| Premiership table
- UpTo 30-10-11 |
| Pos |
Team |
Pld |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
GD |
Pts |
| 1 |
Man City |
10 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
16 |
2 |
4 |
1 |
0 |
20 |
6 |
28 |
28 |
| 2 |
Man Utd |
10 |
4 |
0 |
1 |
17 |
9 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
10 |
3 |
15 |
23 |
| 3 |
Chelsea |
10 |
4 |
0 |
1 |
15 |
9 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
8 |
6 |
8 |
19 |
| 4 |
Newcastle |
9 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
8 |
4 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
4 |
2 |
6 |
19 |
| 5 |
Tottenham |
9 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
10 |
7 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
8 |
7 |
4 |
19 |
| 6 |
Liverpool |
10 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
8 |
5 |
3 |
0 |
2 |
6 |
5 |
4 |
18 |
| 7 |
Arsenal |
10 |
4 |
0 |
1 |
9 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
11 |
17 |
-1 |
16 |
| 8 |
Norwich |
10 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
9 |
7 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
5 |
8 |
-1 |
13 |
| 9 |
Aston Villa |
10 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
7 |
4 |
0 |
4 |
1 |
6 |
9 |
0 |
12 |
| 10 |
Swansea |
10 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
8 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
4 |
14 |
-3 |
12 |
| 11 |
Stoke |
9 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
3 |
10 |
-4 |
12 |
| 12 |
QPR |
10 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
3 |
6 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
5 |
11 |
-9 |
12 |
| 13 |
West Brom |
10 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
3 |
5 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
6 |
8 |
-4 |
11 |
| 14 |
Sunderland |
10 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
9 |
7 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
5 |
5 |
2 |
10 |
| 15 |
Fulham |
10 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
10 |
6 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
3 |
6 |
1 |
10 |
| 16 |
Everton |
9 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
5 |
7 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
5 |
6 |
-3 |
10 |
| 17 |
Wolves |
10 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
5 |
9 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
4 |
8 |
-8 |
8 |
| 18 |
Blackburn |
10 |
1 |
0 |
4 |
6 |
12 |
0 |
3 |
2 |
7 |
11 |
-10 |
6 |
| 19 |
Bolton |
10 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
4 |
17 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
9 |
10 |
-14 |
6 |
| 20 |
Wigan |
10 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
5 |
8 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
1 |
9 |
-11 |
5 |
On a goal crazy Saturday afternoon in the Premier League, Robin van Persie scored a hat-trick as Arsenal recorded an astonishing 5-3 victory at Chelsea, while 10-man Manchester City maintained their five-point lead after beating Wolves 3-1 while Manchester United ground out a 1-0 win at Everton.
Elsewhere, on an afternoon that produced 31 goals, Norwich snatched a point in a thriller against Blackburn, Fulham gained a rare away win at Wigan who are rooted to the bottom of the Premiership, Sunderland left it late to hold Aston Villa and Swansea preserved their fine record on home soil. Liverpool were also able to continue on winning ways
On Sunday Tottenham continued their good run of form with a home win over QPR who managed to give Tottenham a fright before being overcome.
Saturday
29th October
12:00 - Everton (0) 0 Man Utd (1) 1
Sir Alex Ferguson was looking for Manchester United to respond positively to last weekend's derby disaster and was happy to see his side overcome Everton 1-0.
Javier Hernandez was returned to the Red Devils' starting XI at Goodison Park and justified the faith of his manager with the only goal of the game.
There were just 19 minutes on the clock when Patrice Evra provided a teasing cross from the left and Hernandez found himself in the right place at the right time to pounce from close range.
The Toffees had their moments and will feel that they deserved to take something from the game, but they were ultimately left empty-handed.
David Moyes' men have now suffered four defeats in five, while United have edged four points clear of third-placed Chelsea.
Everton Howard, Hibbert, Heitinga, Jagielka, Baines, Coleman, Fellaini, Rodwell, Bilyaletdinov (Barkley 46), Osman (Vellios 76), Saha (Gueye 84).
Subs Not Used: Mucha, Stracqualursi, McFadden, Mustafi.
Booked: Rodwell, Coleman, Fellaini.
