It was goals galore again this weekend as Chelsea, Arsenal and Newcastle each hit their opponents for six on the second weekend of the Premier League 2010-11 season.

Defending champions Chelsea became the first side in top-flight history to record a goal difference of +12 in the opening two games as they thrashed woeful Wigan 6-0 at the DW Stadium, equalling their impressive scoreline from last week.

There was no room for Didier Drogba on the scoresheet this week, but he played his part nonetheless, setting up three of the goals as Nicholas Anelka, Salomon Kalou, Florent Malouda and new signing Yossi Benayoun completed the rout.

Blackpool, who opened their Premier League debut campaign with a 4-0 drubbing of basement club Wigan, were brought back down to earth as the Gunners took advantage of Ian Evatt’s first half dismissal.

Theo Walcott was the star of the show as he netted his first Premier League hat-trick with a trio of ice-cool finishes. Andrey Arshavin scored from the park, with Abou Daby and Marouane Chamakh also getting off the mark for the season.

Elsewhere, Tottenham came away with a hard-earned win at the Britannia Stadium, where two sublime efforts from Gareth Bale earned a 2-1 away win for Harry Redknapp’s men.

West Ham’s poor start to the campaign worsened as they lost 3-1 at home to an impressive Bolton side. A Matthew Upson own goal kicked matters off before Johan Elmander’s brace secured an away win. Mark Noble’s penalty on 79 minutes was too little too late, with Carlton Cole guilty of missing from the spot in the first half.

Meanwhile, West Brom gave their chances of survival a boost with a deserved 1-0 win over Sunderland at the Hawthornes while last season’s surprise package Birmingham came from behind to beat Blackburn 2-1 at St Andrews.

Everton are yet to win as they drew for the second week running after Sylvan Ebanks-Blake cancelled out Tim Cahill’s opener as Wolves earned a creditable 1-1 draw at Goodison Park.

On Sunday, goals continued to fly in as Newcastle confirmed 6-0 as the scoreline of the moment, thrashing Aston Villa who looked well short of quality. Andy Carroll was the star man, rounding off his hat-trick in stoppage time.

Earlier in the game, Joey Barton had handed The Toon an early lead before Carroll kick-started his exploits. Kevin Nolan also chipped in with a brace.

Fulham ensured Chelsea are the only team to win two from two games as they twice fought from a goal down to earn a 2-2 draw at home to Manchester United. Paul Scholes handed the Red Devils an early lead but Simon Davies cancelled it out in the second half.

The game looked destined for a 1-1 draw until a series of events kicked the game into life. Firstly, Brede Hangeland bundled the ball into his own net to hand United an 84th minute lead, and two minutes later the visitors had a penalty.

Damien Duff was adjudged to have intentionally handled inside the area and up stepped Nani, who saw his spot-kick saved by rookie ‘keeper David Stockdale. The save proved vital and it spurred on Hangeland, who atoned for his earlier error by powering in a header in the right end in the final minute, snatching a deserved point for the Cottagers.

Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger, has called Lionel Messi the best player in the world after he scored four times to knock Arsenal out of the Champions League.

Barcelona won the tie 6-3 over the two legs and Messi’s performance last night was nothing short of brilliant. He displayed everything that has made him into one of the best players of his generation.

There could have been a shock on the cards when Arsenal went ahead in the match thanks to a Niklas Bendtner toe poke after Theo Walcott struggled to cross the ball into the Barcelona box.

Wenger said: “We lost against a team better than us, with the best player in world. He’s like a PlayStation player — he can take advantage of every mistake we make.”

“Messi is the best player in the world by a distance. He’s not always in the game, but when he is he’s really dangerous. Once he’s on a run he’s unstoppable, the only player who can change direction at such pace and be a threat.”

“He has something exceptional. He has six or seven years in front of him, touch wood that nothing happens to him, and he can reach unbelievable levels. He’s very young, but he can achieve a lot. The defeat is difficult to handle because when you go out of the Champions League, the next day you are in front of a very empty future. Our dreams are involved in that, but you have to address the disappointment and make sure you’re ready for the next game.”

“It’s a big disappointment and we have to recover quickly because we cannot drop any points to have a chance to fight for the Premier League [Arsenal, in third place, trail Chelsea by three points with five games remaining].”

