Breaking

Wednesday 24 January 2018

January 24, 2018

‘Eden Hazard is still here’ – Willian taunts Arsenal over Alexis Sanchez’s transfer to Manchester United


Willian appears to have taunted Arsenal over Alexis Sanchez‘s departure ahead of Chelsea’s Carabao Cup clash with their London rivals. The Gunners have lost arguably their most potent weapon ahead of the semi-final second leg at the Emirates after Sanchez completed a transfer move to Manchester United on Monday night. Despite the first leg ending goalless at Stamford Bridge, Willian will be full of confidence following his impressive goalscoring performance in Chelsea’s 4-0 defeat of Brighton at the weekend. And the Brazilian believes his side may have been handed another advantage after Sanchez’s move was announced.


Willian hopes that Chelsea’s convincing victory over Brighton on Saturday gives them momentum heading into the clash with Arsenal. He added: ‘I hope we can do something special to win. We have quality players who can do something different. Everyone has to be ready. ‘My goal against Brighton was beautiful and it was one more clean sheet for us. We scored four goals, which came after a few games where we haven’t scored as much.


‘It was important for us to do that before facing Arsenal. ‘It’s not just the Chelsea fans who don’t like losing to Arsenal. We, the Chelsea players, don’t like losing to Arsenal either. We are going into this game very strong.’

Wednesday 17 January 2018

January 17, 2018

Chelsea Vs Norwish City Second Clash in FA Cup


Chelsea must pick themselves up from the recent poor run of form to avoid a potential FA Cup shock against Norwich City.

The Canaries impressed in a goalless draw at Carrow Road earlier this month to earn themselves a replay at Stamford Bridge.

And the Championship side may be hopeful of an upset with the Premier League champions without a win in their last four games, and goalless in their previous three outings.

Last year's losing finalists Chelsea will look to avoid a fifth straight draw in all competitions when they host Championship side Norwich City in their FA Cup third-round replay.

The two sides played out a tense 0-0 at Carrow Road just under two weeks ago, and the Premier League champions will look to ensure safe passage to round four this time around.

Antonio Conte's men have since been held by Arsenal in the Carabao Cup and Leicester City at the weekend and will be desperate to prove a point after not scoring in any of their last three matches.
Mario Stanic's header from a Graeme Le Saux corner opened the scoring after 12 minutes, and the west Londoners went into the break with a single-goal lead. Frank Lampard added a second just before the hour mark, tapping in a Stanic effort which Rob Green found too hot to handle.

The game is mostly remembered for a brilliant individual goal from Gianfranco Zola: netting Chelsea's third and providing an all-time great FA Cup strike. With Le Saux whipping the ball in from the left, Zola got clear at the near post and delicately flicked it home with a rabona which flew past Green.

The Italian's majestic intervention lit up Stamford Bridge and killed the game off as a contest before Mikael Forssell slid in one minute from time to compound Norwich's misery.
Key Battles

David Luiz will have his work cut out trying to contain Nelson Oliveira, with the imposing striker more than capable of causing the Chelsea defense problems on Wednesday night.

Willian will be looking to atone for his rare poor showing at Carrow Road a fortnight ago and cause the Canaries no end of problems, with Jamal Lewis in for a testing night in west London.

Team News

Antonio Conte would have liked to hand a Chelsea debut to Ross Barkley, who signed from Everton for £15m earlier in the month. The midfielder has yet to play this season, having suffered a hamstring injury in August. Due to a registration issue, Barkley is ineligible to play in this round.
Youngsters such as Ethan Ampadu and Kenedy will get a run-out in the cup, with fringe players such as Davide Zappacosta also likely to start on Wednesday night. Gary Cahill will be sidelined, having come off injured against Leicester on Saturday with a hamstring problem.

Youngsters such as Ethan Ampadu and Kenedy will get a run-out in the cup, with fringe players such as Davide Zappacosta also likely to start on Wednesday night. Gary Cahill will be sidelined, having come off injured against Leicester on Saturday with a hamstring problem.
Daniel Farke has a largely full squad available to him for the trip to Stamford Bridge. Nelson Oliviera should start again, despite rumors linking him with a move to Derby this month. Tom Trybull could be out, with the midfielder missing the weekend win at Bristol City with a back problem.

Predicted Chelsea Lineup: Caballero; Rudiger, Luiz, Ampadu; Zappacosta, Fabregas, Drinkwater, Kenedy; Willian, Batshuayi, Hazard.

