• Costa misses game at Leicester after clash with fitness coach
• Chelsea will refuse to sell their top scorer
Diego Costa has been dropped from the Chelsea squad for Saturday’s Premier League fixture at Leicester City, after a row that involves a massive offer made to him from a club in the Chinese Super League.
The volatile striker has also clashed with one of the Chelsea fitness coaches over an injury that he feels he has been carrying, and he did not travel to Leicester with his team-mates on Friday. Costa has not trained fully this week and the manager, Antonio Conte, has become involved in the argument.
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Jose Mourinho made his first signing as Manchester United’s coach by bringing in Ivorian defender Eric Bailly from Spanish side Villareal. The central defender joined the Red Devils from the Spanish side on a four-years contract which could be extended further for two more years.
Bailly who has appeared 15 times for his country Ivory Coast joined the Yellow Submarines just 18 months back. he has been pipped by the Portuguese coach as the next Sergio Ramos and that is probably why United went for him since they could not get the Real Madrid captain. Although Ramos is the more experienced one of the pair but what Bailly lacks in experience he makes up for in strength and toughness.
“Eric is a young central defender with great natural talent. He has progressed well to date and has the potential to become one of the best around,” former Chelsea manager who took over from Louis van Gaal in May, said.
The young Ivorian has played 47 times for Villareal since joining from Espanyol back in 2015. He was part of Villareal’s defence line that conceded only 35 goals in 38 La Liga matches last season. The signing of Eric Bailly is a good one for Manchester United as they look to build up a good team and challenge for the Premier League title next season. The player believes that working with the current United coach would help him develop in the right way, at the right club. He would most likely mount the central defence position along side Chris Smalling in the coming season.
European Champions Spain, scored six past Korea Republic in their last friendly before their kick off in this year’s competition. Spain made light of the match with the goal tally while Korea Republic were only able to pull one back late in the second half of the game.
Manchester City midfielder, David Silva opened the scoring for the Spaniards in the 30th minute of the game with a stunning free kick. just two minutes after, another Premier League midfielder, Cesc Fabregas doubled Spain’s lead. Celta Vigo star Nolito is beginning to cement his position in the team by showing his prowess in front of goal. He scored the third and fifth goal of the match. Juventus striker Alvaro Morata also got a double, his last coming in the 89th minute to round off the match.
Spain’s national team coach, Vincente Del Bosque made just four changes to the team that beat Bosnia 3-1 by including legendary goalkeeper Iker Casillas, Andres Iniesta, Gerard Pique and Alvaro Morata. surely Alvaro Morata showed the coach what he could do in front of goal. at half time, spain also made four changes and this was to give some playing time to Jordi Alba, Thiago Alcantara, Sergio Busquets and Pedro.
Spain would be hoping to have this kind of performance in their opening game against Czech Republic in the Euro’s unlike what happened during the last World Cup in Brazil against Netherlands.
The fact that his team is not performing well seems not to be the only problem Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho is facing. The Portuguese coach has been handed a one match stadium ban by the English FA for his misconduct during their 2-1 loss against West Ham 2 weeks back. Mourinho was provoked by the dismissal of his player, Nemanja Matic and his first team assistant coach Louro. During the half time break, the Portuguese approach the official in his changing room and refused to leave when asked to. He even made reference to the fact that Arsenal Boss Arsene Wenger had referred to the referee John Moss as being weak.
This would be the second ban that the Chelsea boss would be facing. The first which is also a stadium ban and a £50,000 fine is still being appealed and has not even been settled. This ban comes at a very wrong time for the Chelsea boss. Team doctor Eva Caneiro who was dismissed last two months after her rift with the coach, has taken the matter to court and the Chelsea boss is supposed to appear before an employment tribunal later this week. Chelsea currently seat at third position in their Champions League group and would host Dynamo in Wednesday. The match and Saturday’s match which Mourinho’s is supposed to miss following his ban are two important matches that could either buy him more time or lead to his sack.
This weekend was nervy as the first match was a vital one for the teams involved. It was the staggering Chelsea FC vs Rejuvenating Liverpool. As much as the crucial match was a vital time for Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea to turn things around for themselves, it was also Liverpoool’s chance to show that their new coach was making progress with the team.
Chelsea vs Liverpool
With just four minutes into the match, Brazilian midfielder Ramires headed Chelsea into the lead following a cross from left back Azplicueta. Liverpool didn’t back down from this, they kept pushing for a goal which finally came in the dying period of the first half from Coutinho. He added to his tally to make it 2-1 in the second half before Benteke ended any hopes for Chelsea with a third goal.
Crystal Palace vs Manchester United
United headed into this fixture with two draws in their last two fixtures without goals. The red devils were hoping to change their fortune with this game but it was Crystal Palace who had the better chances of the game and United were sure lucky to have escape with a draw.
Swansea City vs Arsenal.
Although beaten in the midweek by Sheffield United, Arsene Wenger so men showed their title race wasn’t affected by their cup loss. The game started out quite balanced with both teams having equal shares of the ball but the swans were lacking in their final touches. Oliver Giroud broke the deadlock for the gunners in the 49th minute of the game and then a controversial Koscielny goal and one from Campbell gave them a deserved 3-0 victory.
Elsewhere, Manchester City needed a penalty to restore their lead in the 86th minute of the game after Norwich City had drawn level. Leicester City came from behind to beat West Bromwich 3-2 while Newcastle had a goalless draw with Stoke City. Newly promoted side, Watford got a 2-0 victory over West Ham and that ended the day in the Premier League today.