Arsenal goalkeper, Manuel Almunia, added: “He is the best I have faced. He is the best in the world. You try to anticipate what he is going to do but it is so difficult because his skills are so high. He can do what he wants with the ball at any moment.”

Arsenal were ultimately no match for their Spanish opponents but now face a tough battle in the Premier League to try and win back the English crown.

Arsenal can learn things from the way Barcelona played and they now have the experience of what other sides feel when they are playing at their best in English games.

Ultimately it will take a physical team to beat Messi. There are no conventional methods to stop the way he plays so the job has to be to try and make him think he’s going to get hurt every time he gets the ball.

As harsh or as bad as it seems that may be the only way to stop him and one of many tactics that a whole host of teams will be readying to try this summer against Argentina in South Africa.

Arsenal boss, Arsene Wenger, is set to play veteran defender, Sol Campbell, in the heart of the defence against Barcelona.

Arsenal are struggling with injuries to key players and this has led to suggestions that Wenger may opt for his most experienced player as the times start to get tough.

It marks a very remarkable season for Campbell that saw him play one game down in League Two for Notts County before getting a move back to the club he made his name at.

However, there are some sections of the football community that have said playing Campbell would be a very bad move because his pace and age makes him no match for the exciting talent that Barcelona have in their team.

Wenger said: “Ideally I wanted Song available, but he is not, so the decision is between Sol Campbell and Silvestre. The disadvantage of Sol is that it is his second game in four days, while the disadvantage with Silvestre and Vermaelen is that it is two left-footed players.”

“I will make the decision, but Sol is experienced enough to tell me if he is fit enough or not. I trust him completely to be responsible. He is not on an ego trip, and does not want to let the team down.”

“At some stage, if he feels fit to play, then I will make the decision about who starts the game. However, we have to focus on the team performance – if we do not win the ball and give Barcelona the ball at the Nou Camp, then no matter who plays centre-back, he will have problems.”

This is a very fair point because in the first leg in North London, Arsenal were able to play with their best centre back, William Gallas, in the side. Even then Barcelona played such great football that it threatened to tear the team apart.

Wenger could help Campbell out, if he plays, by putting one or two holding midfield players in front of the defence. This would take some of the pressure away from the defence.

After all, they will need all the help they can get to keep the likes of Messi and Xavi quiet.

If Campbell plays then he will know exactly how to deal with the situation. The only thing that will stop him from performing is his age and his lack of pace. Everything else will click in a big game as it so often does.

Arsenal need leaders and big players to get through games like this and as Campbell has captained the club in the past, he may well get the nod as opposed to former Manchester United star, Silvestre.

However, whether the side can keep Barcelona quiet for long enough to steal a goal at the other end does not look like a very likely sequence of events.

Pep Guardiola says that his Barcelona team will make it through to another Champions League semi-final following the first leg 2-2 draw with Arsenal.

Few would argue with him after the way that Barcelona played against Arsenal and although the side conceded two goals to let their lead slip, the Barca manager says he saw enough to stay confident.

Barca put on an exhibition of football against the North London club. Crisp passing, brilliant movement and numerous chances were produced in a first half an hour, which was as good as anyone at the stadium would have seen.

The fact Arsenal struggled on their own ground means, in Guardiola’s eyes, that the club should win the second leg next week if they do all of the small things correctly.

He said: “We had a lot of chances and we had a lot of control. We are proud of our performance. We have a good chance to qualify for the next round. We are happy with this result, but we could have killed the tie.”

“We need to be more focused because they are a good team, otherwise we will go out. We are happy to come here and let people watch our team and our game. We never played last year like we did here. We moved the ball and didn’t allow them to play. We created many chances.”

“We were better in certain aspects of the game but we need to be precise and good at the back. I don’t think anyone can criticise us. We have given a good image of how football should be played. The second leg will be much more complicated, not because they are going to close down and shut up shop. It is just going to be much more difficult.”

One of the main reasons it will be much more difficult is the fact that Barca will be without both of their centre backs, Gerrard Pique and Carlos Puyol, both of whom are suspended after a booking and a sending off last night.

If Arsenal have any sense at all, they will target this are of the pitch and mix their style of going wide and through the middle so it gives the Barca players the same headache they have just given Arsenal.

