Arsenal will look to Robin van Persie to fire them into the Last 16.

Chelsea travel to Leverkusen in dismal domestic form and face an old friend in Michael Ballack who will want to pile further pressure on Andre Vilas Boas and make Chelsea’s task of qualification tougher, with The Blues still to face tricky Valencia at home. The draw looks good value at 9/4 and is a result that would probably suit both sides going into the final set of games in Group E, with less than 2.5 goals to be scored 4/5 looking a good option for punters. Valencia host Racing Genk needing a win to keep the pressure on Chelsea and should get what they need comfortably against the Belgian minnows, the Spanish side to win by two goals is 3/1.

AC Milan host a clash of the giants against Barcelona at the San Siro and this game may prove less exciting than neutrals expected with both sides having qualified. It’s evens on there being less than 2.5 goals and punters should be biting the arm off the bookies for that price. Of course course Lionel Messi is also likely to find the net and is 3/1 to be first scorer. Milan were less than convincing in their previous European outing against Borisov and are 13/8 not to find the net tonight. BATE themselves face Victoria Plzen in what is effectively a play off for a Europa League place. The Belarussians are 5/4 and in a double with Barcelona yield a price of 3/1 which is good value on the double.

In Arsenal’s group Marseille will want to give themselves as much breathing space as possible over Dortmund and can do that at home against Olympiakos. Disappointing Shakhtar Donetsk host Porto in an important game in Ukraine with the draw looking a likely outcome at 12/5 while Zenit St Petersburg will look to secure their place in the knockout rounds with a win over surprise package APOEL Nicosia, who will probably face a nervy final night at home to Shakhtar in which they may need just a point to secure an unlikely passage to the Last 16.

SYS Predictions:

• Bayer Leverkusen 1-1 Chelsea
• Valencia 2-0 Racing Genk
• Arsenal 2-1 Borussia Dortmund
• Marseille 2-0 Olympiakos
• Shakhtar Donetsk 2-2 Porto
• Zenit St Petersburg 2-0 APOEL Nicosia
• AC Milan 0-1 Barcelona
• BATE Borisov 2-1 Victoria Plzen

SYS Tip: Chelsea and Bayer Leverkusen to draw at 9/4

Cristiano Ronaldo is just 5/1 to score a hat-trick tonight.

Real Madrid should qualify with ease when they play Dinamo Zagreb at home and with the Spanish giants in the scoring form they’re in this could be a landslide. A sign of the bookies fear of Cristiano Ronaldo can be seen in his price of just 5/1 to score a hat-trick so from a value perspective this one is probably best avoided. Bayern Munich are very short priced favourites as well, and no wonder, given the limp performances of their opponents Villareal. You can certainly expect both these sides to score goals tonight so shop around for those specials.

The Russian sides have made an impressive impact this year and CSKA Moscow can join Inter in the next round with a win over a disappointing Lille side at a handsome 13/10. FC Basel need a win to keep the pace on Benfica and Manchester United against the minnows of Group C Otelul Galati and traditionally Lyon are good at home in the Champions League and are fancied to beat Ajax having opened up at 5-6 before moving into 8/11. This treble is another good value one at 6/1 so there are some big opportunities for the punter tonight.

SYS Predictions:

• Bayern Munich 2-0 Villareal
• Napoli 1-2 Manchester City
• CKSA Moscow 1-0 Lille
• Trabzonspor 0-1 Inter Milan
• Manchester United 2-1 Benfica
• Otelul Galati 0-2 FC Basel
• Lyon 2-1 Ajax
• Real Madrid 4-0 Dinamo Zagreb

SYS Tip: Manchester City, Manchester United and Inter Milan win treble at 13/2.

A fitting tribute

Newcastle were another side to keep up their dazzling start to the season with a determined 2-1 at home to Everton. Johnny Heitinga scored a disastrous own goal and then Ryan Taylor scored with a wonderful dipping volley before Jack Rodwell scrambled home a goal back. Everton should have had a penalty when Dan Gosling handled Louis Saha’s goal bound shot but fortune favours the brave and Newcastle held on for their win. Chelsea restored some confidence with a 1-0 win over Blackburn at Ewood Park. Frank Lampard’s stooping header was the difference but Rovers had several opportunities to take something from the game and the performance should give fans plenty to hope for for the rest of the season. Arsenal continued their revival with a comfortable 3-0 win against West Brom. That man Robin van Persie opened the scoring and powerful finishes from Thomas Vermaelen and Mikel Arteta added gloss to a good performance from The Gunners.

