Skipper Steven Gerrard has urged his Liverpool side (5/2 for the win) to build on the Merseyside derby win over Everton when they travel to Arsenal (10/11) on Wednesday night.

The Reds ended the Blues’ recent good run in the Premier League thanks to Dirk Kuyt’s only goal of the game on Saturday and they will now be looking for a repeat at the Emirates.

The Gunners’ own solid form has come undone in the last couple of weeks following losses to Manchester United and Chelsea, but Gerrard is refusing to get too carried away as he looks to hang on to at least fourth place in the table.

The England star told the Echo: “You always enjoy beating your local rivals but it was the way we did it that was really satisfying, particularly after losing a man after half an hour.

“Now we have got to take that high into the next game. It’s a tough one, Arsenal away always is.

“But we have used beating Everton as a platform in the past and we’ve got to do it again. We want to extend our run and go on to better things.”

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Arsene Wenger has admitted every game between now and the end of the season is “vital” for Premier League title-chasers Arsenal (Arsenal 16/1 Premier League - Outright).

Didier Drogba scored twice on Sunday at Stamford Bridge to complete a 2-0 win for Chelsea and take his tally for the season to 22 - and 12 in 12 against the Gunners.

The defeat – off the back of their 3-1 humbling by champions Manchester United last weekend – means the north Londoners have now lost six Premier League games and are nine points adrift of leaders Chelsea.

Next up is another difficult fixture on Wednesday against in-form Liverpool (Arsenal 10/11 draw 9/4 Liverpool 5/2 Premier League match betting) but Wenger has promised his players will fight until the end.

“We are not in the best of positions but we will not give up,” said the Frenchman.

“It is vital against Liverpool but it was vital today and we still have lost.”

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Roberto Mancini has said his Manchester City players must learn to get nasty if they want to realise their ambition of securing Champions League football for next season (Man City 8/11 Premier League without Big 4).

The Italian was unimpressed by the manner in which his top-four hopefuls were bullied by relegation-threatened Hull in a 2-1 defeat at the KC Stadium on Saturday and has demanded a marked improvement for the visit of north-west rivals Bolton (Man City 4/11 draw 16/5 Bolton 6/1 Premier League match betting) on Tuesday.

Jozy Altidore opened the scoring in the 31st minute with his first Premier League goal and veteran midfielder George Boateng added a stunning volley to give the Tigers a first win since November on a day to forget for City in which Wayne Bridge was subjected by boos by the home crowd and Patrick Vieira and Adam Johnson made their debuts off the bench.

Emmanuel Adebayor halved the deficit with a consolation goal but Mancini was left with plenty to think about on a weekend when Liverpool grabbed fourth spot.

He said: “If we want to make the top four, we must win away and we must fight. We must be aggressive away, not like the first half.”

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Inter Milan boss Jose Mourinho has fuelled talk he will return to manage in the Premier League by revealing he has a canellation clause in his San Siro contract (Inter 12/1 with Totesport to win this season’s Champions League).

The former Chelsea boss, who was in charge of the Blues between 2004 and 2007, guided Inter to the Serie A title last season but appears keen on a move back to England.

Speaking to the Portuguese press about his future, he said: “The club [Inter] and I signed a very objective contract until 2012, because we want to work together.

“But there is a cancellation clause that Inter will pay me if they want my departure and another that I will pay Inter if I want to leave.

“It’s all simple and very objective. There will never be a never-ending story with us as has happened in the past with other people. We are honest people with honest contracts and objectivity.”

The ‘Special One’ has consistently been linked with the jobs at Liverpool and Manchester City while he has also refused to rule out a return to Chelsea (4/1 second favourites to be crowned European champions with Totesport) at some point too.

England (11/2 third favourites for the World Cup with Totesport) will meet Wales in the qualifying for Euro 2012 while Scotland take on European champions Spain.

England have also been drawn against Switzerland, Bulgaria and Montenegro in Group G while the Scots look set to struggle to make it to Poland and Ukraine as they must also play Czech Republic, Lithunia and Liechtenstein.

Elsewhere, Northern Ireland face  world champions Italy, Serbia, Solvenia, Estonia and the Faroe Islands in Group C while the Republic of Ireland are in Group B with Russia, Slovakia, FYR Macedonia, Armenia and Andorra.

In the other groups, Germany will face Turkey and Austria in Group A, Croatia meet Euro 2004 winners Greece in Group F, France will take on Romania and Bosnia in Group D and Holland have been drawn against Sweden and Finland in Group E.

Full draw:

Group I: Spain, Czech Republic, SCOTLAND Lithuania, Liechtenstein

Group H: Portugal, Denmark, Norway, Cyprus, Iceland

Group G: ENGLAND, Switzerland, Bulgaria, WALES, Montenegro

Group F: Croatia, Greece, Israel, Latvia, Georgia, Malta

Group E: Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Hungary, Moldova, San Marino

Group D: France, Romania, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Belarus, Albania, Luxembourg

Group C: Italy, Serbia, NORTHERN IRELAND Slovenia, Estonia, Faroe Islands

Group B: Russia, Slovakia, REPUBLIC OF IRELAND, FYR Macedonia, Armenia, Andorra

Group A: Germany, Turkey, Austria, Belgium, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan

Birmingham’s Premier League future may not be secure for this season even if they beat Wolves (19/5 to win – match coupon) this afternoon and move closer to the magical 40-point mark.