Man Utd De Gea, Jones, Vidic, Evans, Evra, Welbeck (Valencia 73), Cleverley (Nani 56), Fletcher, Park, Rooney, Hernandez (Berbatov 66).
Subs Not Used: Lindegaard, Ferdinand, Owen, Fabio Da Silva.
Goals: Hernandez 19.
Att: 35, 494
Ref: Mark Halsey (Lancashire).
12:45 - Chelsea (2) 3 Arsenal (1) 5 (Sky2)
A tough week for Chelsea hit a new low on Saturday lunchtime as they found themselves second best in a thrilling capital derby with Arsenal.
A game that had a bit of everything ended 5-3 to the visitors, with some uncharacteristically sloppy defending from both sides adding to the entertainment.
Arsenal really should have been in front early on, but it was Chelsea who broke the deadlock on 14 minutes when Frank Lampard stooped to meet a Juan Mata cross.
The Gunners restored parity on 36 minutes, with Aaron Ramsey sliding in Gervinho and he unselfishly squared for Van Persie to roll the ball home.
A topsy-turvy tie swung back in Chelsea's favour moments before half-time when John Terry - handed a starting berth despite having an FA investigation hanging over his head - bundled in a Lampard corner.
Arsenal burst out of the blocks after the interval and were in front inside 10 minutes, with Andre Santos escaping in behind Daniel Sturridge to drill under Petr Cech and Theo Walcott hauling himself off the deck to somehow wriggle his way into the box and lash into the back of the net.
Chelsea thought they had rescued a point when Mata curled a sumptuous 25-yard effort past Wojciech Szczesny with 10 minutes remaining, but Van Persie was to have the last laugh.
The Gunners' talismanic skipper, who has been in imperious form in 2011, took full advantage of an untimely slip from Terry on 85 minutes to skip past Cech and slide into an empty net and he completed his hat-trick in stoppage-time when he rounded off a flowing counter attack in emphatic style.
Chelsea Cech, Bosingwa, Ivanovic, Terry, Cole, Ramires (Lukaku 72), Mikel (Meireles 76), Lampard, Mata, Sturridge (Malouda 62), Torres.
Subs Not Used: Blackman, Luiz, Romeu, Bertrand.
Booked: Ivanovic, Meireles.
Goals: Lampard 14, Terry 45, Mata 80.
Arsenal Szczesny, Djourou (Jenkinson 75), Mertesacker, Koscielny, Andre Santos, Ramsey, Song, Arteta, Walcott (Rosicky 79), van Persie, Gervinho (Vermaelen 88).
Subs Not Used: Fabianski, Park, Arshavin, Frimpong.
Booked: Szczesny, van Persie, Song.
Goals: van Persie 36, Andre Santos 49, Walcott 55, van Persie 85, van Persie 90.
Att: 41, 801
Ref: Andre Marriner (W Midlands).
15:00 - Man City (0) 3 Wolverhampton (0) 1
Manchester City remain unbeaten and top of the Premier League pile, but they did not have things all their own way in a home date with dogged Wolves.
Having put five past Mick McCarthy's men in a midweek Carling Cup tie, and six past arch-rivals United in their last league fixture, the Blues were expected to swing the floodgates open again at the Etihad Stadium.
Roberto Mancini's side found the going a lot tougher this time out, though, and had to settle for a 3-1 victory in the end.
City saw Wayne Hennessey keep them at bay in a keenly-contested opening 45 minutes, but the Wolves goalkeeper endured a second half to forget.
The Wales international took far too long to clear his lines on 52 minutes and, after Sergio Aguero had blocked his attempted clearance, Edin Dzeko was left with the simplest of tasks as he returned the ball into a gaping goal.
With Wolves' resistance finally broken, Aleksandar Kolarov made it two on 67 minutes after reacting quickest to a Hennessey save from David Silva - with the Wolves man unable to push the ball away from danger.
City were cruising at this stage, but their nerves began to fray on 74 minutes when Vincent Kompany bundled Kevin Doyle over in the box and was shown a straight red card.
Stephen Hunt converted the resulting penalty and Wolves were suddenly back in the tie.
They remained within touching distance until stoppage-time, when substitute Adam Johnson grabbed his second goal in the space of four days against the men from Molineux.