Aston Villa and Norwich served up a treat at Villa Park with a game that Villa won 3-2. Anthony Pilkington gave The Canaries the lead with a fabulous free kick but Darren Bent tapped home to draw Villa level. Gabriel Agbonlahor took advantage of mayhem in the Norwich defence to give Villa the lead before setting up Bent to make it 3-1. Steve Morison set up a nervy finish with a headed goal but the home side held on for the win. Liverpool and Swansea served up a tepid game at Anfield which both sides could have won, but it finished 0-0.

Wolves celebrate a crucial win over Wigan

On Sunday Wolves picked up a crucial three points in a 3-1 home win against Wigan. Jamie O’Hara giving Wolves the lead before Ben Watson saw a penalty saved by Wayne Henessey but made no mistake with the rebound. David Edwards smashed in a second for Wolves despite heroics from Ali Al-Habsi and Stephen Ward got the crucial third after another fine Al-Habsi save. Bolton got revenge for their humiliating FA Cup Semi Final defeat in April by defeating beleaguered Stoke City 5-0 at The Reebok. Kevin Davies gave Bolton the lead after just two minutes and Chris Eagles and Ivan Klasnic grabbed a brace each as Wanderers ran riot and picked up a crucial win. The final game of the weekend was a cracker at Craven Cottage between Fulham and Tottenham. Gareth Bale’s shot, helped into the goal by Chris Baird, and a fantastic solo run and finish by Aaron Lennon gave Spurs a 2-0 half time lead but Fulham were excellent after the break and got a goal back when Younes Kaboul inadvertently headed into his own net. Fulham deserved another goal and had several opportunities but Jermaine Defoe volleyed home in injury time to give Spurs the points and keep up their excellent run.

SYS Team of the Week: Al-Habsi (Wigan); Ivanovic (Chelsea), R.Taylor (Newcastle), Vermaelen (Arsenal), Wheater (Bolton); O’Hara (Wolves), Eagles (Bolton), Silva (Manchester City), Yaya Toure (Manchester City); van Persie (Arsenal), Agbonlahor (Aston Villa)

Mario Balotelli is the the squad for a Champions League game for Manchester City for the first time this season.

Manchester United host minnows Otelul Galati at Old Trafford looking to all but secure their progress to the next phase and few would question the home side to beat the 25/1 shots. United have a few injury problems with Ashley Young, Chris Smalling and Tom Cleverley out injured, but the strike partnership of Javier Hernandez and Wayne Rooney should be far too much for the Romanians and a 4-0 win is 6/1.  Rooney and Danny Welbeck are 2/1 to both score and given the form of the latter this could also be worth following.

Of the other ties Lyon face Real Madrid, Madrid have been excellent this season and 4/7 is a worthy price for them to continue that, Bayern Munich host Napoli at The Allianz Arena and Inter Milan play struggling Lille at home which adds up to an excellent treble at 16/5. CSKA Moscow are good value to overcome Trabzonspor away from home at 15/8 after a decent start to their group campaign while Benfica and Ajax are odds on to beat Basel and Dinamo Zagreb respectively in what could turn out to be a rather predictable night of action.

SYS Predictions:

• Bayern Munich 2-1 Napoli
• Villareal 1-3 Manchester City
• Inter Milan 2-0 Lille
• Trabzonspor 0-1 CSKA Moscow
• Benfica 2-0 FC Basel
• Manchester United 4-0 Otelul Galati
• Ajax 2-1 Dinamo Zagreb
• Lyon 0-2 Real Madrid

SYS Tip of the Day: Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Inter Milan treble at 16/5.

Aaron Ramsey got a last minute winner when Arsenal met Marseille in France

Elsewhere in Europe Barcelona and AC Milan take on Viktoria Plzen and BATE Borisov respectively in one of the most predictable groups of all time. Both English sides and Barca and Milan are 12/5 to pick up wins and this is surely worth backing. Zenit St Petersburg are strong at home and are likely to win against Shakhtar Donetsk who have been disappointing in the competition thus far, Borussia Dortmund need a victory and should secure it against Olympiakos who traditionally struggle on the road and this makes a good value double at 6/4. Valencia have been dogged my inconsistency and play host to Bayer Leverkusen so far while Porto go to APOEL Nicosia, surprise package of the tournament so far, needing a win that will aid their quest in topping Group G and should also be looking to win.