That is the opinion of Birmingham (5/6 to win, draw 9/4 – match coupon) boss Alex McLeish, who sees his side sit in eighth place at this point in time, with victory today set to take them to 37 points.

It is commonly thought that 40 points is the safety target to aim for, but McLeish is not looking that far ahead and admitted he can remember when 42 and 39 points has been enough to see teams relegated in the past.

“You would say with the way things are at the moment we would be safe, no danger but I don’t think we can afford to look too far ahead,” said the Scottish manager.

“The players are aware of it but I’m positive they won’t get complacent. There’s 45 points left to play for and we’d like to get as many as we can.”

Birmingham (80/1 to finish top of Premier League without big 4) recently went on a 15-game unbeaten run and McLeish is looking to kick start another similar run by naming the same starting 11 for the 12th Premier League game in a row.

Wolves (10/11 for relegation) boss Mick McCarthy is expected to bring Marcus Hahnemann back into the team, while Kevin Doyle, Matt Jarvis and Stephen Ward are all in contention after recovering from injuries.

Spurs boss Harry Redknapp insists Arsenal’s stranglehold on third place in the Premier League is by no means guaranteed this season.

Chelsea and Manchester United are widely expected to challenge for the title with the Gunners off the pace in third, but Redknapp says it is by no means a foregone conclusion.

It could be a pivotal weekend in the Premier League with Liverpool entertaining Everton in the 213th Merseyside derby, Arsenal travelling to Chelsea and Aston Villa (7/2 Premier League Winners Without Big Four) making the trip to Tottenham (3/1) on Saturday evening.

And Redknapp reasoned: “It is going to be tight.

“If we would have beaten Birmingham last week when leading 1-0, and we should have had the game over, then we are suddenly not so far away from Arsenal.

“Someone could get third spot. Manchester City could. We could. Liverpool could. Anyone is capable with a run. Arsenal are not 100% sure to be there if they get beaten by Chelsea and other teams pick up good results.

“Arsenal are favourites but it is not impossible for anyone to catch them, there could be a five or six-point turnaround. We thought that Chelsea were running away with it, but now look at it. Wide open again.”

Arsene Wenger does not expect Chelsea to be weakened by the furore caused by allegations about John Terry’s private life and insists Arsenal will not be intimidated when they go to Stamford Bridge on Sunday (Chelsea 3/4 draw 13/5 Arsenal 18/5 Premier League - match betting).

Terry was replaced by Rio Ferdinand as captain of England on Friday in the wake of week-long revelations about an alleged affair with the ex girlfriend of former Chelsea team-mate Wayne Bridge.

Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti insists Terry still has the support of the players and Wenger does not expect the media storm to have any impact when the two London sides clash at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League.

“I don’t want to go into that stuff about role models that you hear everywhere. It is quite a bit tiring,” said the Arsenal manager.

“We do not have to interfere with Chelsea’s problems.”

Wenger said he expects to see a reaction from his players following their 3-1 home defeat by champions Manchester United last Sunday - and 3-0 drubbing by Chelsea in November last year at Emirates Stadium (Arsenal 9/1 Premier League - Outright).

“I believe we should be more relaxed at this time because at the start of the season nobody expected us in the top four or in the title race,” he added.

“Now, instead of being intimidated, I believe we have to really have a go because we are entitled to have it.”

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Carlo Ancelotti has said he will no qualms about making under-fire captain John Terry face the music when Chelsea entertain Arsenal in Sunday’s Premier League showdown at Stamford Bridge (Chelsea 3/4 draw 13/5 Arsenal 18/5 Premier League - match betting).

Terry was sacked by coach Fabio Capello as captain of the England team on Friday in response to allegations about his private life.

The 29-year-old is alleged to have had an affair with an ex-girlfriend of former Chelsea team-mate Wayne Bridge.

However, Ancelotti insisted the media storm would not disrupt Chelsea’s mission to dethrone Manchester United as Premier League champions.

When asked if Terry (18/1 First and Last Goalscorer) still had the backing of the Chelsea players, the Italian coach replied: “I think so.”

Ancelotti revealed he had not even spoken to Terry about the week-long headlines regarding his private life and that he will be mentally right to face Arsenal on Sunday.

He added: “I have not spoken to him. It’s not necessary for me to speak to him about his private life.

“It’s his private life and I don’t want to know anything about this. I’m only interested in his professional behaviour and that is the best.”

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England captain John Terry has been removed from the post by head coach Fabio Capello following allegations over his private life.

The FA gave the Italian sole responsibility to decide Terry’s fate following allegations the 29-year-old conducted an extra-marital affair with the former girlfriend of Manchester City and England left-back Wayne Bridge, an ex-Chelsea team-mate of Terry’s.

Rio Ferdinand is now widely expected to be promoted to the role of captain having been Terry’s vice-captain although whether or not he leads England at the 2010 World Cup remains to be seen.

Capello has issued a statement which reads: “After much thought, I have made the decision that it will be best for me to take the captaincy away from John Terry.

“As a captain with the team, John Terry has displayed extremely positive behaviour. However, I have to take into account other considerations and what is best for all of the England squad.

“What is best for all of the England team has inspired my choice.

“John Terry was notified first.

“When I chose John Terry as captain, I also selected a vice-captain and also named a third choice. There is no reason to change this decision.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank The FA, particularly Lord David Triesman and Ian Watmore for allowing me to make this decision in my own time and in the best interest of the team.”

England are expected to qualify from Group C where they will face games against USA, Slovenia and Algeria.