Barca may even be a little depleted after the game because of the way they played and the lead they gave up. They may be so annoyed and focused on beating Arsenal that they take one eye off of their La Liga campaign, which could mean lost ground to Real Madrid.

Guardiola is a smart boss and he will not make many changes for the Spanish leg next week. What he should do is wind up his team to a point where they do not waste so many key chances next time round, which will ultimately be enough to take them through.

Arsenal captain, Cesc Fabregas, fears he has a surface break of his right leg after the 2-2 draw with Barcelona in the Champions League.

Fabregas scored the penalty, which put the two sides level on a night where Barcelona should have put the match to bed. This news will rock the club and fans who will now see their Premier League title hopes virtually finished.

Furthermore Fabregas would not have been allowed to play next week in Spain because he picked up a yellow card, which means he will be suspended for the return tie.

He said: “We have to wait for tomorrow, but I hope I can wear the Arsenal shirt again this season. I fear the worst, which is that I have broken something. I do not think it is going to be good news, but still I hope there will be.”

“When I took the penalty, I was quite strong, but after, when I went to get the ball, I could not walk any more. It is the fibula. I think I put my leg between [Carles] Puyol’s when I was fouled, and kicked it. Until the penalty I was feeling quite good.”

Arsenal boss, Arsene Wenger, added: “I give a lot of credit to my players because they kept themselves in the tie even at 2-0 down against a team like Barcelona. If you have no mental strength, you can go down but we came back to 2-2.”

“I believe the whole team was mentally unbelievable tonight because we kept going and kept going, and against an opponent that was class. I am still convinced that we can make life difficult for them in the second tie and that we have a chance to qualify. The biggest regret I have tonight is that we gave two cheap goals away. I believe the way we gave those goals away was beyond understanding.”

Although Arsenal are still in the tie, it is very difficult to see how they are going to get a result in the Nou Camp. Barca virtually played them off the park on their own ground and should have had a much stronger lead after this tie.

Arsenal will feel lifted by the fact they could play so badly in the first half and still be in the game at a level point. However, the fact Barca went on to score two goals means that Arsenal must score in Spain to get through.

Barca could easily sit on their two away goals but this is not how the Spanish champions play. Although they will have to change both of their central defenders next week, the rest of the team can easily take pressure away from this area.

Fabregas would have done anything to get himself fit and playing in the important matches that Arsenal have coming up. He would have taken great satisfaction in scoring against the club he has been constantly linked with.

Arsenal captain, Cesc Fabregas, has revealed that he has been acting like a little boy in the run up to the club’s Champions League clash with Barcelona.

Fabregas says he has been looking forward to the quarterfinal tie against one of the biggest clubs in Europe. Barca are also a club that the Spaniard has been constantly linked with over the last few seasons.

Arsenal have got a huge task on their hands and will have to play out of their skins in order to win the match. The ultimate strength of the Barca side may be something, which turns out to be too great for them.

Fabregas said: “Ever since the draw was made I’ve dreamt about this game and I am desperate to play in it. I’ve never disguised my affection for Barcelona, it’s where I was brought up and where I learned so many beautiful things about football.”

“But Arsenal have the same principles and this is our chance to show the world that we can stand shoulder to shoulder with Barcelona and emerge triumphant. You can’t imagine how much I want to be part of that.”

“Football is all about moments like this, all about challenges and this is a big challenge for Arsenal and for myself. Individually you want to prove yourself against the biggest players in the world. And that’s Barcelona – they are a team packed full of some of the best players in the world.”

“So you want to show you can play against them, there’s nothing better. To be honest this is the most exciting time of my career and now I want to make it brilliant. You know the next few days are going to be so good because the most important games of the season are coming. Yes, Barcelona are the best team in the world, so if you can avoid them until the final then it is definitely much better. But we are not scared of anyone.”

Barca go to the Emirates with some relatively rocky recent La Liga form. Although the club are still heading the way, alongside Real Madrid, they have seen a large lead slip, allowing their rivals back in.

Arsenal need to play perfect football and ultimately it will be a clash of two sides who like to get the ball down and virtually pass it into the net. The winner will be the side that manages to do this more efficiently.