SYS Predictions:

• Racing Genk 0-3 Chelsea
• Valencia 1-0 Bayer Leverkusen
• Arsenal 2-1 Marseille
• Borussia Dortmund 2-1 Olympiakos
• Zenit St Petersburg 2-1 Shakhtar Donetsk
• APOEL Nicosia 0-2 Porto
• BATE Borisov 0-2 AC Milan
• Viktoria Plzen 0-3 Barcelona

SYS Tip for the Day: Arsenal, Chelsea, Barcelona and AC Milan to win at 12/5.

Arsenal celebrate Robin van Persie's magnificent hat-trick

Earlier in the afternoon Manchester United overcame a difficult game at Goodison Park to beat Everton 1-0, Javier Hernandez getting the goal, to keep up up the pressure on Manchester City who overcame a resilient Wolves side 3-1 at The Etihad Stadium. Edin Dzeko got the first after a disastrous error from Wayne Hennesey, Aleksandr Kolarov doubled the advantage before Vincent Kompany was sent off  for a tug on Kevin Doyle. Stephen Hunt scored the resulting penalty but Adam Johnson curled home late on to secure the points as City march on.

At the other end of the table Norwich came back from  3-1 down to draw 3-3 with Blackburn at Carrow Road. Junior Hoilett scored the opener but Steve Morison volleyed in an equaliser in two of weekend’s best goals. Yakubu and Chris Samba put daylight between the two sides but Michael Bradley scored a deflected strike and in injury time Martin Olsson was harshly adjudged to have handballed and Grant Holt tucked away the resulting penalty. Swansea overcame struggling Bolton 3-1 at The Liberty Stadium with goals from Joe Allen, Scott Sinclair and Danny Graham while Fulham overcame Wigan 2-0 at The DW Stadium courtesy of strikes from Clint Dempsey and Moussa Dembele.

Sunderland and Aston Villa played out an 2-2 draw in another entertaining game. Stilian Petrov scoring beautifully from 20 yards giving Villa the lead until Connor Wickham smashed home to make it 1-1. Richard Dunne thought he had got the winner five minutes from time but back came Sunderland and Stephane Sessegnon bundled home in the 89th minute to save a point for a relieved Steve Bruce. In the evening game Liverpool beat West Brom 2-0 thanks to a penalty from Charlie Adam and Andy Carroll’s third goal of the season and on Sunday Tottenham kept up their excellent form with a 3-1 home win against QPR with Gareth Bale grabbing a brace and Rafael van der Vaart getting the other, in between a consolation goal for Jay Bothroyd.

Bale capped an excellent performance with two goals

SYS Team of the Weekend: Schwarzer (Fulham); Richards (Manchester City), Kolarov (Manchester City), Vidic (Manchester United) Koscielny (Arsenal); Hoilett (Blackburn), Bale (Tottenham) Parker (Tottenham), Allen (Swansea); van Persie (Arsenal), Walcott (Arsenal)

Arsenal travel to Stamford Bridge for the sternest test yet of the reformation in squad and form over the last few months, for Chelsea this is the ideal opportunity to put to bed the painful memory of last weekend’s defeat to neighbours QPR. The media had an absolute field day at the Blues expense on Monday morning and Andre Vilas-Boas will want people talking about Chelsea after this one. Arsenal are undergoing their worst run of league away form in the Premier League but that would soon be forgotten if they could pull of a victory at Stamford Bridge, something they haven’t done since 2008. Arsene Wenger will be well aware of the pressure to end their baron away run, but will have been heartened by a gutsy 1-0 win in Marseille last week followed by an important home win against a determined Stoke side. Chelsea is a different kettle of fish though and The Gunners boss will be plotting to exploit any weakness The Blues may have.

One of those weaknesses may be the absence of Didier Drogba, tormentor of Arsenal on so many occasions, who is missing through suspension. John Terry is likely to return after sitting out Wednesday’s Carling Cup tie with Everton despite the race row that has gathered pace as the week’s gone on. Juan Mata and Frank Lampard will also start as Vilas-Boas rings the changes from Wednesday’s tough but ultimately fruitful tie at Goodison Park. For Arsenal Robin van Persie will return to the starting line up and crucially, Thomas Vermaelen has been passed fit, although may deputise at right back due to the dearth of options and the form of Laurent Koscielny, who has been excellent in recent weeks.

Thomas Vermaelen is set to start his first league game since August.

