Three things to watch in the weekend’s football

With Rooney and Benitez both seemingly near the exit door, Manchester United's clash with Chelsea is a headline grabber, and Liverpool take on Spurs in a tie that virtually guarantees goals.

Who's leaving first, Rafa or Rooney?

After the high drama of Tuesday's Champions League game, things don't get any less tense as Chelsea visit Old Trafford in the FA Cup. We can only assume that there will be no red cards shown in this one, or else Fergie might actually explode on the sideline.

Rafael Benitez's Chelsea side will also be looking for a bounce back after a European defeat, as they lost to Steaua Bucharest last night, with a fairly disappointing display. Given that Rafa likes reeling off the cup wins he has on his resume to the fans, we're sure he'd like a bit more silverware to add to the list come the end of the season, in the shape of the FA Cup.

However, with each defeat, his already poor record in charge of the Londoners gets a little worse, and after his rant about the board and the fans, he's already got one foot through the exit door.

If Chelsea were to sack Benitez however, they would really be backing themselves into a corner, given that Rafa only seems to be there since no one else of merit would touch the job.

Speculation will be rife about Wayne Rooney and whether or not he'll still be at Manchester United come the summer, so all eyes will be on the England international to see if he starts or how he reacts if he's not on the team sheet again.

Relegation dogfight

Paul Lambert will be desperate to get three points, as his Aston Villa and opponents Reading are (cliché alert) staring down the barrel of a real dogfight for Premier League survival.

Villa's finances came out this week, and they've managed to get a handle on their debt finally, but a proud tradition of top flight survival is under serious threat.

Ireland's Ciaran Clarke will surely feature ahead of some big games for the national team in a few weeks' time, and with other teams like Sunderland and Stoke in some pretty poor runs of form, a win could see Villa bounce back and out of the relegation zone.

Even Lambert's best Michael Jackson impression couldn't lift Villa's spirits

Reading have also been struggling through the entire season, and are one of the firm favourites to go down along with QPR.

Reading have also had a bit of a blow in that they'll be forced to play their third choice keeper on Saturday at the Madjeski Stadium, Stuart Taylor. Surely Christian Benteke will be delighted at this news, but he's in such great form that we doubt he cares who's in nets.

Reading fans will be hoping that they're not waiting until the last ten minutes to start scoring again, but this will most likely be a tight affair given how valuable the points are to both sides.

Goals guaranteed as Bale takes on Suarez

Gareth Bale and Luis Suarez are two of the most in-form players in the league this season, and the prospect of the two going head to head this weekend makes for a mouthwatering tie.

We expect goals, and while Liverpool seemed to have turned a corner in their form, as they've actually started winning games, Spurs have been on their best run since the mid '80s, and most certainly want to keep on going.

After a phenomenal win against Internazionale last night, in which they swept them aside like left over crumbs of a delicious pasta dish, Andre Villas Boas will look for a similar performance from his team on Sunday.

Brendan Rodgers on the other hand will hope that Spurs may have eaten too much at their Italian banquet and will be too bloated and tired from eating all that starchy pasta to perform on the weekend.

The Liverpool boss has seen his team slowly but surely start to find their stride, and the encouraging debut of Brazilian Philippe Coutinho should produce problems for the Spurs back line. Daniel Sturridge is also in line for a return, adding potency and pace to what is beginning to look like a very decent front four.