Barca have a number of match winners who Arsene Wenger would have been worrying about. Lionel Messi is one such player, a player who has defined football brilliance in recent weeks, scoring about a zillion goals in Barca’s last few matches.

Barca also have one of the most gifted midfields in Europe, which will be problematic for Arsenal’s relatively inexperienced side. Andres Iniesta and Xavi are two such players, players who Fabregas has been tipped to replace within the next few seasons.

Andrey Arshavin, Arsenal’s Russian star, has expressed his concern again over the current state of the Arsenal squad.

Arshavin said last season that the club’s manager, Arsene Wenger, needed to be better quality players to increase the strength of the Arsenal squad. Well he still believes it and says it could be the reason the club don’t win the title this year.

Arsenal find themselves in a position that no one expected them to reach before the season started. Arshavin was hailed as another great signing by Wenger but the point is that once a few of the main players get injured, the bones are very clear.

The Russian said: “I am still of the opinion that to win trophies Arsenal needs more players. There is the simple fact that last summer we sold two players and bought only one. So there is an obvious deficit of at least one. Then we lost (Robin) Van Persie, (Kieran) Gibbs and (Aaron) Ramsey for a long time. So for me it is natural we need new players.”

“Without the variety of players we have less diversity in attack. That allows our opponents to read our combinations more easily. Finally, it results in less ball possession for us and our defence comes under more pressure.”

“The Premier League is very interesting, at least as long as we continue fighting to win it. But without new experienced players, real stars, it will be difficult to achieve success.”

“Ideally we need three or four such experienced players and then among our youths there should be guys who are not only good at playing football but have real character.”

Many pundits in the football world have said that had Arsenal had a few more players fit and playing well then they would have already won the title by some considerable distance.

This offers a good contrast to the comments of Arshavin and suggests that the current squad may already be a lot better than he or many other people think.

The other thing that he does not seem to take into consideration is the fact that Wenger does know fully well what he is doing. He clearly knows what to spot in a player and he clearly knows what it takes to make them title contenders.

Arsenal need to have faith in their boss all over again. They have been here before in previous title challenging seasons and this time is no different. The manager, players and the fans all have the experience so it’s time to stop picking potential problems and pull together.

If Arsenal manage to pip both Chelsea and Manchester United to the crown this season, not many will be surprised. They would have been surprised some time ago but having seen the way that Arsenal have played this year this will have been greatly reduced.

It’ll go right down to the wire but the North London club have just a good a chance to win as everyone else.

Arsenal boss, Arsene Wenger, has issued a war cry to his players and told them to make the most of their best title chance over recent seasons.

Arsenal went back to the top of the league temporarily over the weekend and have surprised everyone with the way they have kept their long run of form going.

In recent seasons Arsenal have played well but never quite managed to keep their winning streaks going for long enough to mount a real title challenge. Wenger says the time for his players to act is right now.

He said: “With the results we are making, we can only go from game to game – but we have the desire, we have the quality and let’s see how far we can go. I believe we can go and win the next games. We have that kind of attitude – we keep pushing for the win rather than the draw.”

“We are nearly there to finish for the top three and qualify directly for the Champions League again. The next step is to go for the championship and to have a chance in that we absolutely have to win all of our games.”

“We are in a strong position, but we have to focus on our quality and continue to improve. Let’s be better in our next game. We can show to people that we have improved our consistency – we can turn up every week and win the game.”

“If you had listened to all of the predictions, then we should not have even bothered starting the championship. When we lost against Chelsea at home, and then later against Manchester United here, which I must say was in a convincing way, everybody got a little bit carried away. You lost against one of the main contenders so convincingly, therefore nobody takes you seriously after that.”

Arsenal are also fortunate in the respect that they have the easiest run in of games out of all their title challengers. This means that they are more likely to win the points they need when their rivals are facing much stronger opposition.

Wenger has the experience of being in this position before, but it has been a long time since he was able to taste the title and see it on the horizon.

The problem for this Arsenal side is that they cannot afford to switch off for a second. If they do then the title will be gone to either Manchester or Chelsea. This will be difficult for the younger players who may get a little carried away.

If Arsenal win every game they have then they will be giving themselves the best chance of getting their Premier League crown back. Arsenal fans will probably be more surprised than anyone else, as Wenger has stuck with his football philosophy, which finally looks as though it may pay off. They have kept faith with this generation of players and for good reason and times like this.

