Premier League
Table
CHELSEA continue to hold a five-point gap at the top of the Premier League ahead of Arsenal and Manchester United but Manchester City have slipped eight points back after successive defeats.
Carlo Ancelotti's defending champions came from behind to beat Blackburn Rovers 2-1 and reinforce their strong early advantage.
The Blues have dropped just five points all season, three in the defeat to City and two in a 0-0 draw at Aston Villa.
Arsenal are the closest challengers, five points behind the leaders, after a late Alexandre Song goal gave the Gunners a 1-0 victory over struggling West Ham United.
That made it three wins in a row for Arsene Wenger's men, coming on the back of a 2-1 success over Birmingham City and a 3-0 thumping of Manchester City.
Mancini's City have failed to recover from that setback, losing a lead to go 2-1 down at Wolverhampton Wanderers, leaving them eight points off the pace.
But unbeaten Manchester United now look in better shape after beating Stoke City and Tottenham Hotspur in the last couple of weeks.
Those results have helped Sir Alex Ferguson's side stay in touch, also five points behind Chelsea, but it has still been far from easy for United.
When Stoke equalised with nine minutes of the game left, it looked as if the Red Devils' had given away yet another lead, having recently only drawn 2-2 with West Brom after holding a 2-0 half-time advantage.
But an even later goal by Javier Hernandez at the Britannia prevented a fourth successive league draw and put the Wayne Rooney contract saga behind them.
Ferguson's men then returned to winning ways at home but only after a highly controversial second goal in the 2-0 win over Spurs.
Nani failed to win a penalty with a dive then handled the ball expecting the decision in his favour. Heurelho Gomes, the Spurs' goalkeeper, thought that a free-kick had been given and so rolled the ball forward, only for Nani to steal in and put the ball into an empty net.
The assistant referee flagged but referee Mark Clattenburg gave the goal, thus allowing history to repeat itself.
Spurs had been previously been on the wrong end of a Clattenburg decision at Old Trafford in 2005/06 when Pedro Mendes' long-range strike clearly crossed the line but was not given.
Despite their misfortune, Spurs are still in fifth on 15 points after victories in October over Aston Villa and Fulham, and a hard-fought 1-1 draw at home against Everton.
West Bromwich Albion are also on 15 points in sixth place but their unbeaten run of eight league and cup games came crashing to an end at fellow-promoted outfit Blackpool.
The Baggies had Pablo Ibanez and Gonzalo Jara sent off in a nightmare first half at Bloomfield Road yet still nearly rescued a point after Youssuf Mulumbu had reduced the arrears to 2-1.
But Blackpool held on to earn their first home win in the top flight since April 1971 after Charlie Adam's penalty and Luke Varney's second half tap-in.
The other promoted club Newcastle United are just behind West Brom in seventh on 14 points after a 5-1 derby humiliation of Sunderland ended a run of four home league and cup games without a win in style.
At the bottom, West Ham have started to be cut off after failing to follow up their only league victory of the season against Spurs.
First, Avram Grant's men had successive 1-1 draws against Fulham and Wolves before a dispiriting 2-1 home loss to Newcastle and that late defeat at the Emirates against Arsenal.
The Hammers have just six points from ten games so far, three behind Wolves and Blackburn Rovers, and four adrift of safety.
Wolves are second bottom on nine points amid a nightmare sequence of fixtures against Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United and Arsenal.
But, while the Chelsea match resulted in the expected 2-0 defeat, a thrilling comeback against City means Mick McCarthy's men are probably actually doing better than expected.
Sam Allardyce's Blackburn are in a similarly tough run, losing successive fixtures 2-1 to Liverpool and Chelsea on the back of a 0-0 draw with Sunderland a 1-0 loss to Stoke.
At least Allardyce's men have been afforded the perfect chance of getting out the bottom three with a match against Wigan Athletic, the side just above them.
Since their nightmare opening couple of games, Roberto Martinez's men have done rather better with an easy 2-0 win over Wolves followed up by draws against Bolton Wanderers and Newcastle.
But the 2-0 loss to two Clint Dempsey goals at Fulham was a meek surrender and this still looks set to be a long campaign for the Latics, who are fourth-bottom with 10 points.
Stoke, five places from the bottom, are also on 10 points after their encouraging run of form ground to a halt with three successive defeats.
Having began the season with three losses, the Potters picked up their form to gain those 10 points in consecutive fixtures against Aston Villa, West Ham, Newcastle and Blackburn.
However, Tony Pulis' men are struggling once again after 2-1 defeats to Bolton Wanderers and Manchester United, and a 1-0 loss to Everton.
The Championship
Table
FREE-SCORING Cardiff City took advantage of another Queens Park Rangers draw to move top of the Championship by two points.
Jay Bothroyd, Michael Chopra and Peter Whittingham were on the score sheet as Dave Jones' Bluebirds beat Norwich City 3-1 at home to rack up a fifth league win in a row.