Man City Hart, Richards, Kompany, Lescott, Kolarov, Silva, Toure Yaya, Barry, Nasri (Balotelli 70), Aguero (Savic 76), Dzeko (Johnson 63).
Subs Not Used: Pantilimon, Zabaleta, Milner, De Jong.
Sent Off: Kompany (74).
Booked: Barry, Dzeko.
Goals: Dzeko 52, Kolarov 67, Johnson 90.
Wolverhampton Hennessey, Stearman, Johnson, Berra, Ward, Hunt (Jarvis 85), O'Hara, Guedioura (Ebanks-Blake 85), Henry, Edwards (Hammill 68), Doyle.
Subs Not Used: De Vries, Elokobi, Craddock, Vokes.
Booked: Doyle.
Goals: Hunt pen 75 .
Att: 47, 142
Ref: Stuart Attwell (Warwickshire).
15:00 - Norwich (0) 3 Blackburn (1) 3
Blackburn moved off the foot of the table, but saw two points slip through their grasp as they were held in a six-goal thriller at Norwich.
The Canaries are proving to be a tough nut to crack at Carrow Road and the hosts left under-pressure Rovers boss Steve Kean cursing his luck at the final whistle.
Spectacular goals proved to be the order of the day in Norfolk, with Junior Hoilett opening the scoring on the stroke of half-time with a 25-yard drive that fizzed into the top corner.
Steve Morison responded in style for the Canaries, with the Norwich striker sending a dipping volley from the edge of the box in off the underside of the crossbar on 53 minutes.
Paul Lambert's side were looking to kick on after hauling themselves level, but ended up leaving holes at the back.
On 62 minutes Yakubu was slipped into the area and drilled past John Ruddy at his near post and two minutes later Chris Samba met a Morten Gamst Pedersen delivery with a diving header at the far post.
That looked like being the final nail in Norwich's coffin, but they hit back with two goals in the final eight minutes.
First Bradley Johnson saw a hopeful shot take a wicked deflection past Paul Robinson, before the drama intensified in added time.
Steven N'Zonzi was adjudged to have deliberately handled inside the area and Grant Holt stepped up to fire home from 12 yards.
Norwich Ruddy, Naughton, Russell Martin, Barnett, Tierney, Bennett (Holt 68), Johnson, Fox (Crofts 75), Pilkington (Jackson 75), Hoolahan, Morison.
Subs Not Used: Rudd, Surman, Wilbraham, De Laet.
Booked: Bennett, Barnett.
Goals: Morison 53, Johnson 82, Holt pen 90 .
Blackburn Robinson, Lowe, Samba, Givet, Olsson, Rochina (Dunn 69), Pedersen, Nzonzi, Hoilett (Petrovic 81), Formica, Yakubu (Goodwillie 69).
Subs Not Used: Bunn, Vukcevic, Roberts, Hanley.
Booked: Lowe.
Goals: Hoilett 45, Yakubu 62, Samba 64.
Att: 26, 440
Ref: Anthony Taylor (Cheshire).
15:00 - Sunderland (1) 2 Aston Villa (1) 2
Darren Bent returned to Sunderland for the first time since completing a big-money to Aston Villa, but was off target as the Black Cats stole a point in a 2-2 draw.
Villa took the lead at the Stadium of Light on 20 minutes, with Stiliyan Petrov almost taking the net off its hinges.
The Bulgarian was teed up by Alan Hutton and, after working a yard of space, he drilled a stunning 20-yard drive high into the top corner past a helpless Simon Mignolet.
Connor Wickham, one of those drafted in by Steve Bruce to cover the loss of Bent, hauled Sunderland level before the interval as he notched his first Premier League goal.
The youngster was slid in by Stephane Sessegnon and made no mistake as he fired low across Shay Given and into the bottom corner.
With five minutes left it appeared as though Richard Dunne had snatched a winner for Villa as he glanced home a Petrov set-piece, but there was still time for Sessegnon to nod in an equaliser at the opposite end of the field.
Sunderland Mignolet (Westwood 52), O'Shea (Bardsley 35), Brown, Turner, Richardson, Larsson, Colback, Vaughan (Meyler 81), Sessegnon, Bendtner, Wickham.
Subs Not Used: Cattermole, Gardner, Ji, Elmohamady.
