Chelsea chases 7th Premier League win at Wigan

LONDON — Three points ahead at the top of the standings, Chelsea is chasing its seventh consecutive Premier League victory when it goes to Wigan on Saturday aiming to maintain the only perfect record in English football.

Looking back to how they finished last season, the Blues could make it 12 league wins in a row.

Although Chelsea finished third behind Manchester United and Liverpool, that was down to a midseason slump that led to the departure of manager Luiz Felipe Scolari. But a finish of five league wins in a row has carried on this term despite another change of manager.

Carlo Ancelotti is now making a big impact in his first season in English football and the Blues have also collected victories in the Champions League and on Wednesday in the League Cup to make it nine in a row under the new manager.

Chelsea rested many of its front line players for Wednesday's 1-0 victory over second tier Queens Park Rangers but they will be back for the game at Wigan.

Ancelotti's assistant Ray Wilkins said it was important for the backup players to get competitive action because, when injuries and suspension disrupt the team, they will be ready to take their places in the starting lineup.

"If you see the size of the squad we have, a lot don't play week-in week-out so it's vital for them to get airtime," Wilkins said. "It's entirely up to the young men to push themselves forward and the two that played have been doing so in the reserves and training.

"We want to win everything we enter. Every side that takes to the field in a Chelsea shirt wants to win the game and the tournament they are playing in. If we can blood a few on the way, all well and good."

Chelsea faces a Wigan side which has lost four of its six league games so far and was beaten 4-0 by Arsenal last weekend.

That means Ancelotti's team should be confident of coming away with three more points which will be vital because most of its nearest rivals also expect to beat teams in the lower half of the standings.

Second place Manchester United visits Stoke buoyed by Sunday's thrilling 4-3 victory over Manchester City in a run of six league and cup victories in a row since a surprise 1-0 defeat to Burnley.

Emerging from a slow start, Liverpool has won five in a row in all competitions and hosts next to last Hull, Manchester City welcomes West Ham and Aston Villa aims to make it seven consecutive wins as it visits Blackburn. Sixth-place Tottenham hosts promoted Burnley, which has had an encouraging start with three wins out of six games, while Arsenal goes to Fulham.

Portsmouth's bid to capture its first point of the season after six straight losses won't be helped by Everton's return to form,

David Moyes' team also had a poor start but has scored 11 goals without reply in its last three games -- a 4-0 Europa League triumph over AEK Athens, 3-0 over Blackburn in the Premier League and 4-0 at Hull in the League Cup.

Birmingham hosts Bolton in Saturday's other game and, on Sunday, Wolves goes to Sunderland.

In the race to capture promotion to the Premier League, West Bromwich Albion holds a one-point lead and hosts Crystal Palace. Second-place Newcastle visits Ipswich, which is still without a victory in eight games this season under new manager Roy Keane.