Everton, who tasted defeat in the 213th Merseyside Derby last weekend in an ill-tempered match against Liverpool at Anfield, await the visit of Barclays Premier League leaders Chelsea to Goodison Park this Wednesday night. Chelsea meanwhile had a derby of their own, overcoming Arsenal 2 - 0 at Stamford Bridge to reclaim top spot from Manchester United. The last time these two sides met in the Premier League was in December last year, when Everton pushed Chelsea all the way in a highly entertaining 3 - 3 draw at the Bridge. A similar result at Goodison Park would definitely please the home crowd, but Chelsea can ill afford any more slip ups, especially with the Red Devils in hot pursuit.

Everton's manager David Moyes was watching from the stands as Chelsea gunned down Arsenal at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. And he must have got a pretty clear idea of what's in store for his Everton side when they take on the Blues at Goodison Park. Everton are in decent form in the League with 4 wins, including that spectacular display against Manchester City and a draw against Arsenal, prior to Saturday's derby defeat to Liverpool. The game against Liverpool was a scrappy affair with Everton having a lot of the ball, but with practically no cutting edge to their game. They will be disappointed to come away from Anfield empty handed, especially with Liverpool playing with 10 men for most of the match. Despite the defeat Moyes chose to look at the bigger picture. "There's very little difference between us and Liverpool in terms of what's being shown on the field just now," Moyes was quoted as saying by the club's official website.

What are the qualities that make for a top football side? For most people, sheer skill on the football would rank first. Teamwork and character though, would definitely rank a close second. On Saturday, against local rivals Everton, Liverpool displayed a resolve and steel that would have impressed even their harshest critics. To play two thirds of a match with ten men, go on to take the lead shortly after, and then defend that lead with confidence and composure till the final whistle, takes character.

Just over 24 hours later, an Arsenal side deflated by two Drogba goals early in the first half gave a very good account of themselves against a strong Chelsea defence at Stamford Bridge. Manchester United boss Sir Alex was willing Arsenal to go and ‘batter' Chelsea, and Arsenal duly obliged. They out-passed; out-moved and out-maneuvered Chelsea throughout long second half spells but were not able to get the goals to show for their efforts. Notwithstanding the fact that Liverpool were successful in their endeavor and Arsenal were not, the mental strength and determination exhibited by both teams deserves special praise.

A highly eventful encounter between midland rivals Birmingham City and Wolverhampton Wanderers at St. Andrews resulted in the hosts claiming all three points. Kevin Doyle put Wolves ahead in the first half, but two late goals by 36-year old substitute Kevin Phillips put paid to Mick McCarthy's hopes of a win.

Birmingham dominated the early exchanges with Stephen Ward getting in the way of a James McFadden drive, and Cameron Jerome having a header cleared off the line by Michael Mancienne. Birmingham were to have another couple of pot shots at goal before Wolves came alive in the offensive third. Some speculative efforts was all Wolves were able to conjure up, with Cameron Jerome once again going close at the other end.

Chelsea overcame Arsenal 2-0 at Stamford Bridge courtesy of a first half Didier Drogba brace to regain top spot in the Barclays Premier League at the expense of Manchester United. The Gunners had a great chance to draw level in between the Drogba goals, but Petr Cech's legs came to Chelsea's rescue as he denied Andrey Arshavin from close range. Arsenal to their credit huffed and puffed all game, and dominated all the stats as they usually do, except the one that is most important.

Chelsea made two changes from their midweek draw against Hull, with Ashley Cole replacing Yuri Zhirkov at left back and John Obi Mikel coming in place of Deco to counter Arsenal's movement. The West London club opted to play a 4-3-3 that has been so successful for them off late with Nicolas Anelka drifting wide on the right and Florent Malouda providing the width on the left wing. Didier Drogba led the attack through the middle, having found the back of the net 10 times against Arsenal in his last nine games against what is fast becoming "the other London club". John Terry was given a tremendous by the Chelsea faithful, with the fans singing "there's only one England captain", after Terry was stripped of the captaincy earlier this week for his alleged affair with the girlfriend of former team mate Wayne Bridge.