LONDON: Chelsea's worrying slump turned into a full-blown crisis when the Premier League champion was comfortably beaten 3-1 at Arsenal Monday. Goals from Alex Song, Cesc Fabregas and Theo Walcott in a nine-minute spell either side of halftime condemned Carlo Ancelotti's team to a defeat that means it has managed only six points from the last 24 on offer. Branislav Ivanovic replied for the visitors but the damage was already done as Arsenal ended a run of five consecutive defeats against its London rival to reclaim second place in the table above Manchester City on goal difference. Arsenal has 35 points from 18 games with unbeaten leader Manchester United on 37 having played a game less. Chelsea, which started the season in scintillating form but has forgotten how to win, is in fourth place on 31. United, City aim to maintain title pace Manchester United and Manchester City will look to stay out in front at the top of the Premier League when they continue their push for the title Tuesday. United, which tops the table by two points from City, is away to Birmingham Tuesday where Sir Alex Ferguson, having seen off a Sunderland side managed by one of his old boys in Steve Bruce 2-0 Sunday, faces another in a Blues team under the control of Alex McLeish. Meanwhile City, which won 3-1 away to Newcastle Sunday, is at home to Aston Villa. Ferguson said Birmingham will have benefited from the postponement of their Boxing Day visit to Everton. “Birmingham will be fresh. Going down there is always a difficult place, they've always had a strong home record, they're difficult to beat on their own ground,” United manager Ferguson said. “We're well aware of that. Hopefully, we can get them (the United players) fresh, get their recovery sorted, make a couple of changes to freshen that part up and get the result we want.” City manager Roberto Mancini is planning to2 ring the changes for the match against a struggling Villa side. Tottenham will look to back up manager Harry Redknapp's claims they are title contenders when they face Newcastle at White Hart Lane fresh from a 3-1 win away to Villa where they played most of the match down to 10 men following the sending-off of England striker Jermain Defoe. West Ham, which climbed off the bottom of the table on Boxing Day with a 3-1 win away to Fulham, will look to give its home fans something to cheer against a Blackburn side well beaten by Stoke last time out. Wolves, now bottom of the table after a 2-1 loss at home to relegation rivals Wigan, are set to face a fresh Liverpool at Anfield on Wednesday after the Reds' Boxing Day match away to north-west rivals Blackpool was postponed because of a frozen pitch.
