Manchester United fans - methinks you owe Emile Heskey rather a large drink. There must have been a few wry smiles from the Red camp on Monday evening when the Wigan striker netted that injury time equaliser thus severely denting Chelsea’s rampant title chase.

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Wigan are definitely the form side of all the teams in the relegation battle at the moment. They’ve embarked on an impressive 4-match unbeaten run of two wins and 2 draws to pull themselves 6 points clear of the relegation zone. Unlike the majority of the sides at the bottom of the table, the Latics are solid at the back at 5 clean-sheets in the last 6 matches would suggest. Premier 10 players should note that Steve Bruce has turned his side into one that’s extremely difficult to beat.

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Roy Hodgson’s brave gamble of bringing in 5 new faces in the transfer window to boost Fulham’s survival chances seems to have failed as the Cottagers have now slumped to 3 straight defeats and now lie 6 points adrift of safety. This weekend he visits his former club Blackburn in what looks like a Premier 10 home banker.

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The Gunners moved back into top spot with a convincing win over Manchester City at Eastlands as rivals United and Chelsea slipped up last weekend. The upcoming visit of Blackburn to the Emirates is hardly a frightening proposition for an Arsenal side unbeaten in their last 9 matches (7 wins). Even the absence of centre-half Kolo Toure due to the African Cup of Nations hasn’t proved to be a major thorn in the side of Wenger’s young guns as 10 points from a possible 12 available shows. Rovers are on a 7-match unbeaten run themselves but after drawing their last 3 games they won’t be relishing a trip to North London.

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The Toffees are unbeaten in the last 5 League encounters with Blackburn (won 3) and haven’t lost on their last 3 visits to Ewood Park (1 win). Neither club has been particularly active in the transfer market this January though David Moyes managed to bring in youngster Dan Gosling from Plymouth and playmaker Manuel Fernandes for a second loan spell. He also managed to make a tidy profit from the sale of bit-part player James McFadden to Birmingham in the process, so good work all round. Rovers haven’t signed a single player yet but did manage to shake off reported interest in manager Mark Hughes from Newcastle.

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Gareth Southgate looks set to do a fair bit of business in the January transfer window with a striker high on the list of priorities but its the distant sound of the samba drums that will be exciting the Boro fans. The Riverside has been a haven for a number of Brazilian imports over the years including Juninho (3 spells at the club), Emerson, Branco and Fabio Rochemback. This January there could be a couple more to add to the list in the shape of strikers Afonso Alves and Fred.

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The ongoing Nicolas Anelka saga looks set to be resolved before the weekend with his expected transfer to Chelsea to be completed. The sale of Bolton’s star player could jeopardise the Trotters Premier League safety with only 3 points separating them from the drop zone. Anelka’s goal tally emphasizes his importance this season. The moody Frenchman has scored 10 of Bolton’s 23 Premier League goals. The club’s next top scorers have 3 apiece in the shape of Kevin Nolan and El-hadji Diouf. So expect the Trotters to struggle.

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Both sides ended the year on a high with wins, Rovers European ambitions were reignited and Sunderland’s dreams of survival boosted as they climbed out of the drop zone. Blackburn are looking for their first back-to-back wins since October but will be aware they have won just 1 of their last 5 games at Ewood Park. Mark Hughes’ side have failed to score in 4 of their last 5 home matches so the Black Cats will fancy their chances of an upset. Roy Keane will know that the Rovers defence has been less than watertight after keeping just 1 clean-sheet in their last 15 League games so don’t be surprised if Kenwyne Jones gets on the score-sheet.

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The Rams almost picked up two impressive results in a week when they were minutes away from a draw with Liverpool on Boxing Day but there are genuine signs of improvement under Paul Jewell. This is perhaps a case of too little, too late to save them from relegation, after all they are bottom of the Premier League, 9 points from safety but at least they may take a few big name scalps on their way back to the Championship.

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Can Sven-Goran Eriksson make it 10 straight home wins for City this weekend? Judging on Rovers recent form it is looking as likely as a Turkey dinner on Christmas day. However, Rovers have a superb record against the Citizens having remained unbeaten against them for over 4 years. In fact, Blackburn have won the last 4 meetings and not lost against their Eastlands counterparts in 8 games. Mark Hughes will be hoping his shaky defence can get back to business as usual against City as his side have kept 5 clean-sheets in the last 6 matches against the blue side of Manchester.

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