In the Abramovich era Arsenal have struggled to break Chelsea down at Stamford Bridge and with Chelsea 4/7 favourites it could be lucrative to bet on a Chelsea win to nil. 1-0 is 13/2 and 2-0, the final score of the previous two meetings here, is 7/1. Both are odds that offer good value, but the handicap markets are also worth looking at with Chelsea -1 at 6/4 if you feel they can win by two goals. It’s likely to be a tight affair and the draw is also excellent value at 3/1, although it’s difficult to offer Arsenal much support given their 2011 away form. One man who is in sensational form is van Persie and he scored both goals in Arsenal’s last win at The Bridge in 2008, he and Daniel Sturridge are a well priced 8/1 which could be worth a few quid.

Overall, this promises to be yet another explosive game between two big London rivals and once again The Premier League has thrown a fixture that cannot fail to have neutrals watering at the mouth.

Possible line ups: Chelsea: Cech; Ivanovic, Cole, Terry, Luiz; Mikel, Lampard, Meireles; Mata, Torres, Sturridge. Arsenal: Szczesny; Vermaelen, Santos, Koscielny, Mertesacker; Song, Arteta, Ramsey; Walcott, Gervinho, van Persie.

SYS Tip for the game: Chelsea to win 2-0 at 7/1.

As a new season approached, a new manager was installed, a Champions League winning coach and former England manager at that, Nottingham Forest must have had high expectations going into the new season. However, not all went to plan for the former Middlesbrough manager, who lasted only 112 days in charge after a start the season that bore closest resemblance to England’s Euro 2008 qualifying campaign three years ago.

For former FC Twente and Wolfsburg manager Steve McClaren, it was a torrid time at Nottingham Forest, to which he only managed to pick up 8 points from his 10 games in charge. Having succeeded Billy Davies, who was sacked after failing to get Forest past the play-off semi final stages two seasons on the bounce, there was pressure on his shoulders to maintain Davies’ high example. McClaren couldn’t manage a home win at his time at the City Ground, and in time, resigned from his post, leaving Forest just one point above the relegation zone.

With McClaren out of the door, the board at Nottingham Forest had to appoint a new manager who would clear them of their relegation worries, but also take them onto play-off contention at the very least, like Billy Davies. There were various managers linked with the vacant post, with names such as Martin O’Neill and Paul Hart being banded about. In the end though, the job went to Steve Cotterill, who was managing Portsmouth – a side two places above Forest and a point better off.

Steve Cotterill has guided Forest to two wins in his first two games in charge.

For some fans, it was not the big name that they were hoping for, instead the manager position went to a young manager, who had won league and cup titles in the lower leagues, including getting Notts County promoted from League 2. The former Pompey boss had a reasonable time on the South Coast, steadying a rocky ship whilst having to work under a tight financial budget and backroom uncertainty. However, since his arrival at the City Ground, Cotterill has managed 2 wins out of two, getting the better of an unbeaten Middlesbrough side at home and Blackpool away, leaving Forest with a bit more room for breathing being four points above the relegation zone.

For a club with so much heritage and history, Steve Cotterill has taken the reigns of a side boasting the likes of buoyant midfielder Radoslaw Majewski, young talent such as Lewis McGugan and Chris Gunter, and a strikeforce headed by Ishamel Miller, can Cotterill be the man to take the team to a place one better than Billy Davies could manage? At this early stage in the season, you cannot write off Forest’s chances, but they do have some ground to make up first.

Cotterill has a week free of mid-week games before his next match, where Nottingham Forest have a tough home tie on Saturday against a play-off chasing Hull City, who are currently on an eight game unbeaten run.

It’s early days, but Cotterill already looks to have steadied a sinking ship once again, and given Forest fans renewed optimism for the season ahead.

Sunday's game will live long in the memory of Manchester City supporters.

QPR and Chelsea then served up another dramatic contest that saw two red cards and a number of controversial refereeing decisions. Rangers took the lead when David Luiz clumsily felled Heidar Helguson in the box, with the Icelander just about slotting the penalty high into the net. Jose Bosingwa was then sent off as he brought down the excellent Shaun Wright-Phillips who was coming in from the left channel and Didier Drogba’s two footed lunge on Adel Taarabt saw him sent for an early bath. In the second half Chelsea rallied admirably but QPR held on for a famous win.

Elsewhere on Sunday Robin van Persie emerged from the bench to be Arsenal’s saviour once again in a 3-1 win over Stoke City at the Emirates Stadium. Gervinho gave Arsenal the lead but Peter Crouch quickly equalised for Stoke before van Persie’s intervention in the second half. Tottenham beat troubled Blackburn 2-1 at Ewood Park to mount further pressure on Steve Kean, Rafael van der Vaart grabbing an excellent brace, while Fulham went down 3-1 to Everton following an extraordinary final few minutes at Craven Cottage. Royston Drenthe had given The Toffees the lead with a stunning curling effort after three minutes but Bryan Ruiz got Fulham on level terms with a deft chip over a floundering Tim Howard. With injury time approaching Bobby Zamora missed an open goal and from the resulting goal kick Louis Saha grabbed the crucial second goal for Everton, Jack Rodwell added gloss to a 3-1 win with a powerful finish in the third minute of time added on.

