Chelsea continued its perfect home record in the Premier League on Saturday with a 2-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers, while Tottenham recovered from a goal behind to draw 1-1 with Everton.
Florent Malouda and Salomon Kalou gave Chelsea a fifth victory from five home matches to ensure the defending champion will be in first place after the weekend whatever the results of Sunday's games.
Rafael van der Vaart equalized for Tottenham to move Spurs into third place, at least until Manchester United plays at Stoke and second-place Manchester City hosts Arsenal on Sunday.
West Bromwich Albion beat Fulham 2-1, Sunderland beat Aston Villa 1-0, Birmingham beat Blackpool 2-0, Bolton drew 1-1 at Wigan and Newcastle won 2-1 at last-place West Ham.
Chelsea defender Jose Bosingwa, playing his first home game since injuring his knee more than a year ago, almost put the Blues ahead in the 13th but goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann pushed it past the post.
Nicolas Anelka and Yuri Zhirkov combined 10 minutes later for the Russia international to set up Malouda, who side-footed the ball into the net for his seventh goal of the season.
Wolves had chances of their own and held out until the 81st, when Kalou scored past Hahnemann from close range following a pass by Michael Essien.
Chelsea has 22 points from nine matches, five more than City.
"It is a good advantage but tomorrow it might be different," Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti said. "It is too early to say we have enough points. We have started the season well and have to continue that.
"A difficult moment will arrive for us and we have to be ready."
The Blues are seven ahead of Tottenham, which salvaged a draw at White Hart Lane despite conceding first for the fifth straight Premier League match.
"You don't get an easy game with Everton; they're always tough opposition," Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp said. "They make it hard for you. They get around you; they close you."
Defender Leighton Baines put Everton ahead in the 17th with a curling free kick but Van der Vaart equalized three minutes later, tapping in from close range after Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard had dropped a high cross on his own line.
"I said to him at halftime, 'We're going to need you to keep coming and taking it,"' Everton manager David Moyes said. "And I thought he was brave at times in the second half. He kept coming and he clutched a couple of really important crosses for us."
Tottenham leads West Brom on goal difference after the Baggies beat Fulham through goals by Youssuf Mulumbu and Marc-Antoine Fortune.
West Brom fell behind in the ninth minute when goalkeeper Scott Carson pushed Zoltan Gera's shot on to the post, only for it to bounce back against him and over the line.
But Mulumbu equalized in the 17th and Fortune scored from a pass by Jerome Thomas five minutes before halftime to stretch West Brom's unbeaten home streak to 15 league matches.
Sunderland beat Villa through an own-goal by Richard Dunne, Liam Ridgewell and Nikola Zigic scored in Birmingham's win over Blackpool, while Johan Elmander equalized with his fifth goal of the season after Hugo Rodallega had put Wigan ahead at the DW Stadium.
West Ham led Newcastle through Carlton Cole's early goal but stayed bottom after Kevin Nolan and Andy Carroll replied for the Magpies.
Swansea and Norwich kept up the pressure on the leaders in the second-tier League Championship with victories. Swansea beat Sven-Goran Eriksson's Leicester team 2-0, while Norwich beat Middlesbrough 1-0.
The pair each have 23 points, three fewer than Cardiff and six fewer than leader Queens Park Rangers. QPR drew 1-1 at Bristol City on Friday, while Cardiff is at Leeds on Monday.
