West Ham still looking for their first win, while United try to close the gap at the top and Southampton hope to continue their progress to the top...

Premiership

It promises to be a tough weekend for the bottom two clubs in the Premiership, as both West Ham United and West Bromwich Albion host teams occupying top four places.

The match at Upton Park will be a particularly intriguing one, as the Hammers, without a home league win all season welcome Bobby Robson's bad travellers Newcastle United to capital.

Although the Magpies find themselves in fourth place, they have collected only eight points from a possible thirty on the road, leaving only four sides in the division with a worse away record.

Glenn Roeder's men will be further encouraged by their FA Cup victory at Upton Park over Nottingham Forest last weekend and Newcastle's away defeat to Wolves the following day.

The media spotlight will no doubt fall upon West Ham's new signing Lee Bowyer, who is likely to start on the bench, but don't rule out the evergreen Alan Shearer stealing the headlines as he attempts to return to the top of the scoring charts after last week's disappointment.

Manchester United are the visitors to the Hawthorns and will be attempting to close the gap on top spot, as much as West Brom will be trying to open the gap above basement club West Ham.

Both sides came through FA Cup third round ties against First Division opposition unscathed and will be looking to strikers Ruud van Nistelrooy and Danny Dichio, who shared five goals at the weekend, to get them back in to winning ways in the league.

The country's hottest striker James Beattie and Manager of the Month Gordon Strachan will not fear any challenge at present as they make the long trip north to the Riverside to face Middlesboro.

'Boro were narrowly beaten by Chelsea in the FA Cup, but will still have belief from their performance and victory over Manchester United the previous week.

Ex-England managers Kevin Keegan and Terry Venables meet at Maine Road, both finding themselves in relative mid table comfort.

Leeds have been resurgent in recent weeks, with England youth player James Milner getting universal praise for his performances and goals, but Venables will know that on their day Manchester City can be awesome going forward. Keegan will be frustrated by his teams inconsistency, so will be looking for more from his players as they could move level with Liverpool in seventh place.

Liverpool are gstill looking to end a horrendous run of no wins in ten league matches and confidence will not have been lifted by England youth player Michael Tonge's double strike in the Worthington Cup Semi-Final on Wednesday.

Ahead of the visit of Aston Villa they will be boosted by the news that Chris Kirkland is fit to play and there could be a return to the staring line-up of England strikers Michael Owen and Emile Heskey.

Graham Taylor will know that his side's form has not been a great deal better in recent weeks and they have fallen to only four places above the relegation spots.

Inflicting more misery on Gerard Houllier’s men could lift Villa up as high as tenth, highlighting how tight it is in the division this season. Bolton and Fulham are both dangerously close to the relegation places, so will see their clash at the Reebok stadium as vital to ensuring survival at the end of the season.

They will both be looking over their shoulders at Sunderland who have a home tie against Blackburn. There is an all London affair at Stamford Bridge, as Chelsea entertain Charlton.

Claudio Ranieri will be hoping his most influential factor, the groundsman, can deliver the best possible surface for the Blues passing game, which has suffered as the pitch has cut up recently.

The more direct style of Charlton could well see a surprise result in West London. Tottenham will have to wait until Sunday for the chance to eradicate the memory of last weekend's FA Cup mauling at the hands of Southampton, as they play host to Everton, another side who will be suffering a big Third Round hangover after defeat to Third Division Shrewsbury Town.

It will be a test of character for both sides, as their managers tell their players that they can now "concentrate on the league".

Arsenal also play on Sunday, against Steve Bruce's battling Birmingham City. The Gunners, currently five points ahead of second place Manchester United, will know that whatever happens they will remain top, but will not want to give any ground back to the chasing pack, as the transfer window opens and the pressure hots up in the race for the title.

First Division

The big match in the Nationwide League sees leaders Portsmouth at home to in form Sheffield United. The Blades could close the gap on Pompey to just seven points with the two games in hand that they have and a victory over them this weekend could see that gap closed even further.

Neil Warnock's men have had double cup success in the past week, beating Cheltenham 4-0 in the FA Cup and Liverpool 2-1 in the Worthington Cup, so will confidence will be sky-high.