Cardiff, on 32 points, are two points clear of early pace-setters QPR who dropped to second after a 1-1 draw at home against Burnley, their fifth in six league matches.
Neil Warnock's Rangers remain the unbeaten side in the division after 14 games and they are still four points clear of Swansea City in third.
But a lack of recent goals - certainly in comparison to Cardiff - suggests other teams may have found out how to play against the Londoners.
A paucity of goals was Swansea's problem last season and indeed it was that deficiency which cost them a playoff place in May.
However, now under the stewardship of Brendan Rogers, the Swans are flying again with four wins and two draw in their last six games lifting them up to third.
Again a strong defence is key to Swansea's success with no goals conceded in their last five league matches.
And it all means that the match against leaders Cardiff on Sunday looks a cracker - a South Wales battle between the best attack in the division and the most in-form defence. Better still, it is live on the BBC at 1pm, no less.
With Cardiff and Swansea playing on Sunday, QPR and the chasing pack will have a big chance to exert some pressure by winning on Saturday.
Fourth-placed Coventry City, on 24 points, look best placed to challenge after a run of three wins in their last four games, including impressive away successes at Ipswich Town and Sheffield United.
The Sky Blues are at home against Leeds United whose decent performances since promotion have been undermined by a porous defence.
Simon Grayson's men have conceded four goals at home against Cardiff, five at Barnsley and six in 6-4 home defeat to Preston, leaving the Yorkshire club somewhat off the pace in 12th.
Norwich, who went up ahead of Leeds as champions of League One last season, are a point behind Coventry in fifth amid a tough sets of fixtures.
On Saturday, Paul Lambert's men - on 23 points overall - face Burnley who are one of a clutch of five clubs just outside the playoffs on 21 points.
The other clubs are seventh-placed Derby County, Watford in ninth, Portsmouth in 10th and Ipswich in 11th.
Reading, on 22 points, currently occupy the last remaining playoff spot in sixth after scoring four goals in successive wins against Burnley (4-0) and Doncaster Rovers (4-3).
But Pompey look the most likely candidates to usurp the Royals after six wins and a draw from their last seven games have lifted the south coast club from the bottom of the table - a fine way to celebrate staving off the threat of liquidation.
Crystal Palace, Middlesbrough and Bristol City are still in trouble, though, and it is these three clubs which occupy the bottom three going into November.
Bottom-placed Palace, on just 11 points from 14 games, only saved themselves on the last day of last season after a points deduction for going into administration. But, even without the points loss, this term already looks like another season-long struggle.
Level on points with Palace are the pre-season favourites Boro who finally ended the disastrous Gordon Strachan era after a reign lasting a week short of a year featuring just 13 wins from 46 games.
Boro have taken just one point from the last 21 and new manager Tony Mowbray, a former club captain, saw first-hand the extent of his job in a 2-1 home defeat against relegation rivals Bristol City.
That win extended the Robins' unbeaten run to three matches and lifted them off the bottom of the table.
But record losses of £11.8m announced this week means Keith Millen is in an unenviable position, having taken the job after Steve Coppell's early season departure.
Despite their upturn in form, City remain in the bottom three on 13 points, level with Darren Ferguson's hugely inconsistent Preston North End.
Having put six past Leeds in that 6-4 away win, PNE then took just one point from their next three matches against Reading, Derby and Scunthorpe United.
Another exciting win followed, 4-3 against Crystal Palace, before a disappointing 1-0 loss at Sven Goran Eriksson's Leicester City who are just two places above Preston in 19th.
Hull City are sandwiched between the clubs in 20th place on 14 points, having taken exactly a point a game since the start of the season.
But that is not something the Tigers have been averaging recently with just three points and three goals in their last six matches.
Those victories at the Emirates and White Hart Lane suddenly seem a long time ago...
League One
Table
BRIGHTON and Hove Albion won 3-0 twice in a week to stay eight points clear of their nearest rivals Huddersfield Town at the top of League One.
Gus Poyet's Seagulls beat Peterborough United on Saturday and Exeter City on Tuesday to make it four wins in a row without conceding a goal.
Aided by the talents of on-loan Newcastle United winger Kazenga Lualua, the full streak is actually 12 matches unbeaten - and nine of them have been wins.
It all means that Poyet's men enjoy a handsome lead at a relatively early stage of the season.
However, the Brighton boss will do well to remember that it was in this division last season that Leeds United build up an early lead, only for it to disappear over the winter months - and there are several big names with the capability of reeling the Seagulls in.
Huddersfield are in second place on 26 points with four wins from their last five league games. It was the perfect response from Lee Clark's men to a worrying run of three successive defeats without a goal.
And the Terriers will have enjoyed their latest win that little bit more, coming as it did at Hillsborough in a 2-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday.