This Premier League star match this weekend is non other than the match between struggling title holders Chelsea and Liverpool who are on their way to redeeming themselves under the guidance of new coach Jurgen Klopp. Chelsea coach, Jose Mourinho is confident that his team can overturn their recent bad form with a victory against Liverpool this weekend. The currently Premier League holders have had it very rough in their title defense this season securing just 11 out of a possible 30 points. They have also won just one of their last seven matches in all competitions. There has been rumors within the week that the board is already lining up replacement for the Chelsea manager with former Real Madrid and Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelloti a possible option.
Meanwhile, Liverpool’s new coach Jurgen Klopp would be looking to make a strong statement in the Premier League and nothing would say that more than a win against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. The reds have not lost a match since the German took over the club and there has been positives changes since he took over. Even though the team has not been scoring a lot of goals lately, their pace and runs have improved according to statistics. Liverpool currently seat at the ninth position on the table win 14 points while Chelsea are at the fifteenth position with 11 points as earlier stated. a win would go a long way in changing any of the teams fortune and the players mindset, so that makes this game a crucial one for both teams. the question now is, “who would go home smiling after the match?”
The Barclays Premier League resumed this weekend with so much to look forward to. Would Chelsea continue their path to redemption, would arsenal top the league for a few hours and who would win the Manchester derby, those were questions we all wanted to be answered this weekend. Well we got the all the answers just in time.
Arsenal continued their winning streak in the Premier League with a 2-1 win over Everton at the Emirates stadium on Saturday while Liverpool and Southampton shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw. Vardy was the man again as he scored the only goal for Leicester City in their win over Crystal Palace, the goal makes him the top scorer in the Premier League with 10 goals in 10 matches for Leicester City. Andrew Ayew completed Swansea’s comeback against Aston Villa after going down by one goal thanks to a goal from his brother Jordan Ayew.
Tottenham Hotspur were the highest winners in the Premier League in match day 10 with a 5-1 victory over newly promoted side Bournemouth. Sunderland also got a 3-0 victory over Newcastle United while new promoted side Watford got a sweet 2-0 victory over Stoke City.
The Manchester derby which was scheduled for sunday ended up in goalless stalemate and there has been suggestions that this has been the worst ever derby in a long time.
Following the results, there is a lot to be said about the Premier League, just stay glued on here for updates as they roll out.
The European Champions League was back in action with a lot of expectations from fans around the world. With lots of Europe’s elite teams going head to head it was sure to be an eye catching encounter in the match day 3 of the competition.
Barcelona were away against BATE club and it required the magic of croatian midfielder Ivan Rakitic to break the deadlock for the team. He was in terrific form scoring two goals as they ran out winners in the game that ended 2-0. Bayern Leverkusen goalkeeper Bernd Leno was to blame as the team drew 4-4. Arsenal hosted Bayern Munich at the Emirates stadium and although they did go into the match as the underdogs they came on top with goals from Oliver Giroud and Mesut Ozil. Elsewhere in group F Olympiakos got a goal over Dinamo Zagreb which meant Arsene Wenger’s team remain bottom of the table.
After a 2-0 win over West Ham this weekend, Chelsea couldn’t muster much against Dynamo Kiev in Sweden and they shared the spoils in a goalless draw. Hulk continued his scintillating form for Zenit as they trashed Olympique Lyon 3-1, this means the Russian team has now won all three of their Champions League matches. PSG stars were below par against a weak Madrid team with the later having the better chances of the game though they couldn’t covert it to goals. Anthony Martial scored his first Champions League goal sparing the blushes for team captain Wayne Rooney who had missed a couple of chances to put the team ahead. The young french striker made up for his errors that gave CSKA Moscow the lead after conceding a penalty with a hand ball. Athletico Madrid were the highest winners beating Astana 4-0 while Manchester City got a 2-1 victory over Sevilla. This match day made a change to the fact that the big teams smash their way past through the group stages, now they have to work to earn it.
A lot was expected as all the leagues returned to action following the long international break but the Premier League just had so much going on for it. Chelsea were expected to have gotten the break needed to get them back to winning ways, Liverpool fans couldn’t wait to see the effects of their new coach, Arsenal longed to see their good run continue and Manchester United just wanted to be over their heavy lose at the Emirates.
Chelsea seemed to have found their rhythm in the absence of their main talisman Eden Hazard as they capitalised on Aston Villa’s defensive errors to win the game by 2 goals to nil. Manchester City were on fire, thrashing AC Bournemouth 5-1 with Raheem Sterling scoring three of those goals. Meanwhile United got the better of the game at Goodison park by winning 3-0, captain Wayne Rooney rounded off the scoring when he picked up a superb pass from Ander Herrera and lifted the ball over the on rushing keeper. Liverpool played harder, faster and with more enthusiasm but ended up sharing the spoils at White Hart Lane.
Southampton gave away a two goal lead as Vardy lead Leicester City to a great comeback to draw level with the second goal coming-in in the 90th minute. Late goals from Lazzini and Payet helped West Ham secure a vital win over Crystal Palace. Hot sensation Alexis Sanchez lead the rout as Arsenal came in strong in the second half to win newly promoted side Watford. Berahino was the man to burst Sunderland’s bubble as faced West Bromwich later in the day.
Earlier today, Wijnaldum scored a staggering four goals as Newcastle trashed Norwich City at St James Park. The Netherlands international scored twice in both halves of the game. And that leaves us with the last match of this round, which is Swansea vs Stoke City and that would be played tomorrow night.
