Will there be only one undefeated team after this week?

If Manchester City’s form is anything to go by, then yes, but Newcastle have built their season thus far on a potent combination of a refusal to lose and explosive power going forward. Pardew’s astuteness in the transfer market is reaping serious rewards, and although their movement in the off season were on a somewhat smaller scale to that of their Premier League opponents this weekend, the results have been just as impressive at times.

City truly look unstoppable at this current moment in time though, and there is a reason that not many people seem to be giving Newcastle much of a hope in Manchester. With so many attacking options at his disposal, Newcastle, who boast the best defence in the league, may struggle to keep the Citizens at bay, but the chasing pack will be hoping that Pardew can extend this amazing unbeaten run by one more come Saturday afternoon.

It should be a fascinating encounter when the boys from St James Park, er...sorry, the boys from the Sports Direct Arena head down to Manchester to take on Mancini’s charges at the City of Manchester Stadium Etihad Stadium. It is understood that the clubs are considering selling the naming rights to the match.

Torres V Liverpool II

It was the move that sparked a vociferous reaction on the Merseyside in January last season. Fans burnt the famous Liverpool shirt that were adorned with number nine and a certain Spaniard’s name, whilst that very same Spaniard posed for the cameras in London, as he held out his new, pristine blue kit. Ironically, Torres made his debut against Liverpool at Stamford Bridge, in a 1-0 loss and things really have not gotten much better for Torres since.

Flashes of brilliance have been disrupted by long goal droughts, injuries and most recently suspensions, but Torres will relish the chance to get one over his old club, who have had to deal with an FA charge directed at their new number nine, Luis Suarez.  For Torres, this might just be the “second start” to his Chelsea career, and wouldn’t it be rather symmetrical if it was against his former club, the club he debuted against in Chelsea’s colours, that he finally found the form that prompted Abramovic to splash £50 million on?

Liverpool will be hoping to prove to Torres once again however that moving to Chelsea was a mistake. The Merseysiders have made a promising start to the season, but it is one that has been once again plagued with inconcistencies. Consecutive draws at home to newly promoted teams, Norwich and the Swansea, have Liverpool sitting three points away from the coveted Champions League spots, and a win at Stamford Bridge would see Dalglish’s men level with the Londoners who sit in fourth.

Relegation dogfight this week?

With only eleven games played, this may be a bit premature, but Blackburn and Wigan are two teams that genuinely seem to be fighting for their lives at the bottom of the table already. Wigan Athletic are propping up the table at this moment in time, loitering a dangerous five points off safety, whilst Blackburn are only one point better. Both teams have lost the vast majority of their matches this season. Blackburn have managed to pull of a big upset, which they did at Ewood Park when they beat a poor Arsenal side 4-2, but unfortunately for Steven Kean and his employers, even the biggest of upsets are only worth three points.

Both teams look devoid of answers, and although both managers appear, perhaps alarmingly, unperturbed by the situation they find themselves in, surely if survival is on the agenda for either manager this season, some points need to be won. It is these sort of matches that tend to decide who goes up and who goes down, and both managers will be making that point very clear to their players. Points won against the teams around you in a relegation dogfight are worth twice that won elsewhere.