Setbacks for Chelsea and Liverpool

Rafael Benitez stood by his decision to bench his big stars after his side were held a goalless draw against Portsmouth. The absence of Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres and Markus Babel left Liverpool struggling to find its rhythm. Nevertheless, Liverpool maintain their unbeaten start to the season.

Portsmouth were unlucky to draw the match as Jose Reina first-half penalty save denied them the three points. The Spaniard was instrumental in preventing an embarrassing loss for Liverpool.

Overall, chances were few and far in between. Not even after the arrival of Gerrard and Torres in the second half could Liverpool overturn the result.

Meanwhile, Chelsea were left to rue a controversial offside decision in their goalless draw against Blackburn.

The Blues thought they had taken the lead in the 58th minute when Salomon Kalou slotted home, but they were to be denied by a dubious offside flag as Blackburn held on for a point.

Chelsea had found the going tough at first but, having found their rhythm, it was only a world class save from Brad Freidel that denied Michael Essien giving them the lead from 20 yards.

Blackburn could have taken the lead at half-time when Morten Gamst Pedersen volleyed into the side netting, having been picked out by David Bentley for the Rovers' best chance of the match.

However, Chelsea dominated the second half, with Andrei Shevchenko spurning two good chances up front in place of the injured Didier Drogba.

A sign of Mourinho's displeasure with his team's failure to break down Rovers saw him make a double substitution in the 54th minute, Florent Malouda replacing Wright-Phillips and Mikel John Obi taking over from Steve Sidwell.

The change almost brought instant results when Belletti's cross was turned in by Kalou but was controversially ruled out by referee Howard Webb for offside.

These two results will have given Arsene Wenger great pleasure as his team claimed top spot in the league table with a 3-1 win over their arch rival Tottenham . The dropping of points and injuries to the top contenders while his team chart a steady progress has made light of the transfer of their top striker, Thierry Henry to Barcelona.

In fact, I believe a lot of Gunners are secretly pleased that Henry is not performing well in Barcelona. Wonder how Henry will feel if the Gunners really lift the Champions League this season without him?