In Saturday’s lunch time game Wolves came back to earn a point against Swansea at Molineux. Danny Graham and Joe Allen gave The Swans a deserved 2-0 but a tactical shuffle from Mick McCarthy saw Kevin Doyle tap home from close range and then Jamie O’Hara smash home from fifteen yards to earn Wolves a point. Newcastle overcame struggling Wigan at St. James’ Park 1-0 after a lovely late finish from the ever improving Yohann Cabaye and Sunderland beat Bolton 2-0 at The Reebok with goals from Stephane Sessegnon and Nicklas Bendtner.

Phil Dowd made the headlines for all the wrong reasons once again after a woeful refereeing display at Villa Park. Darren Bent gave Aston Villa the lead against West Brom with a penalty before Chris Herd inexplicably saw red after a mythical stamp on Jonas Olsson. Chris Brunt blazed the resulting penalty wide but the damage was done for the home side. Olsson rubbed salt into the wounds when he headed home a corner and Paul Scharner got the winner with another goal from a set piece that went in off the bar.

SYS Team of the Week: Krul (Newcastle); Richards (Manchester City), Assou-Ekotto (Tottenham), Koscielny (Arsenal), Kompany (Manchester City); Silva, Milner (Both Manchester City) Cabaye (Newcastle), van der Vaart (Tottenham); van Persie (Arsenal), Balotelli (Manchester City)

Super Sunday really is  a super Sunday this weekend as arch enemies and the two favourites for The Premier League title go head-to-head in what could be yet another watershed result for ‘the noisy neighbours’. Victory at Old Trafford on Sunday would give Roberto Mancini even greater reason to claim that his side are ready to not just take over the city of Manchester, but become the dominant force in English football. Sir Alex Ferguson will rarely have had more sleepless nights ahead of a game against City but with the vast amount invested in the squad,  City finally look capable of mounting a serious title challenge. Both sides are unbeaten which adds an extra, enthralling dimension to this mouth watering fixture which some people have claimed could be Manchester the capital of European football again.

David de Gea should return after an impressive display against Liverpool

Neither side has any major injury concerns ahead of the game but Carlos Tevez, chief protagonist in these games in recent years, is obviously unavailable for selection due to his spat with Mancini. Both managers will be trying to work out what the other will be planning and it will be interesting to see whether Ferguson tries to match City’s big, physical midfield or plays with his traditional 4-4-2 formation, with Javier Hernandez and Wayne Rooney linking up front with Nani and Ashley Young providing the ammunition. United are also likely to have Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic back together again which is a huge boost. David de Gea sat out the Champions League tie with Otelul Galati but will return in goal following an excellent display last weekend against Liverpool.

For City, Sergio Aguero should start following his match winning cameo role in Tuesday night’s victory over Villareal, as will Micah Richards, Gael Clichy and Gareth Barry. Following an indifferent display in midweek Edin Dzeko will drop to the bench and is likely to be joined by Mario Balotelli, despite his excellent display against Aston Villa last weekend but Mancini will be licking his lips at the wealth of options available to him if things need changing.

When looking to make a play in this game it’s tough as the game is almost certain to be decided by the odd goal, but there could be value in a price of 14/1 for a half time/full time of Manchester City/draw. City have tended to fly out of the blocks in these games in recent times but United seem to peg them back. The draw itself is a very brave 12/5 and seeing as this may be a result City have set their sights on it offers very good value and the two leading frontmen in The Premier League, Wayne Rooney and Sergio Aguero, are 8/1 to both score which is also worth being nibbled at. This is another game that the neutrals will be looking forward to all weekend and should be a fascinating insight into the aspirations of two sides with immense talent for the coming season.

Possible line ups: Manchester United: De Gea; Smalling, Evra, Vidic, Ferdinand; Nani, Young, Fletcher, Anderson; Hernandez, Rooney. Manchester City: Hart; Richards, Clichy, Kompany, Lescott; Yaya Toure, de Jong, Barry, Nasri, Silva; Aguero.

SYS Tip: Manchester City/Draw half time/full time at 14/1