Lady Gaga set to knock Eminem off top of Official Albums Chart

Lady Gaga is heading for her third UK Number 1 album this weekend with ARTPOP, while Celine Dion and Little Mix look set to debut in the Top 5.

Lady Gaga is on course for her third UK Number 1 album this weekend, the Official Charts Company can reveal.

The US singer looks set to knock reigning Official Albums Chart king Eminem off the top spot with her latest studio full-length, ARTPOP.

Counting sales up to midnight last night, ARTPOP has sold nearly 47,000 in its first two days of release in the UK. It currently has a lead of more than 17,000 copies on its closest competitor - Celine Dion’s Loved Me Back To Life (Number 2).

Eminem slides two places to Number 3 with The Marshall Mathers LP 2, while 2011 X Factor winners Little Mix are new in at Number 4 with their second album, Salute.

This week’s Official Albums Chart Update Top 5 is completed by The Killers’ Best Of album, Direct Hits (5).

New Entries

In addition to Lady Gaga’s ARTPOP (Number 1), Celine Dion’s Loved Me Back To Life (2), Little Mix’s Salute (4) and The Killers’ Direct Hits (5), there are eight other new entries on today’s Official Albums Chart Update.

English tenor Alfie Boe is heading for his fourth consecutive Top 10 album this weekend with Trust (7), while The Beatles’ On Air - Live At The BBC Volume 2 is new in at Number 8. The album features 63 previously unreleased tracks from The Fab Four’s 1963-64 BBC Radio broadcasts. Keane’s new Greatest Hits collection, The Best Of, debuts at Number 10, while Sir Cliff Richard’s The Fabulous Rock ‘N’ Roll Songbook - which sees the chart legend revisiting his rock ‘n’ roll roots for his 100th album - is at Number 11 on today’s Update.

Meanwhile, Daniel O’Donnell is on track for his 30th UK Top 40 album this weekend with A Picture Of You (Number 14). The Irish singer/songwriter has achieved at least one Top 40 album every year since 1991, which is an Official Chart record. This week’s new entries are completed by Russell Watson’s Only One Man (Number 19), Erasure’s Snow Globe (21) and the re-mastered edition of The Beatles’ first Live At The BBC album is at 38.

The Official Albums Chart Update Top 40 is as follows. The Official Albums Chart Top 100 will be posted in full, here, on Sunday at 7pm.

1	ARTPOP	LADY GAGA
2	LOVED ME BACK TO LIFE	CELINE DION
3	THE MARSHALL MATHERS LP 2	EMINEM
4	SALUTE	LITTLE MIX
5	DIRECT HITS	KILLERS
6	THE NATION'S FAVOURITE ELVIS SONGS	ELVIS PRESLEY
7	TRUST	ALFIE BOE
8	ON AIR - LIVE AT THE BBC - VOL 2	BEATLES
9	JAMES ARTHUR	JAMES ARTHUR
10	THE BEST OF	KEANE
11	THE FABULOUS ROCK 'N' ROLL SONGBOOK	CLIFF RICHARD
12	MUSIC OF THE NIGHT	ANDRE RIEU & JOHANN STRAUSS OR
13	MOON LANDING	JAMES BLUNT
14	A PICTURE OF YOU	DANIEL O'DONNELL
15	SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE MOVIES	OVERTONES
16	DEMONSTRATION	TINIE TEMPAH
17	PRISM	KATY PERRY
18	AM	ARCTIC MONKEYS
19	ONLY ONE MAN	RUSSELL WATSON
20	THE VERY BEST OF	BOB DYLAN
21	SNOW GLOBE	ERASURE
22	REFLEKTOR	ARCADE FIRE
23	UNORTHODOX JUKEBOX	BRUNO MARS
24	TO BE LOVED	MICHAEL BUBLE
25	PURE HEROINE	LORDE
26	MERRY CHRISTMAS BABY	ROD STEWART
27	IF YOU WAIT	LONDON GRAMMAR
28	YOU & ME	SHANE FILAN
29	ALIVE	JESSIE J
30	BANGERZ	MILEY CYRUS
31	PERHAPS LOVE	JONATHAN & CHARLOTTE
32	HALCYON	ELLIE GOULDING
33	WORD OF MOUTH	WANTED
34	JAKE BUGG	JAKE BUGG
35	OUR VERSION OF EVENTS	EMELI SANDE
36	THE BEST OF - VOL 1	NICKELBACK
37	TIME	ROD STEWART
38	LIVE AT THE BBC	BEATLES
39	TRIBUTE	JOHN NEWMAN
40	NOTHING WAS THE SAME	DRAKE