Manchester United have managed to sneak ahead in the Premier League title race after the weekend went virtually perfectly for them.

United were faced with the difficult task of having to beat Liverpool to take back their leading spot from Arsenal. They also had to hope that Blackburn did them a favour against Chelsea.

Their task was tricky because Arsenal carried on surprising one and all by beating West Ham to move back top. United then managed to sneak a 2-1 win against their biggest rivals before Blackburn took a point off Chelsea.

The games leave United leading the pack for the title. However, the race is not over yet and all managers involved admit there is still time to win and lose points in some potentially tricky games.

Chelsea’s Carlo Ancelotti said: “It will be more difficult now to win the title, but it’s not impossible. We have a good chance, but it will be more difficult. We can’t afford to lose our confidence and composure. They [United] are top of the list. We have to run more and do better. We have to leave this moment as soon as possible. It is important to win on Wednesday.”

Sir Alex Ferguson said after the Liverpool win: “I thought for the penalty kick it was a red card. There was no way [Jamie] Carragher could have got across to stop Valencia from shooting.”

The thing that Chelsea have to keep in mind is that unlike United and Arsenal, they will now play five games less in the season. This is due to their Champions League exit.

This will allow their players to be that little bit extra fresh when they go into each Premier League game. This is something that the two other teams will just have to cope with but it could ultimately be the deciding factor.

Chelsea are also battling domestically in another competition, which will allow them to stay sharp against other English teams. It is still difficult to call but the West London side are still a very good bet.

One of the teams will fade away over the next few games and that side will be the one that allows the other two to emerge in a race to the finish encounter.

It does not look as though United will fade because they have the experience of being in this position before as do Chelsea. Arsenal have the easiest run in of games but the Chelsea result at Blackburn shows that nothing can be taken for granted this season.

United are now the firm favourites and it would take a very brave man to bet against them. They did not look flustered when they fell behind yesterday and the passion in the team looks as great as it ever was.

Keep tabs on the others but it could be yet another title for Ferguson as his United train shows no signs of slowing down.

Sir Alex Ferguson has said that he thinks Arsenal pose the greatest threat to Manchester United ahead of the title run in.

That time of the season has arrived once again where managers start coming out with comments and phrases as a way of trying to put off their closest rivals. In this case, Ferguson has chosen to ignore Chelsea.

Arsenal have surprised everyone with the way they have managed to maintain their title push this year and Sir Alex says it reminds him of the time a few years ago when Arsenal were pushing United in all areas.

He said: “We are back in the lead, but Chelsea have a game in hand. It’s also going to be a hard-fought tussle, with Arsenal coming strongly now, and I have a suspicion that they might yet mount the biggest challenge.”

“To a certain extent the title is in our hands because Chelsea have to come to Old Trafford [on April 3] and naturally that will be a massive match, but, as I say, I’m wary of Arsenal if they don’t suffer too many more injuries to key players.”

“Right now it’s looking like it, I must say. It’s looking very tight. We have only got eight games left, Chelsea have nine games left, so you never know. You have to think about goal difference. We’re four goals ahead of Chelsea. I wish it was 14, but at least it’s something in our favour.”

“I suppose the simple way for us and Chelsea to look at it is just to win all our games. But life is never that simple.”

The reason that the Scot probably thinks Arsenal are the greatest danger is because they will have the momentum if they keep winning games. They seem to have snuck up from nowhere and have a very good chance of winning.

United came through a potentially tricky match against Fulham at the weekend thanks to their in form strike force. This is the strike force they will need to keep firing.

Striker, Dimitar Berbatov, said: “There can only be one winner in the title race and I think it is going to be us. Arsenal and Chelsea are great teams and we have difficult games ahead, but the good thing is we play at home against Chelsea and that will be an advantage for us. I am optimistic that in the end we will be champions.”

All three teams going for the title have now experienced what it is like to win after a tight run in to the end of the season. Every side has experience and this is what will bring the best team through.

United will be hoping that they can get in front and keep their noses in front but Arsenal have the best run in of the top three sides and on paper will be hoping to gain the most points. It looks set to go down to the wire again this year.