Predicted Norwich Lineup: Gunn; Pinto, Hanley, Klose, Husband; Tettey, Vrancic, Lewis; Maddison, Oliveira, Murphy.

Prediction

Despite the champions' sketchy form in 2018 so far, drawing all four of their games, it would be a catastrophic surprise were they not to book a fourth-round date with Newcastle.

For all Norwich's commitment and excellent application at Carrow Road, the likes of Eden Hazard and perhaps the debuting Barkley should prove too much for the plucky Championship side. Antonio Conte's men will get a much-needed first win of 2018 ahead of their Carabao Cup semi-final second leg against Arsenal next week.

Prediction: Chelsea 2-0 Norwich

what is your prediction?
January 17, 2018

Andreas Christensen: The making of Chelsea's brilliant young defender



Antonio Conte has described Andreas Christensen as the "best surprise" of Chelsea's season, but his breakthrough is not unexpected to the people close to him. Nick Wright finds out how the quiet, humble Dane became one of the best young center-back in the Premier League.

"I was there last week when we signed the new contract," Sten Christensen tells Sky Sports. "When we left Stamford Bridge afterward, I asked Andreas if he wanted to go somewhere to get something to eat, but he said no. He was already thinking about his game the next day. He said he just wanted to go home, order something and go to bed. So that was our celebration."

Sten laughs as he recounts his most recent visit to London. His son had just agreed a new four-and-a-half year contract at Chelsea, confirming his status as an important member of Antonio Conte's first-team squad, but his reaction to signing on the dotted line said a lot about how he has got there. "That's Andreas," adds Sten. "He is totally focused on football."
That focus has been evident on the pitch all season. Christensen has been outstanding for Chelsea since returning from a two-year loan spell at Borussia Monchengladbach in the summer, making 24 appearances in all competitions and usurping David Luiz at the heart of their defense. "Every time I have given Christensen the opportunity to play, he has given an amazing performance," said Conte last month.

The 21-year-old's emergence has been an unexpected positive for Chelsea's head coach, who has lauded his "composure" and "calmness" on the pitch and described him as a future captain. To those who know him best, however, it is just the latest upward step in a career which seemed destined to take him to the top even as a young boy back in Denmark.


"I would say the first time I really saw his talent was when he was seven or eight years old," says Sten, a former goalkeeper now coaching at Christensen's boyhood club Brondby. "When he had the ball at his feet, he wasn't looking down, he was looking up. He had a special style when he was running with it. You could just see that this guy had the potential to be a footballer."
Christensen played for a small club near his hometown of Lillerod at the time, but it wasn't long before he joined up with Brondby. "I drove him there five or six times a week for six years," says Sten. "It was a 90km round trip so it was a lot of driving, but as a father, it was also nice to spend that quality time together. When I started coaching there as well, it was perfect."

Sten was closely involved in his son's development at Brondby but he credits long-serving youth coach John Ranum as the biggest influence. "I didn't work with Andreas directly when he first arrived but I knew about him," Ranum tells Sky Sports. "He was a player we had followed closely. His talent was so obvious that we made the decision to play him one year up from his age group."


Christensen was "humble and quiet", according to Ranum, but he was also completely confident in his own ability. The young defender embraced the challenge of playing with older boys, breezing through the age groups with such ease that by the age of 15, he was promoted to Ranum's U17s.

"Andreas was playing with very talented players two or even three years older than him, so we thought it was a good phase to teach him how to play in other positions," says Ranum. "We were almost positive that he would end up as a center-back, but we thought it would help him to understand the jobs of the players to the side of him and in front of him.

"We put him at full-back and at No 6, where he had players in a 360-degree radius around him. He listened a lot and he reacted well to it. Sten was a bit more worried, he said 'don't you know where to play him?' But we explained to him that it was part of Andreas's development plan to learn those things and he accepted it."

Christensen's understanding of the game improved in each position and it was at around that time that he came to the attention of bigger clubs. "When he was 15, Brondby's U17s entered a tournament in Holland arranged by Ajax," says Sten. "All the big clubs were there, Real Madrid, Barcelona and teams from England, but Brondby made it to the final."

Among the watching scouts were David Wilson and Alfie Apps from Aston Villa. "After the tournament in Holland they came to watch Andreas in another tournament in Denmark," says Sten. "I talked to them and they invited us to Villa. Brondby allowed us to go over and have a look."

