After an impressive close season in the transfer market aiming to bridge the gap to the top of the Premier League, Chelsea got an uneasy look at how that chasm appears on the field as Liverpool eased to a 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge.
Even before Andreas Christensen s game-changing red card for a professional foul on Sadio Mane during first-half stoppage time, Jurgen Klopp s champions had dictated matters.
That state of affairs only became more skewed after half-time as Thiago Alcantara announced his Premier League arrival with a passing clinic against depleted opponents.
Mane gave his own lesson in clinical opportunism with both goals, even if Kepa Arrizabalaga s problems were almost as influential on both Chelsea s demise and, in all likelihood, his immediate fu…
Everton s torrid start to the season continued as they crashed to a 2-1 defeat to Lyon in an ill-tempered Europa League clash at Goodison Park.
The defeat means the Toffees are rooted to the bottom of Group E with just one point from three games and manager Ronald Koeman will surely face fresh questions about his future.
Growing frustration on Merseyside was summed up by Ashley Williams sparking a brawl between both sets of players after a reckless shove on Lyon goalkeeper Anthony Lopes, with fans unnecessarily lashing out at visiting players in the ensuing melee.
Williams perhaps ought to have been dismissed, but he incredibly made the most of his reprieve to cancel out Nabil Fekir s early penalty as momentum seemed to have swung the Toffees way with 20 minutes …
Cristiano Ronaldo scored a first-half double to help Juventus return to winning ways with a routine 2-0 victory over Cagliari in their Serie A clash at the Allianz Stadium.
Juve conceded a last-gasp goal to Lazio last time out to make it only three wins from seven league outings this term, but Ronaldo inspired them to three points on Saturday by scoring for the fifth league game running.
The Portugal international curled in the opening goal with 38 minutes played and grabbed a second with an impressive hooked finish shortly before the interval.
Andrea Pirlo s side were unable to add to their tally but Ronaldo s brace was enough as they moved into second place, albeit having played a game more than the majority of the teams around them.
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According to a recent report from Sky Sports News, West Ham United are interested in the possibility of bringing Marouane Fellaini to the club. Hammers boss David Moyes wants to team up with the popular midfielder for the third time, after the two men spent time together with Everton and Manchester United.
Fellaini left United last January in order to make the jump over to China, but with the salary cap that has been introduced for foreign players over there, the expectation is that Fellaini will be returning to Europe sooner rather than later.
He may not get a better offer than this one given that he’s spent time over in China recently, and with Moyes seemingly rejuvenating the form of West Ham as of late, it could be a really smart way for Fellaini to giv…
Luciano Spalletti will not discuss a new contract while Napoli continue their Scudetto bid, saying any talks regarding his future will only create problems for the Serie A leaders.
Napoli appear destined to clinch their first league title since the Diego Maradona era in this campaign, having built a huge 13-point lead over nearest rivals Inter at the top of the table.
Only Bayern Munich (one) have lost fewer games across all competitions than Napoli (two) this season among teams in Europe s top five leagues.
Sunday s clash with Cremonese marks the start of a key period in the Partenopei s season, with the first leg of a Champions League last-16 tie against Eintracht Frankfurt to come on February 21.
Spalletti s contract with Napoli expires at the end of …
Bernard settled a topsy-turvy FA Cup thriller as Everton beat Tottenham 5-4 after extra time to claim a place in the quarter-finals.
The hosts were second best during the opening stages at Goodison Park, either side of falling behind to Davinson Sanchez s third-minute header, although Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Richarlison and Gylfi Sigurdsson – the latter from the penalty spot – were all on target in a crazy seven-and-a-half-minute spell.
Then it was time for Tottenham s comeback, with Erik Lamela reducing the arrears before half-time and Sanchez improbably poaching his second of the match.
Richarlison arrowed a high-quality finish beyond Hugo Lloris on the angle to convert Sigurdsson s brilliant 68th-minute throughball and, although Harry Kane had the desire…
Best Odds: 10/11
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In what could prove to be a thrilling affair from the Red Bull Arena in the early hours of Thursday, New York will welcome Cincinnati to New Jersey in midweek.
New York Red Bulls
Starting with the hosts, managing to make an immediate return to winning ways last weekend as they claimed a lively 2-1 victory at home against New England, the Red Bulls are now hoping to find some much-needed stability. Still sat outside the play-off places in the Eastern Conference, Troy Lesesne’s men have recorded just a trio of their previous eight domestic appearances across all competitions a run that stems back to a 2-1 win against Montreal on May 20th. Nevertheless, while the MLS giants have shown some extended defensive issues this season, the fo…
Best odds: 8/15
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Athletic Bilbao and Barcelona will face each other in the 2020-21 Copa del Rey final at the Estadio La Cartuja in Seville on Saturday evening. With 23 and 30 triumphs, respectively, these teams are the most successful two in this historic competition. They met in the final of the Supercopa de Espana in January, in which the Basque team came back twice (the second time in the final minute of the game) to win, after extra-time which saw Lionel Messi earn a straight red card at the very end. Antoine Griezmann had given the Catalans the lead both times, first cancelled out by Oscar de Marcos and then by Asier Villalibre, and the decisive goal came from Inaki Williams three minutes into the first period of extra-time.
Athletic Bilbao
Bilb…
Prediction: Napoli to win 4-0
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Spezia and Napoli will face each other in Serie A this coming weekend. The match between the Aquile and I Partenopei will be held at Stadio Alberto Picco and is scheduled to kick off at 11:30am UK time on Sunday.
Spezia
Spezia have done well in Serie A since winning promotion from Serie B. The Aquilotti ended up third in the 2019-20 Serie B campaign and won promotion via the playoffs. It was Spezia’s eighth successive season in the second division in Italian football. Spezia finished 15th in the Serie A table in 2020-21 and 16th in the standings in 2021-22. And it looks likely that they will end up in a similar position in the league table this time around.
Luca Gotti’s side are 17th in …
Gareth Bale will probably make his first appearance since returning to Tottenham when they face West Ham on Sunday.
Bale rejoined Spurs on a season-long loan in September, having left in 2013 for Real Madrid in a then world-record transfer.
A knee injury has so far kept Bale out of action and, though he gave a positive update on the forward s condition, manager Jose Mourinho would not definitively say if the Wales international will feature in the London derby.
Of course he wants to play. He wanted to play since the day he arrived but wasn t possible, Mourinho told a media conference.
I m not going to tell you if he s going to play or not. What I will tell you is that he s working very well. He s working the way he probably hasn t been able to do for s…