the 24,973 that comprised the smallest Chelsea crowd in years -- did just that.
Whether Grant can turn anything around between his hiring and Sunday is unclear, whereas Manchester United's form is much more certain. After a slow start in league, United is looking fit and frisky after winning at Everton and Sporting Lisbon in the span of five days. Cristiano Ronaldo's head on a Wes Brown cross gave Man United the only goal of the match in the 62nd minute in Lisbon. Meanwhile Edwin van der Sar was superb in turning back the ceaseless attack of the home side.
The Red Devils have Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney back, and along with Carlos Tevez, United has the depth and firepower that Chelsea can only hope suits up in blue soon -- Owen Hargreaves hopes to return as well. But for Chelsea, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba remain out, which puts most of the scoring burden on Andriy Shevchenko, and, with just three goals in league play all of last season, it's a burden the Ukrainian striker has been unable to endure.
United assistant Carlos Queiroz is expecting a Chelsea hangover on Sunday, saying his squad is already one-third of the way toward defeating the Blues for the league title, but the Chelsea 11 who see the field on Sunday are too proud to go down so meekly.
Arsenal v. Derby County (Saturday, 10 a.m. ET, Fox Soccer Channel)
Compared to the gloom in West London, the Gunners are experiencing nothing but bright sun in the north. A pair of exquisite victories has many talking about this team being better off without Thierry Henry. Dynamic midfielder Cesc Fabregas said as much after scoring a goal in his fifth consecutive club match as part of Arsenal's 3-0 trouncing of highly-considered Sevilla at Emirates on Wednesday.
For his part, Henry agrees. He admits that Arsene Wenger's squad is playing more like a team, that they had played the ball to him too much in recent seasons, a similar predicament that befell Arsenal when Dennis Bergkamp was the primary goal-scorer upon Henry's arrival. Emmanuel Adebayor believes that the focus on Henry held back himself and Robin van Persie, each of whom have three goals in their first season sans Thierry.
Whatever the reason for Arsenal's success, there's seemingly little no chance a team that scored six goals in the last two fixtures -- the other a 3-1 win at Spurs on Saturday -- could be challenged by relegation fodder Derby. It's true, there's little reason to believe that Billy Davies' club can dent Arsenal's nearly perfect start, but they did put a shocker into Big Sam's Magpies on Monday. Kenny Miller scored the only goal at Pride Park, and Derby showed leaps of improvement after a 6-0 squashing by Liverpool two weeks prior.
The loan bit of bad news for Wenger and the Gunners is the expected absence of midfielder Tomas Rosicky, who left the Sevilla match four minutes into the second half with a hamstring injury and should miss at least two weeks.
Liverpool v. Birmingham City (Saturday, 10 a.m. ET, Setanta)
After six matches this season -- including Champions League qualifying -- Liverpool was just a botched penalty call away from a 100 percent start to the season, but that was a week ago. A week and two matches later, Rafa Benitez's squad is scuffling after a pair of draws at Portsmouth and at FC Porto. Neither result was anything to get particular unnerved about, as both Pompey and Porto are fine clubs that defend their home ground well, but the Reds' form in those two games is unsettling.
Jose Reina had to save a penalty to preserve a 0-0 draw at Portsmouth, and he then gave it back by committing a foul that led to a penalty and a 1-0 Porto lead on Tuesday. Dirk Kuyt equalized later in the half, but Liverpool played a first half-hour of football rarely seen under Benitez's watch. The manager said he will never tolerate such incompetence, adding "We just did not match up to our standards." One of those who didn't match up was Jermaine Pennant, who picked up two silly yellow cards and in doing so greatly harmed Liverpool's bid for three points in their Champions League opener.
Now Liverpool plays host to Birmingham, and the Reds are still without defender Daniel Agger and midfielder Xabi Alonso, who each has a stress fractures in his foot. Neither injury will require surgery, but both players are likely to miss upwards of a month. The Blues are coming off their first home win thanks to Oliver Kapo's 37th-minute strike, one that assured Bolton's demise in a match that City controlled. At risk for relegation, Birmingham is looking for every point it can, and they'll try to steal one from an off-form Liverpool playing their third match in eight days.
Fulham v. Manchester City (Saturday, 12:15 p.m. ET, Fox Soccer Channel)
Stephen Ireland is a troubled 21-year-old. He just happens to also be a midfielder for Man City in the EPL. And this is why his recent troubles are notable. First, he claimed that two of his grandparents had died in order to miss Ireland's UEFA Cup qualifiers, when the real reason he wanted out was because his girlfriend had just had a miscarriage. Then, on a social networking website in England, he wrote, "Football is (crap)" and asked, "why did I get stuck doin(g) it". This has to be a disconcerting development for manager Sven-Goran Eriksson, who called the promising Irishman stupid for his fibbing.