Booked: Bardsley.
Goals: Wickham 38, Sessegnon 89.
Aston Villa Given, Hutton, Dunne, Collins, Warnock, N'Zogbia (Albrighton 87), Herd, Petrov, Agbonlahor, Heskey, Bent.
Subs Not Used: Guzan, Ireland, Delfouneso, Delph, Clark, Cuellar.
Booked: Agbonlahor, Warnock, Dunne.
Goals: Petrov 20, Dunne 85.
Att: 37, 062
Ref: Chris Foy (Merseyside).
15:00 - Swansea (0) 3 Bolton (0) 1
Swansea built a promotion push on their home form last season and the Liberty Stadium remains something of a fortress.
The Swans lost their record as the only side in the Premier League yet to concede in front of their own supporters in almost comical circumstances, but they were able to pick up a 3-1 win over struggling Bolton.
The Trotters shot themselves in the foot early in the second half when Ricardo Gardner was shown a second yellow card for a tug on Nathan Dyer.
From the resulting free-kick, Joe Allen was picked out in space and he drifted forward before caressing the ball past Jussi Jaaskelainen.
Swansea doubled their lead on 57 minutes when Angel Rangel was fouled inside the area by Darren Pratley and Scott Sinclair calmly stroked home from the spot.
Bolton were handed a lifeline with 17 minutes remaining when Danny Graham turned a Chris Eagles cross past his own goalkeeper, but the ten-man Trotters were unable to find a leveller.
That allowed Graham to make amends for his earlier misdemeanour in the closing stages when he beat the offside trap to race clear and confidently fire past the onrushing Jaaskelainen.
Swansea Vorm, Rangel, Monk, Williams, Taylor, Dyer (Moore 90), Gower, Britton, Allen, Sinclair, Graham.
Subs Not Used: Tremmel, Orlandi, Routledge, Lita, Richards, Moras.
Booked: Britton, Rangel, Gower.
Goals: Allen 49, Sinclair pen 57 , Graham 90.
Bolton Jaaskelainen, Steinsson, Cahill, Wheater, Gardner, Eagles, Reo-Coker, Pratley (Kakuta 75), Mark Davies, Petrov (Robinson 52), Ngog (Klasnic 75).
Subs Not Used: Bogdan, Muamba, Knight, Kevin Davies.
Sent Off: Gardner (48).
Booked: Pratley, Gardner, Robinson, Mark Davies.
Goals: Graham og 73 .
Att: 19, 477
Ref: Mark Clattenburg (Tyne & Wear).
17:30 - West Brom (0) 0 Liverpool (2) 2 (ESPN)
Liverpool closed to within a point of the Premier League's top four as they proved too strong for West Brom at The Hawthorns.
Kenny Dalglish prevailed in the battle between Anfield bosses of past and present, with the Reds full value for their 2-0 victory over Roy Hodgson's Baggies.
There were less than eight minutes on the clock when the first flashpoint of the game arrived and handed Liverpool the opportunity to open the scoring.
Jerome Thomas was adjudged to have tripped Luis Suarez inside the box and, despite the Baggies' protests, referee Lee Mason pointed to the spot.
Charlie Adam was kept waiting as he lined up the penalty, but he held his nerve to send Ben Foster the wrong way.
Liverpool doubled their lead in first-half stoppage-time, with Suarez cushioning the ball into the path of Andy Carroll and he stretched out a leg to divert it past the onrushing Ben Foster and into the back of the net.
West Brom Foster, Reid, Olsson, McAuley, Jones, Brunt, Scharner (Morrison 58), Mulumbu (Dorrans 62), Thomas, Odemwingie, Tchoyi (Cox 71).
Subs Not Used: Fulop, Shorey, Gera, Dawson.
Booked: Olsson.
Liverpool Reina, Johnson, Skrtel, Agger, Jose Enrique, Henderson, Adam, Lucas, Downing, Suarez (Bellamy 81), Carroll.
Subs Not Used: Doni, Maxi, Coates, Kuyt, Spearing, Flanagan.
Goals: Adam pen 9 , Carroll 45.
Att: 25, 522
Ref: Lee Mason (Lancashire).
