The former Gunners striker has made an outstanding start to life with his new club following his £25million summer move, scoring in each of their opening three games to keep Mark Hughes' men among the early pace-setters.

Arsene Wenger's side know only too well of the threat posed by the Togo international, while at the other end of the field they need to find a way past a yet-to-be-breached defence containing another ex-North London favourite, Kolo Toure.

Tottenham are another club to have made a perfect opening to the new season - in stark contrast to their troubles last term - but Harry Redknapp's troops will face a major examination of their credentials as champions Manchester United travel to White Hart Lane.

Title-hopefuls Liverpool have already come unstuck against Spurs and Sir Alex Ferguson knows the Red Devils can ill-afford to suffer the same fate having previously been hit by a shock defeat at the hands of new-boys Burnley.

Early leaders Chelsea put their own spotless record on the line, with a testing trip to the Britannia Stadium to tackle Stoke City next on the agenda for Carlo Ancelotti's men.

The Blues can match their best-ever Premier League run of 10 consecutive victories if they claim all three points against Tony Pulis' side, but the Potters have proved to be a tough nut to crack on home turf, although they were beaten 2-0 by the Stamford Bridge side last season.

Discontent

Liverpool have already suffered as many defeats this term as they did in last season's failed title bid and, while it is foolish to the point of insanity to write them off after just four games, anything less than victory against Burnley will markedly increase the volume of the whispers of discontent around Anfield.

Owen Coyle's Clarets have demonstrated they will not be stifled in the rarefied atmosphere of the Premier League, claiming memorable Turf Moor victories against Manchester United and Everton, but their two games on their travels have mustered no points and no goals.

The Midlands derby between Birmingham City and Aston Villa at St Andrews takes centre stage on Sunday, with the fiercely-contested encounter being shown live on Sky Sports 1 and HD1.

Villa are firmly in possession of the bragging rights over their bitter rivals, having won the last four meetings between the two clubs, including a 5-1 romp at Villa Park in April last year.

Fulham welcome Everton to Craven Cottage in Sunday's second match to be screened live on Sky Sports 1 and HD1, with both clubs needing to kick-start their campaigns after slow starts.

The Cottagers' only success to date came on the opening day at troubled Portsmouth, while Everton were beaten in both their first two fixtures before getting points on the board against Wigan last time out.

Strugglers

Sorry Portsmouth have no points and just one goal to show from their opening four fixtures but have at least put their lengthy ownership saga to bed ahead of Saturday's visit of fellow early strugglers Bolton.

Gary Megson's men are the only other side in the top-flight yet to get off the mark, although they gave Liverpool a fright by twice taking the lead at the Reebok Stadium in their last outing before slipping to a 3-2 defeat after the dismissal of Sean Davis.

Blackburn Rovers, who have found goals hard to come by in their opening games following the summer departures of Roque Santa Cruz and Matt Derbyshire, welcome Wolves to Ewood Park eager to get a first victory under their belts.

Mick McCarthy's visitors have made a decent fist of their return to the elite division, with a victory at Wigan and a home draw with Hull City offset by defeats at the hands of West Ham and Manchester City.

Sunderland striker Darren Bent comes up against another of his summer suitors on Saturday with Hull City the visitors to the Stadium of Light.

The former Spurs striker, who has bagged two goals in his opening four games, was one of a host of attacking talents targeted by Tigers boss Phil Brown, but the lure of Wearside proved to be preferable to East Yorkshire.

New Wigan manager Roberto Martinez will be eager to see his charges break their home duck at the DW Stadium on Saturday with West Ham making the trip to Lancashire.

The Latics, who are still to find the net after two games in front of their own fans, must improve on a recent home record against the Hammers which has seen them beaten in three of their last four meetings.