Welcome to another Premier League liveblog, on the fourth of six consecutive days of football in the division. Unfortunately, the games kick off amid some sadness today with the news that former Liverpool and Everton hero Gary Ablett has passed. The defender – who is the only man in history to have won FA Cups with both of the major Merseyside clubs – died at 46 from non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.

That does, of course, put the travails of Andre Villas-Boas, Steve Kean et al into perspective. But is unlikely to affect their resolve.

Those are the two big fixtures today. Quite simply, Chelsea need to win at Wolves to stop this rot. They haven’t claimed three points in five games and, although REoman Abramovich is apparently disposed to grant the young manager the time needed, continued poor results might create a momentum which makes his sacking unavoidable. At Ewood Park, it’s going to be very interesting to see whether Blackburn can build on their shock victory at Old Trafford – probably the biggest surprise of the season so far.

The big news: Torres and Lampard are both back in the Chelsea starting line-up.

Team news:

Wolves: Hennessey, Stearman, Johnson, Berra, Ward, Forde, Frimpong, Henry, Hammill, Edwards, Doyle

Subs: De Vries, Elokobi, Ebanks-Blake, Fletcher, Hunt, Jarvis, Foley.

Chelsea: Cech, Bosingwa, Luiz, Terry, Cole, Ramires, Romeu, Meireles, Lampard, Mata, Torres

Subs: Turnbull, Lukaku, Ferreira, McEachran, Hutchinson, Bertrand, Chalobah

Team news:

QPR: Kenny, Young, Ferdinand, Gabbidon, Hill, Derry, Faurlin, Barton, Taarabt, Mackie, Helguson

Subs: Cerny, Orr, Campbell, Connolly, Hulse, Wright-Phillips, Macheda.

Norwich: Ruddy, Martin, Whitbread, Ayala, Drury, Bennett, Johnson, Lappin, Pilkington, Holt, Jackson

Subs: Rudd, Morison, Surman, Hoolahan, Fox, Wilbraham, Naughton

Team news:

Aston Villa: Guzan, Cuellar, Collins, Dunne, Warnock, Ireland, Petrov, Clark, N’Zogbia, Agbonlahor, Bent

Subs: Marshall, Hutton, Albrighton, Heskey, Bannan, Weimann, Gardner.
Swansea: Vorm, Rangel, Caulker, Williams, Taylor, Britton, Agustien, Orlandi, Dyer, Graham, Routledge

Subs: Tremmel, Sinclair, Monk, Lita, Moore, Allen, Richards

Team news:

Blackburn: Bunn, Lowe, Samba, Hanley, Henley, Nzonzi, Formica, Dunn, Petrovic, Pedersen, Yakubu

Subs: Kean, Morris, Givet, Vukcevic, Rochina, Blackman, Goodwillie.
Stoke: Sorensen, Woodgate, Shawcross, Huth, Wilson, Shotton, Whitehead, Whelan, Etherington, Crouch, Walters

Subs: Begovic, Jones, Diao, Pennant, Upson, Delap, Jerome

And we’re off.

At Ewood Park, the team were applauded onto the pitch by the way.

GOAL! Aston Villa 0-1 Swansea

Warnock makes a howler, allowing Nathan Dyer to slip in and shoot, with his strike deflecting off Richard Dunne and in.

At Stamford Bridge, Doyle remonstrating the referee with an incredulous look on his face. It’s become a much more constant feature of his games lately.

Almost 1-0 to Chelsea from a super break. Torres released Mata with a supreme ball, leaving Mata one-on-one with Hennessy but his dink doesn’t have enough purchase on it.

GOAL! QPR 1-0 Norwich

Norwich still haven’t kept a cleansheet this season as Joey Barton scores with a brilliant strike.

GOAL! Blackburn Rovers 0-1 Stoke City

Back to square one for Blackburn it seems as Peter Crouch scores his 100th league goal. A splendid finish.

That adds insult to injury for Blackburn because Christopher Samba had a goal disallowed for a seemingly innocuous challenge by Yakubu on Thomas Sorenson. Harsh.

Almost another disaster for Chelsea as Roger Johnson gets a free header from a free-kick but Petr Cech just about tips it onto the post.

In the lead-up to that free, by the way, Ashley Cole was lucky to be on the pitch for a disgraceful tackle on Kevin Doyle. Instead, Doyle is booked for reacting the ferocity of the challenge. Ridiculous refereeing.