Colchester United look set to make yet another promotion push this season after their entertaining 3-2 win over Leyton Orient made it three wins on the bounce and still just one defeat all season.
The Us are in third place, level on points with Huddersfield, but with a four-goal deficit, having played out four 1-1 and two 0-0 draws already this season.
Peterborough United are a point behind in fourth place after their 3-1 win over Walsall but this past month could have been so much better for the Posh.
Gary Johnson's men blew the chance to go top early in October by losing 2-0 away at Hartlepool United, and they have also recently lost to Brentford and at home against leaders Brighton.
But an extraordinary 5-4 win over Swindon Town and Tuesday night's return to winning ways against rock-bottom Walsall leaves the London Road club still in a position to challenge.
However, behind them are two genuine heavyweights for this division in Charlton Athletic and Southampton, in fifth and sixth respectively.
The Addicks, like Peterborough on 25 points, and the Saints, on 24, have won their last three league games to lift themselves away from mid-table irrelevance to a playoff spot.
Indeed, the sequence is even better for Southampton with a run of five wins out of six taking them out of the bottom half and signalling an acceptance by the players of new manager Nigel Adkins' ideas.
Neighbours Bournemouth are just a point and a place outside the playoffs, sitting alongside Carlisle United and Milton Keynes Dons - but each of these clubs has seen a bright start fade away in recent weeks.
Sheffield Wednesday look a sorry state in 10th place on 21 points after picking up just a single point from their last three games against Bournemouth, Charlton and Huddersfield.
Still, that is form which rock-bottom Walsall would kill for, the Saddlers having taken just five points from their last 12 league matches. Unsurprisingly, that form has left Chris Hutchings' men bottom with just 11 points so far.
At least Walsall have not been cut off yet, with the safety line just five points away, and the identity of most of the teams which they would be looking to catch comes as no surprise.
Dagenham & Redbridge are second bottom - a point clear with just two home wins all season so far, against Orient and Swindon, and just two points from their last 15.
Yeovil Town's six-year stay in the third tier is under threat after a run of one point from 12 has left them third bottom with 15 points.
Tranmere Rovers fill the final relegation place, a point clear of the Glovers but they had at least seen an upturn in form - until Tuesday night's 2-0 loss at Carlisle.
Rovers had been bottom in mid-October but, since then, the Prenton Park faithful have enjoyed four-goal hauls in successive league wins over Walsall and MK Dons.
More performances like those and Tranmere will get out of trouble. That is because it remains tight at the bottom with Notts County and Orient also on 16 points. Just above them, Hartlepool and Swindon are on 17 points.
However, Hartlepool and Notts have a game in hand against each other after Tuesday's match at Victoria Park was abandoned amid a gale force wind and driving rain off the North Sea coast.
The really devastating element for the fans? The game was only three minutes old when the referee made the decision.
Similarly, the match between Oldham Athletic and Rochdale lasted a mere five minutes before its abandonment - but at least that was a match between two nearby clubs.
League Two
Table
CHESTERFIELD hit five past Accrington Stanley at home on Tuesday to extend their lead at the top of League Two to three points after the failure of Port Vale and Bury to win.
The Spireites beat Stanley 5-2 to make it five wins and two draws from their last seven games, a sequence which has put the Derbyshire outfit on 32 points from 15 games.
Vale remain in second place on 29 points after their 0-0 draw with Burton Albion made it four draws for the Valiants in their last five league games.
And Bury stay in third on 28 points after a 1-0 home defeat to Bradford City ended a fine unbeaten run of eight matches, six of which ended in victory for the Shakers.
The poor night for Port Vale and Bury gave the chasing pack a chance to close the gap. Fourth-placed Shrewsbury Town, Wycombe Wanderers in fifth, seventh-placed Torquay United and Stevenage in eighth all obliged with important midweek wins.
Only sixth-placed Rotherham United missed out, taking just a point in a 1-1 draw with Macclesfield Town on the back of disappointing defeats to Wycombe and Southend United.
Stevenage's push for the playoffs marks an impressive league debut season for the Broadhall Way club - and their latest win came away at local rivals Barnet, leaving the Bees bottom.
That defeat at Underhill means Barnet have lost four out of their last five league games and picked up only 12 points from 15 matches this season.
But, just like Walsall in League One, Mark Stimson's men can console themselves with the fact that they have not yet been cut adrift.
Lincoln City are second bottom on 13 points with no sign yet of new manager Steve Tilson being able to repair the damage left by previous occupant Chris Sutton.
A 2-0 loss at home against Northampton made it just one win and six points from the Imps' last nine league games.
Hereford have hit better form to haul themselves off the bottom and reach 14 points with two wins and three draws from their last five league games.
Just above them, Stockport County and Gillingham are in 20th and 21st positions respectively, both with 15 points.
Incredibly, the Gills have now failed to win away in the league in the last 34 attempts, a run stretching back to the last day of 2008-09!
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