matches, serious questions were asked about their defending.

As much a concern for Benitez must be his midfield. After the makeshift pairing of Lucas Leiva and Fabio Aurelio were overrun by a good, but far from exceptional, Fiorentina midfield, one shudders to think what any combination of Frank Lampard, Joe Cole, Michael Essien, Michael Ballack, Deco and Zhirkov could do.

It therefore becomes almost essential that Javier Mascherano is fit in time for tomorrow. Should Mascherano not make it, Benitez will surely not risk Aurelio again. This could result in Steven Gerrard having to drop back, which presents its own problems, given that they will be half-blunting their second most potent attacking weapon.

Luckily for Liverpool, Chelsea have woes of their own. It was a curious sight to see the Blues backline part so courteously for Wigan to score three last weekend. I can only imagine it as a blip and there is no way a defence that will probably feature Jose Bosingwa, Ricardo Carvalho, John Terry and Ashley Cole will be so bad again.

However, they are up against probably the finest striker in the Premier League (and possibly Europe) and without Petr Cech in goal it makes their job all the tougher. Second choice keeper Hilario doesn't exactly inspire an awful lot of confidence.

By the way, did you know that Hilario’s full name is Henrique Hilario Meireles Alves Sampaio. So many names to choose from and the Portuguese national chose a name that will always have the potential for tabloid headlines like “Hilarious Hilario!”, “Hilario: A comedy of errors”, “Hilario is a joke”, etc. Talk about asking for it!

Liverpool could inflict more damage on Chelsea’s EPL hopes if they can win the midfield battle though it is unlikely they would. Therefore, my pick would be a narrow Chelsea win of 2-1 or 3-2, if not a score draw.

I almost forgot. This Big 4 clash is also the first meeting between Ancelotti and Benitez after two recent grand encounters in no less a stage than the UEFA Champions League final — AC Milan vs Liverpool in 2005 and 2007.

I really think that the Italian has the edge over the Spaniard by now, having not lost in normal play (including extra-time) in both matches, including that solid 2-1 win in 2007, with the Reds only getting a last-minute consolation goal through Dirk Kuyt.

The key difference for Benitez is that he now has Torres, though he will miss the influence that Xabi Alonso brought to his team. On the other hand, Ancelotti has a much better side overall than the one he had in Milan, thanks to the deep pockets of Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich. Again, all signs point to a good win for Chelsea over one of their title rivals.

Current league leaders, and Chelsea’s biggest rival for the title, Manchester United will entertain Sunderland aiming to stretch their lead at the top of the EPL. The Red Devils have won eight in a row in all competitions now since that shock defeat to Burnley and one cannot see them slipping up here.

The Black Cats have made a decent start under new manager Steve Bruce, obtaining 12 points from their opening seven games and reaching eighth in the table. The free-scoring Darren Bent has been in fine form, grabbing six goals already for his new club. I wouldn't put anyone off backing Darren Bent to score at Old Trafford.

However, they have not won at Old Trafford since May 1968 and have won only one of their last 13 EPL fixtures on the road. They have not kept a clean sheet since the opening day of the campaign and this will surely continue this week.

Not to mention, in the event that Sunderland does start to show some potential to possibly draw or even win this match, referee Alan Wiley will surely see to it that they don’t. “How dare such a lowly team even think of getting something from the hallowed grounds of Old Trafford”, he might say to good buddy Alex Ferguson while having some wine after the match.

The final Big 4 team, Arsenal, will aim to maintain this season's 100 per cent winning record at the Emirates Stadium when they take on a Blackburn Rovers side buoyed by their victory over Aston Villa.

The Gunners have had their blips this season but with the fine form their third-choice goalkeeper “Don” Vito Mannone has been in — keeping four consecutive clean sheets, two each in England and Europe — there’s nothing that looks to hit the back of Arsenal’s net at the moment.

Arsenal have won their last three home league fixtures, scoring four goals in each. They also did the double over Blackburn last season, winning both matches 4-0.

The only wrench in the works in this obvious victory for Arsenal would be their history with Blackburn’s manager Sam Allardyce. He has proven to be a tricky opponent for Arsene Wenger over the years. The Frenchman has come out on top in only eight of 19 meetings with his other clubs in recent years, Bolton Wanderers and Newcastle United.

The Gunners have won nine of their 11 matches this season, netting in all of them. They have also won their last five in all competitions while Blackburn have lost their last two EPL fixtures on the road.

I believe Wenger will be able to celebrate his record-breaking 13-year reign at The Arsenal with a convincing win over Blackburn. Robin van Persie should also continue his fine form in front of goal, considering his track record against them.

Coincidentally, the Arsenal boss made his debut as manager at Highbury (otherwise known as The Home of Football), defeating Blackburn on Oct 12,, with two Ian Wright goals separating the teams.

Apart from those matches, Manchester City will travel to Aston Villa in what would be an intriguing match-up on Monday night.

Gareth Barry returns to Aston Villa for the first time since severing his ties with the club after 12 years at Villa Park, which saw him make 440 appearances for the Villans in total. On the opposite side, Villa defender Richard Dunne will be facing the club he previously captained for the first time since leaving Manchester City on transfer deadline day. Ex-captains facing their former sides in the same match … now that’s not something you see every month, let alone every season.

Manchester City will record their best-ever start to a top-flight season if they beat Villa, who in turn will move level on points with Mark Hughes' men if they win this fixture. Martin O'Neill's side had made their best opening to a campaign for 11 years until their 2-1 defeat at Blackburn ended a six-match winning streak in all competitions.

Villa have conceded just five goals this season, the fewest in the EPL and are attempting to keep a third successive clean sheet at home for the first time in two years. The return of the disgraceful Emmanuel Adebayor, after serving a three-match suspension, might make it a little bit difficult for Villa though.

The Togo striker will be looking to extend his record of scoring in every match he has played in for City, that is, if he is not being the buffoon he truly is, acting like a baboon (which is actually an insult to baboons, but it’s the only animal I could think of to rhyme with buffoon), with his hands and legs flapping about.

A City side with their full line-up, including the return to full fitness (and form) for strikers Carlos Tevez and even Roque Santa Cruz., will surely come up with the goals but my gut feeling is that they will drop points here.