All but four Premier League teams were back in action this mid-week, though after beating Arsenal in the FA Cup on Sunday, Tony Pulis's Stoke side were one of them. This gave Blackburn the chance to move above the Potters as they hosted Wigan on Wednesday night, and it was an opportunity they did not miss. Morten Gamst Pedersen continued his good scoring run to put them ahead, before Wigan's new signing Gary Caldwell levelled. Nikola Kalinić had the last laugh though, scoring his first Premier League goal to seal a 2-1 victory for the hosts.
Birmingham's amazing fifteen match unbeaten run crashed to an end last night, though they will feel no shame in losing to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, with a Frank Lampard double and a Florent Malouda strike moving the Londoners back to the top of the table. Arsenal missed the chance to keep up with them, drawing 0-0 against Birmingham's cross city rivals Aston Villa, who have now drawn blanks in four consecutive league matches.
At the other end of the table, Burnley look in deep trouble after losing by a Lee Chung-Yong goal to nil at Bolton, for whom manager Owen Coyle deserted them just two weeks ago. Their problems pale by comparison to Portsmouth's though, with the rock bottom club in such dire financial straights that they were forced to take their official website offline this week. Their on-pitch fortunes are little better, though they did manage to eek out a home draw with fellowstrugglers West Ham on Tuesday night. Matthew Upson bundled the visitors ahead, but Danny Webber salvaged a fifteenth point of the season with a low finish fifteen minutes from time. With the threat of administration looming, every point is precious.
Liverpool are another club whose season has been little more than disastrous and their poor form continued at Wolves on Tuesday night, where they could only draw 0-0, allowing Tottenham, who beat Fulham 2-0 thanks to goals from Peter Crouch and David Bentley, to stay above them. Everton are also going well, unlike Sunderland whose season is quickly going downhill. The Toffees saw off the Black Cats by the same scoreline at Goodison Park, after goals from Tim Cahill and Landon Donovan in the first twenty minutes.