RED CARD! Joey Barton

An all too typical Barton performance this. A goal and a straight red. It does seem a little harsh though. His head was right up against Johnson but the referee then judges that Barton has nodded and -effectively – headbutted him. Initially, the referee didn’t respond having seen the incident himself but his linesman called him back.

Not a great day for refs so far.

GOAL! QPR 1-1 Norwich

It gets worse for QPR! Young Irishman Anthony Pilkington diverts a strike past Paddy Kenny. Great strike.

GOAL! Blackburn Rovers 0-2 QPR

Peter Crouch again, finishing easily with his left foot.

Chelsea not really threatening Wolves much since that Mata chance.

Shot from distance from Bosingwa but Hennessy turns it away.

Half-time: QPR 1-1 Norwich

The referee walks off amid much recrimination. QPR’s early momentum undeniably affected by the red card.

John Terry heads just over from a corner. Chelsea have looked better going into the final minutes of the half.

Half-time everywhere now.

This from Infostrada:

Joey Barton has now been sent off for three different Premier League clubs. The record is five by Carlton Palmer.

We’re back underway.

Jarvis comes on for Wolves for Forde.

GOAL! Aston Villa 0-2 Swansea

The ball hits the post and comes back to Routledge, who finishes with extreme prejudice for his ever Premier League goal. Swansea are full value for this lead.

GOAL! Wolves 0-1 Chelsea

Relief for Chelsea! John Terry meets a corner, with the ball landing between Ramires and Ward. It’s the Brazilian who reacts much quicker, though, turning and then driving the ball into the roof of the net. Emphatic.

Crouch almost hits the hat-trick, his volley just over from Woodgate’s cross.

Chelsea have taken this game by complete control now. Should be a comfortabel win from here on in. But then we’ve thought that a few times recently.

GOAL! Blackburn Rovers 1-2 Stoke City

Blackburn back in the game even if there is confusion about who scored it. Both Goodwillie and Yakubu seemed to strike the ball at the same time in shades of the Keane-Hunt furore against Italy. The most important fact, though, is a previously lifeless Blackburn are back in the game.

With QPR gamely playing well despite being down to 10, Paul Lambert makes the unusual move of a triple substitution! They have been lagging but will that upset their structure altogether?

Blackburn have really responded superbly here. Yakubu should have equalised there. You can feel a goal coming.

It is one thing that has to be said for Blackburn: they score some amount of goals for a struggling team.

Looks like that goal has been given to Goodwillie, with an assist for Yakubu.

Interesting: Villa fans boo Alex McLeish’s decision to bring off Stephen Ireland for Marc Albrighton.

GOAL! QPR 1-2 Norwich

Oh and looks like those triple substitutions have paid off! Steve Morrison finishes superbly for his seventh goal of the season, which will surely now given Norwich a second away win of the season.

GOAL! Wolves 1-1 Chelsea

Oh Chelsea! But oh Stephen Ward. The full-back makes up for his earlier error by lashing past Petr Cech. Having looked so comfortable for so long, Chelsea are now set for their fourth draw in five games and a fifth without a win.

GOAL! Wolves 1-2 Chelsea

Great response Chelsea. That could be season-defining. Ashley Cole pulls it back aftwer good work from Torres for Lampard to finish easily. Huge.

Blackburn laying siege but it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen at the moment.

FULL-TIME: Blackburn Rovers 1-2 Stoke City

Poor Steve Kean. A sixth defeat in seven home games and not quite the response to the win over Manchester United he would have liked.

Oh! There was almost more late drama for Chelsea as Cech tips over a late chance!

FULL-TIME: Wolves 1-2 Chelsea

And that’s it! Chelsea hang on! Doyle’s header was the last moment of the game as Andre Villas-Boas’s side claim a genuinely vital victory. First win in six.

FULL-TIME: QPR 1-2 Norwich

Norwich have the extra man and the extra goal as they take advantage of Joey Barton’s red card to overcome an early deficit and claim the points.

FULL-TIME: Aston Villa 0-2 Swansea City

Villa’s win win at Chelsea effectively cancelled by a miserable performance. Although it was Swansea that made it so. Brendan Rodgers’s side were superb.

And that’s it. An odd day in that every single away team won and all the scores would have been identical had Villa managed to get on.

The major effects are that Chelsea keep in touch with the Champions League places and QPR are in danger of dropping into the relegation zone. We’ll be back shortly with Fulham Arsenal.