Portsmouth will be hoping that their visitor's minds will be on the second leg against Liverpool and will be hoping to take their tenth home league win of the season.

Second-placed Leicester City host Tony Pulis' improving Stoke City and Nottingham Forest in fourth are Deepdale to face free-falling Preston.

Norwich City will be hoping that the power is restored at Carrow Road after last weekend's abandonment. Visitors Rotherham, the divisions top scorers away from home with 29 goals, face the best home defensive record, of only six conceded in thirteen matches.

The bottom two sides Sheffield Wednesday and Brighton both face difficult matches as they look to close a daunting gap above them, against Reading and Coventry respectively, as do Bradford City who face in-form Crystal Palace, as they attempt to drag themselves clear of the relegation fight.

Also at the wrong end of the table are Grimsby who travel to Wimbledon, for a match that is likely to yield the divisions smallest attendance of the season as the two lowest supported sides meet in wintry conditions at Selhurst Park.

The West Midland's derby between Walsall and Wolves will certainly be a lively encounter as they both look for points at different ends of the table.

Walsall will have to do without Gareth Ainsworth whose loan spell has expired and will meet a Wolves side full of confidence after their magnificent FA Cup victory over Premiership high-flyers Newcastle.

Mid-table clashes between Burnley and Ipswich, Derby and Gillingham and Millwall and Watford round-up the fixtures in the First Division this weekend.

Second Division

Runaway leaders Wigan Athletic face a test of their promotion credentials as they face chasers Bristol City at Ashton Gate this weekend. An amazing record by the Latics has seen them concede only four goals in twelve away matches and in doing they have only dropped seven points on their travels this season.

With Danny Wilson's side having almost as good home record, something will have to give in what is likely to be a great advert for football in the Second Division.

Cardiff will be looking to take advantage of any dropped points, but will be wary of a Northampton backlash after a 5-0 home defeat to Wycombe last weekend and new manager Terry Fenwick taking charge of the team for the first time.

Also pushing for the automatic promotion places are Oldham who are at Boundary Park against Brentford and Crewe who travel to Layer Road to take on Colchester United.

In the lower reaches of the table there are only seven points separating fifteenth placed Northampton and bottom club Huddersfield Town, so points are at a premium for so many clubs. The Terriers meet Peterborough who are just two points above them and also included in the ten sides are Notts County and Stockport who meet at Meadow Lane.

Many of the sides in that group at the bottom have matches against play-off chasers, including Cheltenham who entertain Tranmere, Port Vale hosting Chesterfield, Barnsley who are at Queens Park Rangers and the Keith Curle inspired Mansfield who are against Wycombe Wanderers.

Division Three's top two last season Luton Town and Plymouth Argyle meet at Kenilworth Road as they both look to fortify their play-off bids for back-to-back promotions and Swindon and Blackpool look to move clear of mid-table obscurity with victory in the final tie in the division.

Third Division

It is business as usual at Gay Meadow this weekend after Shrewsbury's FA Cup exploits of last Saturday, as manager Kevin Ratcliffe will be disappointed to slip any closer to the two relegation places. Currently only seven points and five places above the drop zone, the Shrews face Southend who are one point better off than them.

At the top, Hartlepool go to struggling Macclesfield Town and Rushden and Diamonds visit play-off chasing Kidderminster Harriers.

Third placed Bury face bottom club Swansea, but should not underestimate the Welshmen, as their form at the Vetch Field is similar to that of many mid-table sides. It is the away form that has let the Swans down, as they have only been able to pick up three points on their travels all season.

Also at the foot of the table are Exeter, who have a tough trip to Hull to overcome and Bristol Rovers who travel to Rochdale. Carlisle and Boston United both have home matches as they try to stay out of the relegation places, against top half sides Wrexham and Lincoln.

Oxford United and Darlington, who meet at the Kassam Stadium, faced very different opposition last weekend, Arsenal and Farnborough respectively, but both ended up being knocked out of the FA Cup.

With only three points between fourth and thirteenth place, the play-offs are very much a free-for-all at present and four of the leading teams in that group face each other on Saturday, as Cambridge and Bournemouth meet and Torquay entertain York. Leyton Orient visit Scunthorpe in the final match of the day.