Christensen and his father traveled to the Midlands but it soon became clear that Villa was not the only interested party. "I heard one story, I'm not sure if it's right, that Alfie couldn't keep his mouth shut and told other clubs and scouts that they had found the best young defender in Europe," says Sten with a chuckle. "Suddenly, all these clubs were calling us. It was crazy."

January 17, 2018

Manchester United are closing in on a move for Alexis Sanchez.


The Chilean is in the final months of his deal at Arsenal and is expected to make the move to Old Trafford after Manchester City pulled out of the race to sign him, report the Manchester Evening News.

Should he complete the move then he is likely to take up the cherished No.7 shirt which is currently vacant at United. But where will he play under Jose Mourinho?

Sanchez reportedly went cool on a move to City owing to Pep Guardiola's rotation policy in the attack, but at Old Trafford, the Chilean could likely play in any one of four positions.
However, it seems unlikely he will start in either of his favored roles of late. Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford are still fighting it out to be the club's first-choice left winger while Romelu Lukaku remains Jose Mourinho's main man up top.

Interestingly, despite playing nearly double the amount of football this season, Sanchez has the exact same league statistics as Martial this season - scoring seven times and creating a further three goals.

That leaves a potential place on the right, where Sanchez initially shone at Udinese and the No.10 position just off Lukaku. The botched Zlatan Ibrahimovic experiment raised questions about Lukaku’s ability to play in a partnership so it seems all roads lead to the right wing for Sanchez despite Juan Mata’s performances this season.


Sanchez also enjoyed his run out up front last season - scoring 30 goals as Arsenal’s main man - and having that option will ease the burden on a tired Romelu Lukaku.
The reality is, aside from the odd Carabao Cup tie, Mourinho has not been able to fully rest the Belgian because there is not an outstanding option who can step up and consistently deliver in his absence.

Lukaku stands to be the main beneficiary from Sanchez's arrival, too, as someone who can create chances for him on a regular basis.

Sanchez has not necessarily made his name for tracking back, as Mourinho demands of all of his luxury players, but it is his creativity, as much as his goals, which he craves.

January 17, 2018

Cardiff winning race to sign Grujic on loan

Cardiff are confident of winning the race to sign Liverpool midfielder Marko Grujic on loan.
Kop boss Jurgen Klopp is keen for Grujic to play more first-team football and Cardiff believe they have beaten off interest from Middlesbrough and Aston Villa to sign him for the rest of the season.
Grujic, 21, has been restricted to just six appearances this season - including only one start in the EFL Cup - and Klopp knows he needs to play more to continue his development.
The German has big hopes for the Serbian international, signed from Red Star Belgrade two years ago for £5.1million, and feels he can become a regular at Anfield.
Cardiff are pushing for promotion and boss Neil Warnock feels signings the 6ft 3ins Grujic would boost their chances of returning to the Premier League.
Grujic is open to the idea of going out to loan and he is keen to play more senior football.
January 17, 2018

Arsenal have agreed terms with Aubameyang

Arsenal have agreed terms with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang ahead of a sensational £60million move from Borussia Dortmund.


The controversial Gabon striker is the man Arsene Wenger wants to replace Alexis Sanchez at the Emirates, with the Arsenal star heading for Manchester United.

There could still be a twist in that saga though as the Chilean's move hinges on Henrikh Mkhitaryan moving in the opposite direction.

And you can expect a busy final two weeks of the transfer window in north London as Arsenal prepare to sell Theo Walcott to Everton.

But Wenger looks set to be frustrated in his efforts to bring in highly-rated midfielder Malcom from Bordeaux.

Plenty of clubs have business to do at both ends of the table and you can follow it all with us.
Stay tuned as we'll bring you all the latest done deals, new contracts, rumours, gossip and everything else ahead of the window's opening, here - in association with Ladbrokes.

Interestingly, Aubameyang has also missed the most clear-cut chances in the league (19). So his goal tally could - and perhaps should - be even higher but he clearly boasts the positional sense to make the right runs to be presented with these chances.

In total, Aubameyang has scored 69 league goals since the start of the 2015/16 season, the sixth-best tally in Europe's top five leagues across that period, while a conversion rate of 23.7% in that time is also a fine return for the forward.

The predicament, though, would be how Arsene Wenger incorporates Aubameyang into his starting XI. The Gunners boss has routinely favoured a system that is dependent on a sole striker in recent years and having spent a hefty amount on Alexandre Lacazette, to sign a similar forward wouldn't provide a solution for Alexis' impending exit, but rather another problem for Wenger to navigate.

