The pick of this weekend's Premier League action is without a doubt Manchester City's home tie with Arsenal. Both teams have something to prove, City may have a 100% start but they're yet to come up against a side who will also be competing for honours and the match against Arsenal represents a great chance for them to establish their own top-four credentials.

By Gareth Freeman

Derby day in Manchester is always a special occasion but this year the stakes are higher than they have been in many years. For over a decade now United's dominance of the Premier League has cast a shadow over City. The stakes have risen somewhat now Manchester's other team have squillions to spend and have enjoyed a terrific start to the season.

Fair enough, it isn't the biggest Manchester derby ever but it is certainly one of the most important for years, perhaps even decades. For the first time in a very long time City see themselves as genuine contenders to take the title from United and after a summer of unprecedented spending they should go into this tie full of confidence.

The Chelsea monkey is well and truly off our backs, so now is the perfect time to go to Stamford Bridge with confidence. The defeat against Manchester United has guaranteed complacency will not be a problem, but with four wins under our belts we should still head west with nothing to fear.

Stamford Bridge is no longer the fortress it once was – Liverpool and Arsenal both won there last season – and the players have the confidence of knowing they took four points from Chelsea last term.

Real Madrid spent plenty of money in the summer to rejuvenate their faltering team. After falling way short of eventual Spanish and European Champions Barcelona last season Los Merengues forked out huge transfer fees on the likes of Ballon d'Or winners Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka, while Karim Benzema and Xabi Alonso also completed big moves to the Spanish capital.

The Champions League resumes this week with the fancied teams looking to extend their good starts and improve on their Champions League betting odds. All four English clubs won their first matches in the tournament, along with La Liga giants Real Madrid, while Barcelona and perennial dark horses Inter Milan shared the spoils in their San Siro clash.