IN THE Premiership, winter begins today following a fortnight's break for internationals. For Newcastle United's Kevin Keegan, however, the outlook remains cosy.
By the end of the afternoon, they should at least have maintained their two point lead at the top. They may even have extended their present eight point advantage over flagging champions Manchester United.
This is one of those rare Saturdays which finds all of the title contenders in action and kicking off at 3 p.m. For once Sky's cameras are devoting their attention to the lower orders.
So while Newcastle, at home to a weakened West Ham, are seeking their ninth victory in 10 league games, St James' Park will be straining for news from other fronts. From Selhurst Park, for example, where Wimbledon's perky challenge should be maintained, from Elland Road, where Liverpool face Ian Rush for the first time since he left Anfield, and from Ewood Park, where Chelsea's latest Italian import, Gian Franco Zola, will test the truth of Blackburn's revival.
No tidings, however, will be more eagerly awaited at Newcastle than those from Old Trafford, where Manchester United are already in danger of becoming caught on the twin horns of domestic and European ambitions. They meet second placed Arsenal today. On Wednesday, they are at home to Juventus in the Champions League.
Victory now and nothing worse than a draw in four days' time would halt United's slide in the Premiership and, despite their recent historic home defeat by Fenerbahce, keep alive their hopes of becoming the first English club to reach the quarter finals of the Champions Cup in 11 years.
But first Alex Ferguson's players need to demonstrate that they are still able to control their own destiny. Ferguson's side has lost four of its last five matches, conceding five goals at Newcastle and six at Southampton, marking the manager's 10 years in charge with a wake. Ryan Giggs, who because of a calf injury has not started a match since the end of September, is set to return but the kind of restorative United need is more in mind than body.
It is very much a matter of regaining collective confidence, a commodity Arsenal possess in abundance after five league wins and two draws. Ian Wright, thriving on the service provided by Patrick Vieira, is in prolific form and the Premier League's most seasoned defence has also conceded fewest goals.
The run has left Arsenal two points off the lead and by the end of the month they will have a better idea of how genuine their championship pretensions are. November has already seen them have the better of a rough and tumble 2-2 draw at Wimbledon, a week tomorrow Arsene Wenger will experience his first north London derby when Tottenham visit Highbury, and the following Saturday Arsenal are at Newcastle.
Today, Giggs or no Giggs, Arsenal will hope to exploit the absence of the suspended Roy Keane from Manchester United's midfield. Arsenal have lost on their last three league visits to Old Trafford and have not won there for five seasons. But unless the form of Eric Cantona has radically improved during the interim the chances of the trend being reversed must be strong.
Coventry's record away to Wimbledon is good, three wins in the last four visits, but with Leonhardsen, Jones and Earle back in Joe Kinnear's side it is hard to see the struggling team Gordon Strachan has taken over from Ron Atkinson maintaining the sequence.
It is equally difficult to envisage Liverpool losing to George Graham's Leeds, despite Sunderland's 3-0 defeat at Elland Road a fortnight ago and Blackburn's victory, by a similar margin, over Roy Evans's side the following afternoon. Yet one thought will bug Liverpool today - Rush has yet to score in a Leeds shirt.
Blackburn looked anything but a doomed team in beating Liverpool and it may take more than Vialli and Zola to end Chelsea's run of four successive defeats at Ewood. A second victory for Tony Parkes, told to carry on caretaking yesterday, would send Nottingham Forest to Hillsborough on Monday as the new bottom team.