While certainly not a welcome development, it's one of the few things that have gone wrong for Eriksson in his first season in Manchester, as his side currently sits second in the table. Erikkson is delighted with the blend of his midfield, one that includes the youthful Michael Johnson, the 19-year-old who scored the winner against Aston Villa on Sunday, 34-year-old Dietmar Hamann and Brazilian playmaker Elano.
On Saturday, Man City travels to Craven Cottage to face a Fulham side that has somehow managed to earn just one point out of the four matches in which they scored first. That happened again Saturday at Wigan when Clint Dempsey scored in the opening minutes, but an 80th-minute penalty after a careless challenge by Hameur Bouazza led to the Latics' equalizer. Still, despite the leads his team has squandered and sitting 15th in the table, manager Lawrie Sanchez claims Fulham are 80 percent of the way toward producing what he wants. After all of the changes he made this summer, Sanchez is confident the Whites will improve upon the win and two draws they've achieved in six matches to date. They can start with a result against Man City.
Newcastle United v. West Ham United (Sunday, 8:30 a.m. ET, Setanta)
Another week, another injury for Michael Owen. Reports out of England said Owen would miss significant time with a hernia that required surgery, but Sam Allardyce insists those reports are false and that Owen could be back within 10 days. Given Owen's history, the smart money is on the over. (Ed. note: According to reports Friday from Newcastle, Owen will be fit to play against West Ham on Sunday.)
The Owen rumors added injury to the insult of the Magpies' loss at Derby on Monday night, the promoted side's first win of the season. Big Sam places much of the blame for the loss on having so many players away for 10 days during the international break, a problem he admits he took advantage of at Bolton. Whatever the excuse, his side came away without any points.
After a listless first 45 at Upton Park on Saturday, West Ham netted three goals in a furious second half demolition of Middlesbrough. It was the second consecutive 3-0 win for the Hammers, who have used a soft schedule to move to sixth in the table. Lee Bowyer is rounding into form, scoring in two matches in a row for West Ham after no goals in his first 35 appearances with the club. Meanwhile Dean Ashton also scored on Saturday, marking his first since the 2006 FA Cup Final. With Scott Parker likely to make his debut for West Ham against his former club, the Hammers are hoping to maintain an unblemished road record.
Middlesbrough v. Sunderland (Saturday, 10 a.m. ET)
After knocking off Reading at the Stadium of Light, the Black Cats look for their first road win of the season in a derby matchup with Middlesbrough. Black Cats manager Roy Keane is likely to use the same starting XI for the third straight game in a rare act of consistency, while Boro skipper George Boateng has warned his teammates not to underestimate the promoted side. In Sunderland's last Premiership campaign, their first win of three for the season was a 2-0 victory against Boro.
Reading v. Wigan Athletic (Saturday, 10 a.m. ET)
After an 80th-minute penalty earned the Latics a fortunate point at home against Fulham on Saturday, Wigan was struck with some bad news when they learned that strike Emile Heskey -- just back from getting capped with England -- will miss significant time after having a screw inserted in his stress-fractured foot. Heskey left the Fulham match early on after an awkward fall. For Reading, coming off the road loss to Sunderland and sitting in the relegation zone, they'll be looking for their first EPL points since defeating Everton at Madejski Stadium on Aug. 18.
Aston Villa v. Everton (Sunday, 9 a.m. ET)
Villa couldn't carry the momentum of the upset against Chelsea into a match in Manchester on Sunday. Unable to create many clear chances and victimized by teenager midfielder Michael Johnson in the 48th minute, AVFC is back in the middle of the table. Everton came away goalless from a 1-0 loss to Manchester United with striker Andy Johnson both hobbled and yet to find twine all season. These points will be crucial for Villa's European bid and Everton's increasingly unlikely attempt to unseat one of the top four.
Blackburn Rovers v. Portsmouth (Sunday, 10 a.m. ET)
After 15 matches without a loss, Mark Hughes' side finally felt defeat against Larissa in Greece in UEFA Cup play Thursday. The 2-0 loss puts a bit of a damper on a well-played scoreless draw at Chelsea on Sunday. Portsmouth finds itself just above the relegation zone after a brutal opening schedule that featured all of the four top teams, matches that Pompey came away from with just two points. A road match against Blackburn is hardly relief for Harry Redknapp's side.
Bolton Wanderers v. Tottenham Hotspur (Sunday, 10 a.m. ET)
Spurs and Wanderers will both enter this matchup off UEFA Cup openers -- Tottenham won and Bolton drew -- and losses in league play. A 1-0 loss at Boro turned up the heat a bit more on Sammy Lee, but that's nothing compared to the furnace that Martin Jol calls home these days. After his side conceded three goals in the second half of a 3-1 home loss to Arsenal on Saturday, one has to believe it's more a matter of when, not if, Jol will get the boot.
Brendon Desrochers is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
