The second day of the fourth round of matches in the Carling Cup saw 8 premier league teams battle it out for a place in the quarterfinals. Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea all had away games against Stoke, Wolves and Everton respectively while league strugglers Blackburn hosted high flying Newcastle at home.

Liverpool managed to come back from being a goal down courtesy of a brace from Luis Suarez, as they booked their place in the next round. Kenwyne Jones opened the scoring at the end of the first half as Jon Walters stole the ball from Sebastian Coates and delivered an excellent cross from the right, with Jones converting with an equally good header. However, Liverpool scored just 9 minutes after the restart, with Luis Suarez nutmegging Ryan Shotton, before curling in a screamer from the left into the bottom right corner of the goal. The Uruguayan was again on target after 85 minutes as  his header found the back of the net, with Jordan Henderson providing the assist. Liverpool dominated the majority of the match and with no further goals, downed Stoke at the Britannia.

The first day of the fourth round of matches in the Carling Cup saw 4 matches being played in all, with 3 Premier League teams in action including Manchester United, Arsenal and Bolton. While Alex Ferguson’s men travelled away from home to face League Two side Aldershot Town, Arsene Wenger’s team had a much tougher task to accomplish with Bolton their opponents at the Emirates.

Following an embarrassing loss to local rivals Manchester City at Old Trafford, United were looking to make a statement and return back to winning ways. They did just that against Aldershot Town as they booked their place in the quarterfinals with a 0-3 win. Bulgarian striker Dimitar Berbatov opened the scoring after just 15 minutes as Park Ji-Sung set him up after an incisive run from the left. The visitors then doubled their tally four minutes before half time as Michael Owen found the back of the net. The striker started the attack after sending Berbatov through on the right with a long ball, and then converted his pass with a determined run to the box. After the restart, it took the Red Devils just 3 minutes to score their third, as Antonio Valencia hit the back of the net with an excellent strike from outside the box. Although both sides created a few more half chances, none of them scored following Valencia’s goal as the match ended with a 0-3 score-line.

The Manchester derby on Sunday was billed as the most important fixture between Manchester United and Manchester City since 1968, the last time the clubs finished as the top two in England. The final score might have not gone according to the predicted script, but it did serve a reminder to Manchester in particular and England in general that Man City were here to stay. United fans headed into Old Trafford supremely confident of defeating their cross-town rivals, with City needing no reminding that they had tasted victory at the Theatre of Dreams only once since 1974. But what transpired over the 90 minutes, especially in the last quarter shook the pillars of English football. Pundits have been quick to dig deep into historical records to unearth any precedent to this most humbling of defeats for United.

But stats aside, this was a truly clinical performance from City, who were setup perfectly by their Italian tactician Roberto Mancini. They overpowered United in the middle of the park, outnumbering and outmanoeuvring United's weak midfield. A large chunk of the blame must go the way of United's defence, which showed naiveté in the closing stages to allow City rack up the goal tally. This was a freak result, an aberration in an otherwise pristine season so far for the Champions. But there is no denying the huge void that needs filling in the Red Devils setup, namely central midfield. All summer long Sir Alex was rumoured to be interested in Wesley Sneijder, Samir Nasri etc but nothing transpired as not for the first time United headed into a season with question marks over the creative heart of their side.

The West-London derby at Loftus Road between Chelsea and QPR produced a cracking contest that had all the elements of a classic English game. Two red cards, 9 yellow cards, one penalty and one ecstatic side in blue hoops. Queens Park Rangers hadn't defeated Chelsea since March of 1995 and without a home win all season, the cards were all in Chelsea's favour. But it was the minnows who shocked their famous opponents 1-0 thanks to a 9th minute penalty from Heidar Helguson. Jose Bosingwa and Dider Drogba got their marching orders in a dismal first half for Chelsea.

Despite being down to 9-men, Chelsea showed great spirit in the 2nd half to test QPR. Their best chance fell to Nicolas Anelka, but his free-header flew straight at the keeper. QPR held on for a famous victory and their first home win since returning to the Premier League.

The biggest Manchester derby in years, an early-season title decider, a top of the table slugfest, the monikers were never ending ahead of the eagerly awaited clash. Manchester City had won only once at Old Trafford since 1974 while Manchester United were looking to extend their unbeaten home record to 38 games in all competitions. A bright start aside, United were abject for most of the game as City got it spot on tactically. Mario Balotelli put aside the controversy over the fireworks display at his home to score a brace. The first arrived 20 minutes in as he curled a beauty from the edge of the box while the 2nd came around the hour mark. But not before United were reduced to 10-men as Jonny Evans got a direct red card for pulling down Balotelli. Sergio Aguero added a third to provide the exclamation mark for a wonderful City performance.

Darren Fletcher's curling effort ten minutes from time gave the fans a glimmer of hope. But City added a further three goals in the closing stages, with Edin Dzeko grabbing a brace while David Silva got the other. The final score of 6-1 wasn't a fair reflection of the game as a whole but City totally deserved the three points.

Arsenal hosted the physically imposing Stoke City at the Emirates for their 9^th league match of the season, chasing their 6th home win in a row in all competitions. The hosts started well and managed to get their noses in front after 27 minutes courtesy of a goal by Gervinho. Stoke, however, equalised after 7 minutes following a set piece as Peter Crouch found the back of the net. With all three points at stake, Arsene Wenger decided to bring on star striker Robin van Persie in the second half, and the move paid rich dividends with the Dutchman scoring two goals in the space of 9 minutes to send the Gunners to 7^th place in the table, just 2 points behind Liverpool.

Arsenal went into this match with their usual 4-2-3-1 formation with Marouane Chamakh getting a starting spot upfront in place of Robin van Persie. The in-form Dutchman was rested for this match with a midweek Carling cup clash against Bolton and a league match against Chelsea coming up next week. Behind the Moroccan were the trio of Gervinho, Theo Walcott and Aaron Ramsey while Mikel Arteta and Alex Song took their usual place in the midfield. Arsenal’s defence comprised of Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertesacker at the centre, with Johan Djourou on the right and Andre Santos on the left.