SPORT

- reported by Osiris.


Today marks one of the most exciting fixtures in the history of English football. Four titans will clash and the outcome will determine who will remain at the top and who will slip further.

Manchester United face old arch-rivals Arsenal at home. Confident from five wins, four in the Premiership and one Champions League match victory against Celtic, the Red Devils will be looking to extend their winning streak. Ryan Giggs and Park Ji Sung miss this exciting match, but Rooney returns and Alex Ferguson has other midfield options in the form of Alan Smith and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who made his successful comeback into the squad with the winning goal over Celtic.

In the past, the Man U v Arsenal match would always be considered as a "title-decider", but with the introduction of Joes Mourinho's Chelsea two years ago, the pulsating action on the pitch and eagerness from the fans vanished. Three years without a Premiership title has made Ferguson hungry to prove his credibility as manager, having been with the Red Devils for twenty years. Perhaps this could be the year when Chelsea is deposed of their throne.

Arsenal too have their own problems. Their inspirational tailsman and skipper Thierry Henry has been rated "10-15%" fit to play today, while striker Robin van Persie is also injured, having hurt his hip when he got his foot stuck in the pitch while dribbling against Hamburg. Central defender Kolo Toure has recovered from his hip injury, also suffered midweek, and this would be a huge relief to Arsene Wenger, who is struggling to cope with his defensive injuries and problems. Phillipe Senderos, Lauren and Gael Clichy are all expected to return to the squad within four to six weeks.

Julio Baptista and Emmanuel Adebayor are expected to lead the attack upfront; this is the opportunity to show how strong the Gunners are, even without Henry. Wenger has claimed that his team "is ready" for United. This awaits to be seen later tonight. Ready to win, or ready for another embarrassing loss? If Arsenal fail to claim three points from tonight's match, it would be the worst start in the Premiership under Wenger, four games without a win.

Chelsea welcome newfound rivals Liverpool to Stamford Bridge for the early kick-off. The Merseysiders had defeated the Blues 2-1 in the Community Shield and Mourinho's men would be looking to exact revenge on Benitez's.

Andriy Schevchenko has had his dreams twice shattered by Liverpool and he will definitely be determined to get back. In 2005, his missed penalty allowed Liverpool to comeback from 3-0 down and win the shootout against AC Milan. In the Community Shield, despite scoring the opening goal, Liverpool overcame the deficit and won again.

Shevchenko, 29, said: "In my first game for Chelsea, we lost to them and now it's important to win."

"I scored but my team lost and it is important to win in this game. It's a difficult game - Liverpool are a big club and a good team.''

With a 30 million price tag on his head which Chelsea happily paid Milan, the striker is desperate to impress on the pitch, having scored twice in the first six games. Shevchenko said: "I feel okay. My performance is coming and it's very important to work now for the future. My aim is to win the fans over with the quality of my game and my goals.''

Chelsea are currently fourth in the table, but Liverpool are in an unfamiliar twelveth. Another loss would see the Reds slip further don the table, together with Arsenal.

Benitez wants to end that run and foster better relations with Mourinho following the pair's failure to indulge in the traditional post-match handshake after recent games. This will be the 12th time the clubs have clashed in the Mourinho-Benitez era and Benitez is prepared for the latest instalment.

"We are ready now for Chelsea,' he said. 'You can never be sure because Chelsea are a very good team but we feel ready and we are planning to go there and win. I have no problem shaking hands, I'll give him (Mourinho) the opportunity to shake hands if he wants."

Benitez will no doubt rotate his squad again, and it appears certain captain Steven Gerrard - left out of the starting line-up on Tuesday for the Champions League draw with PSV Eindhoven - will start the match. Who Benitez opts to play in central defence is another matter. Daniel Agger played very well there in the Community Shield success in Cardiff in August, and was outstanding in the Reds' first clean sheet of the season against PSV. This could earn him the nod over the veteran Sami Hyypia.

Benitez said: "Now we will see who is ahead. For Eindhoven, Danny was ahead of Sami in my thinking. But that may not be the case in the future. Other times, Sami will be the one in the forefront."

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