Both Lacazette and Aubameyang adopt a similar style of attacking in that they prefer to hang off the shoulder of the last defender and make darting runs in behind the opposition backline, maximising both their pace and finishing quality.


Ian Wright has questioned Arsenal’s transfer policy regarding moves for Henrik Mkhitaryan and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Their success is largely dependent on threaded through balls by teammates, though to his credit, Lacazette is a reliable individual when it comes to dropping deeper, a facet that Aubameyang struggles with.

Neither player is going to be happy to sit on the bench at the Emirates Stadium with Aubameyang approaching the peak of his career and Lacazette looking for ample playing time to return to form and secure a spot in the France squad at Russia 2018.

Healthy competition for starting spots is crucial for any top team, yet Arsenal's pursuit of Aubameyang has left some scratching heads.

Both Lacazette and Aubameyang may have played out wide in the infancy of their respective careers, yet the immediate solution would be for Wenger to play two up front if they do sign the latter.

That being said, Wenger has been keen on bringing in a pacey forward for some time now, as the club's pursuit of Jamie Vardy suggests, with Aubameyang's potential signing hinting at the Frenchman adopting a more direct approach.

Considering Lacazette's willingness to drop deeper too, it could well indicate that Wenger is prepared to revert to a system that relies on two strikers, be it a 3-4-1-2 or a 4-4-2 diamond.

On top of that, Aubameyang affords a handy alternative approach, which only Olivier Giroud can offer at the Emirates Stadium. While speed is his greatest asset, at 6ft 2in Aubameyang has utilised his standing impressively in recent years - no Bundesliga player has scored more headed goals (10) than the Dortmund star since the start of the 2015/16 season to reinforce a statistically calculated WhoScored.com strength of 'headed attempts'.

Aubameyang's arrival would ease the goal-scoring burden on Lacazette, who has now not scored in 684 minutes of competitive action for Arsenal, last netting in the 3-1 loss to Manchester United last month. And any move for Aubameyang would grant Wenger greater tactical flexibility in the final third.

For a striker who has been linked with Real Madrid and Manchester City in recent months, Arsenal's capture of Aubameyang would be a coup, that is for sure.

Saturday 13 January 2018

January 13, 2018

CAHILL SUFFERS INJURY IN CHELSEA CLASH WITH LEICESTER


The England international pulled up in the first half with an apparent hamstring injury as the Blues struggled against Saturday's visitors

Gary Cahill has been substituted off in the first half of Chelsea's clash with Leicester City with an apparent hamstring injury.

The centre-back pulled up just 30 minutes into the game at Stamford Bridge as he chased Leicester striker Jamie Vardy and was given treatement on the field before limping off.

Despite David Luiz being on the bench, Antonio Conte chose Andreas Christensen as the man to replace the England international.

Luiz recently made his Chelsea return in the 0-0 draw with Norwich City in the third round of the FA Cup having been out with a knee injury since October. Christensen has played a big role for the London side since the Brazilian's injury and played the full 90 minutes in their previous league game against Arsenal.

Blues captan Cahill has been a key player for the reigning Premier League champions this term, and his injury could force the club to look for a new centre-back in the January transfer window.

Conte confirmed recently that his side missed out on signing Virgil van Dijk from Southampton, as he eventually made the £75 million move to Liverpool.

“This is football. This is life," Conte told reporters. "For sure he was our target but as you know this is football. We can have a lot of targets but you must be able to reach those targets."
January 13, 2018

Chelsea 0-0 Leicester City, Post-match reaction

A better second half, or certainly at least a more controlled one from Chelsea, but nothing doing on the scoreboard.
That’s now three (3!!) 0-0s in a row, which is surely a rather rare achievement — even if we consider that each one happened in a different competition. Fourth straight draw overall as well, which may be almost equally as rare.
Chelsea just not good enough today in either half, and probably lucky to not concede in the first-half.
Waiting for the team to snap out of this. Maybe on Wednesday?
  • Clean sheet!
  • 3-5-2 again, with a slightly rejigged defence for whatever reason (Rudi-Cahill-Azpi). Midfield three of Fabregas-Kante-Bakayoko.
  • Forced into an early change to replace the injured Cahill with Christensen, Conte then made the bold, necessary double-change just before the hour-mark to switch to the 3-4-3.
  • Chilwell’s yellow obviously a game-changer (in terms of match flow, in any case). No doubt about the second yellow, despite the announcer’s moaning (been a while since we’ve got to complain about Tony Gale, in fairness).