15:00 - Wigan (0) 0 Fulham (1) 2
A seventh straight defeat saw Wigan hit rock-bottom this weekend, with a 2-0 reversal against Fulham leaving them propping up the division.
Roberto Martinez's side find themselves in a serious slump and are finding it increasingly difficult to snap themselves out it.
Gary Caldwell should have had them in front against the Cottagers, but he put a free header over the top.
Clint Dempsey made him pay for that miss four minutes before the break when he converted a cross from Bobby Zamora.
Wigan did their best to get back into the game thereafter, with Victor Moses hitting the woodwork at one stage, but Moussa Dembele put them out of their misery on 86 minutes when he shrugged off a couple of challenges and passed the ball neatly into the back of the net.
Wigan Al Habsi, Boyce (Stam 71), Caldwell, Alcaraz, Figueroa, Diame (McArthur 13), Watson, Jones, Moses, Rodallega, Crusat (Di Santo 63).
Subs Not Used: Pollitt, Maloney, Gomez, Sammon.
Booked: Caldwell, Alcaraz.
Fulham Schwarzer, Grygera, Baird, Hangeland, Riise, Dembele (Duff 90), Murphy (Etuhu 70), Sidwell, Dempsey, Zamora (Ruiz 80), Johnson.
Subs Not Used: Etheridge, Kelly, Kasami, Briggs.
Booked: Grygera, Dembele, Hangeland, Etuhu, Duff.
Goals: Dempsey 41, Dembele 86.
Att: 15, 796
Ref: Mike Jones (Cheshire).
Sunday
30th October
16:00 - Tottenham (2) 3 QPR (0) 1 (Sky1)
Tottenham produced a stylish performance to beat Queens Park Rangers 3-1 at White Hart Lane and extend their unbeaten run in the Premier League to seven games.
Gareth Bale broke the deadlock on 20 minutes with a powerful strike past Paddy Kenny from Aaron Lennon's pass, before Rafael van der Vaart's cool finish doubled the lead 13 minutes later.
While the first half was one-way traffic, QPR responded admirably after the interval and pulled a goal back when substitute Jay Bothroyd nodded home from close range on 62 minutes.
Spurs had to withstand periods of considerable pressure in the final half hour but restored their two-goal cushion when Bale rounded off a terrific move with a curling effort in the 72nd minute.
The result lifts Harry Redknapp's men level on points with third-placed Chelsea and Newcastle, while QPR remain in mid-table.
Tottenham Friedel, Walker, Kaboul, King, Assou-Ekotto, Lennon, Parker (Sandro 86), Modric, Bale, Van der Vaart, Adebayor.
Subs Not Used: Cudicini, Pavlyuchenko, Gallas, Defoe, Bassong,
Livermore.
Goals: Bale 20, Van der Vaart 33, Bale 72.
QPR Kenny, Young, Ferdinand, Hall (Gabbidon 9), Traore, Faurlin, Derry (Mackie 46), Wright-Phillips, Barton, Taarabt (Bothroyd 46), Helguson.
Subs Not Used: Murphy, Hill, Buzsaky, Smith.
Goals: Bothroyd 62.
Att: 36,147
Ref: Howard Webb (S Yorkshire).
Monday 31st October
20:00 - Stoke (11) v Newcastle (4) (Sky1)
Jonathan Woodgate could start against his former club Newcastle after returning from a three-game absence to face Liverpool in the Carling Cup.
Woodgate had been sidelined with a calf problem.
Jermaine Pennant might also be involved having appeared as a second-half replacement against the Reds following a hamstring injury.
Striker Mamady Sidibe is facing another spell on the sidelines after suffering a knee injury.
Newcastle could include midfielder Cheik Tiote and defender Steven Taylor from the start.
Taylor, who broke his nose in last weekend's 1-0 victory over Wigan, is the more likely to play, possibly with a mask, while Tiote is battling to recover from a knee injury.
Striker Shola Ameobi has been ruled out for at least a month with a hamstring problem.
Last season: Stoke 4 Newcastle 0, Newcastle 1 Stoke 2
Last five league matches: Stoke L D L W L; Newcastle D W W D W
Top scorers (all competitions): Kenwyne Jones (Stoke) 5; Demba Ba (Newcastle) 5
Referee: Mike Dean (Wirral).