Liverpool and Chelsea have the chance to close the gap on Manchester United at the summit of the Premier League.
With Sir Alex Ferguson's side tackling Tottenham in the Carling Cup final at Wembley on Sunday, live on Sky Sports 1 and HD1, the Reds and the Blues can make inroads into the Red Devils' substantial advantage.
Rafa Benitez's men are seven adrift of the reigning champions, with Chelsea a further three points back, but the duo both have two games before United return to league action against Newcastle at St James' Park on Wednesday night.
Liverpool's first test is a trip to Middlesbrough on Saturday before Sunderland travel to Anfield on Tuesday evening, with the clash against the Mackems live on Sky Sports 2 and HD2.
After beating Real Madrid at Santiago Bernabeu in the UEFA Champions League in midweek, the Reds face a Boro side who have not won in 14 Premier League games and have failed to find the net in eight of their last nine.
But Gareth Southgate's side claimed a morale-boosting 2-0 triumph over West Ham in their FA Cup replay in midweek to book a place in the quarter-finals of the competition against Everton.
Guus Hiddink has made a 100 per cent start to his brief tenure as Chelsea manager after important 1-0 victories over Aston Villa in the Premier League and Juventus in the first leg of the last-16 Champions League meeting.
Next on the agenda for the Russia boss, who remains insistent that he will not be at Stamford Bridge beyond the summer, is a home meeting with Wigan Athletic followed by a midweek trip to Portsmouth.
Steve Bruce's side are proving tough to beat this term, but have been unable to win any of their last six Premier League matches and the Latics have failed to trouble the scorers in five of those encounters.
Freefall
Sunday sees a vital fixture in the tense relegation battle with Blackburn travelling to the KC Stadium to take on a Hull City side in freefall after their heroics from earlier in the campaign.
The Tigers are enduring a miserable run which has seen them win just one of their last 17 Premier League games and they have taken just two points from the last 27 available - fewer than any other side in Europe's leading leagues over a nine-game period.
While Sam Allardyce has stabilised Rovers after replacing Paul Ince, he only has two Premier League wins to show from his eight games in charge, which is why the Ewood Park outfit remain two points from safety in the relegation zone and six behind Hull.
West Brom's situation is even more worrying and they remain at the foot of the Premier League table ahead of their tough trip to Everton on Saturday lunchtime, live on Sky Sports 1 and HD1.
The Baggies have an appalling record on the road this term, suffering 10 defeats in their 13 away games, claiming one point in their last 10 trips and failing to keep a clean sheet in the same period.
David Moyes' Toffees remain in contention for a European berth via their league placing, but the loss of gifted playmaker Mikel Arteta for the season with cruciate ligament damage suffered at Newcastle last Sunday is a shattering blow.
Aston Villa are in possession of the fourth Champions League berth and hold a six-point cushion over Arsenal despite their defeat by Chelsea last time out as they prepare to face Midlands rivals Stoke City at Villa Park.
The Potters are the only team in the top flight to have a worse record on the road than West Brom, with a paltry three points gained and not a single victory to show for their efforts away from the Britannia Stadium.
But Tony Pulis' men claimed an impressive 3-2 victory over Martin O'Neill's troops on home turf back in August when the Villa defence became the first to suffer at the hands of Rory Delap's long throws.
Limp
Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas has finally admitted what many Gunners fans have known for some time - that the Premier League title is beyond Arsene Wenger's men this season and finishing fourth needs to be their main goal.
Fabregas will not be involved when Fulham visit Emirates Stadium on Saturday as he works his way back to full fitness from a serious knee injury, but he knows Arsenal must halt their recent sequence of four successive draws, three of which have ended 0-0.
Cottagers striker Bobby Zamora ended his scoring drought against West Brom last weekend before adding another in the midweek FA Cup win over Swansea, and the former Hammers man has been on the winning side in all four of his league starts against Arsenal in the Premier League.
West Ham saw their own FA Cup hopes ended by a limp display against Middlesbrough in midweek and Gianfranco Zola's men go into their home meeting with Manchester City on the back of a three-game losing run in all competitions.
Back-to-back defeats at the hands of Bolton and Manchester United were followed by the Riverside reverse, with the Hammers' five most recent Premier League meetings against City seeing the Eastlands outfit win four and draw one.
Former Upton Park striker Craig Bellamy returns to East London on Sunday having already demonstrated a happy knack of finding the net against his former clubs this season, a fact Newcastle and Blackburn can testify to, while Liverpool conceded a deflected effort from the fiery Welshman last time out.
Bolton welcome Newcastle to the Reebok Stadium on Sunday with former Trotters captain Kevin Nolan ruled out of an emotional meeting with his former club by suspension after his horror tackle on Victor Anichebe.
Both clubs are in need of the points to ease their relegation fears, with Wanderers having won six of their nine home Premier League meetings against the Magpies, while the Toon Army claimed the spoils from the other three.
Striker Kevin Davies is enjoying the most prolific season of his Premier League career, having reached double figures for the first time in 12 attempts, but Bolton's defence remains a concern for Gary Megson, with no clean sheets from their last 14 games.
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