Jose Mourinho will select a strong Chelsea side out of respect to high-flying Championship team Derby County when they meet in the quarterfinals of the Capital One Cup on Tuesday. . Only rested England defender Gary Cahill will not be considered for selection at Derby while playmaking maestro Cesc Fabregas is expected to return from the one-game suspension that saw him miss Saturday’s 2-0 Premier League victory over Hull City. . “We don’t have problems. The players are fit, the players are not tired, the players are in good condition so no special reason not to go with a strong…
Author: David F.
European champions Real Madrid will face Schalke 04, Barcelona will play Manchester City and Chelsea will play Paris St Germain in three ties repeated from last season following the draw for the Champions league last 16 made on Monday. . Real Madrid knocked Schalke out of the last 16 last season 9-2 on aggregate, Barcelona beat Manchester City 4-1 while Chelsea beat PSG on away goals in the quarterfinals. . Last week Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho said he would welcome being drawn against PSG “because it will be easy for our fans to travel to Paris” — and he got…
Barcelona forward Neymar has failed to recover from a minor ankle problem and will not be available for Tuesday’s King’s Cup last-32, second leg at home to third-tier Huesca, coach Luis Enrique said on Monday. . Neymar missed Barca’s 0-0 La Liga draw at Getafe on Saturday and has been joined on the sidelines by Brazil teammate Dani Alves, who has a hamstring strain. . Barca struggled against a defence-minded Getafe in driving rain in the Madrid suburbs but should have little trouble progressing to the last 16 of the Cup having won 4-0 at Huesca in the first leg.…
Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal felt that his side’s 3-0 Premier League victory over Liverpool proved that his methods are beginning to take effect at Old Trafford. . Sunday’s win, secured by goals from Wayne Rooney, Juan Mata and Robin van Persie, was United’s sixth in a row and galvanised their grip on third place in the table, but there were rough edges to the hosts’ display. . Liverpool created a host of chances, with David de Gea earning the man-of-the-match award for a series of spectacular saves, while Mata’s goal should have been ruled out for offside. .…
Manuel Pellegrini has set his sights on keeping Frank Lampard at Manchester City beyond his current loan spell with the Premier League champions. . Pellegrini’s side overcame bottom club Leicester thanks to Lampard’s 175th Premier League goal five minutes before half-time in Saturday’s 1-0 win at Leicester. . The former Chelsea midfielder has now scored six goals since joining City on loan from New York City in pre-season and Pellegrini would dearly love to keep the influential 36-year-old at Eastlands for a larger portion of the season. . But, with his loan due to expire in January, there has been…
Nigeria international, Victor Moses, could make a return to action for Stoke City in about three weeks. . According to the Stoke Sentinel, the Potters manager, Mark Hughes, expressed optimism that the winger looks set to make a return before or after the New Year since he turned up at the club’s 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace on Saturday. . Hughes is encouraged by the 24-year-old’s recovery from the thigh injury that has sidelined him since late last month. . Moses had been projected to be out for at least six to eight weeks, but Hughes now appears optimistic that…
Manchester United and Liverpool will remind themselves what top billing in the Premier League feels like when they lock horns for the 191st time at Old Trafford on Sunday. . Chelsea and Manchester City seem destined to duke it out for this season’s title, but contests between United and Liverpool often serve to show why it is their rivalry that remains the most enduring in English football. . United’s run of five consecutive wins has seen them climb to third place in the table, eight points behind league leaders Chelsea and five points below defending champions City. . But although…
Chelsea and Manchester City tightened their stranglehold on the Premier League title race on Saturday, recording victories over struggling clubs to stretch further clear of their increasingly forlorn pursuers. . Normal service was resumed at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea maintained their three-point lead over City at the top with goals from Eden Hazard and Diego Costa sinking 10-man Hull City 2-0. . Champions City maintained their ever more convincing chase, sealing their fifth successive league win at bottom club Leicester City 1-0 courtesy of a 40th-minute goal from the evergreen Frank Lampard. . City’s delight, though, was tempered by the…
Olivier Giroud and Santi Cazorla each scored twice as Arsenal beat Newcastle United 4-1 in Premier League on Saturday to ease the pressure on long-serving manager Arsene Wenger. . Wenger was verbally abused by a small group of fans following Arsenal’s 3-2 loss at Stoke City last weekend, but he was serenaded by the home support after his side put Newcastle to the sword at the Emirates Stadium. . Newcastle were second-best from the first whistle and could have no complaints about the scoreline, which left them in seventh place in the table, three points behind sixth-place Arsenal. . Arsenal’s…
Barcelona’s La Liga title hopes suffered a blow as they fell four points behind leaders Real Madrid after being held to a disappointing 0-0 draw at Getafe on Saturday. . In a bitty first half at the Coliseum Alfonso Perez the visitors were indebted to goalkeeper Claudio Bravo, who kept his side on level terms with a top-drawer save from an Angel Lafita effort. . Barca improved after the break and piled on the pressure, yet were unable to find a way past Vicente Guaita with Lionel Messi striking the bar from a free-kick and some resolute defending from the…
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has described John Obi Mikel’s first-ever Uefa Champions League goal on Wednesday in their 3-1 win over Sporting Lisbon as decisive. . The Chelsea manager insists the Nigerian’s strike on 56 minutes took the sting out of a Sporting side that could have made things complicated at Stamford Bridge. . “We played seriously, we were strong and we deserved to win. . “The ones who are playing regularly, they faced the game in the right way. Those that don’t always play, they came in very well. . “When the game was 2-1 there could have been…
Former France international and Manchester City attacking midfielder Samir Nasri has tipped Algeria as favourites for the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea. . Born in Marseille, France, the 27-year-old player says he is an enthusiast of Algeria where his parents hail from and watches the Fennec Foxes regularly. . “I really appreciated Algeria’s outing at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil,” Nasri said on Wednesday. “It was widely unexpected and many people were stunned. . “They almost knocked out eventual winners Germany. It was awesome and I was greatly flattered,” he said. . The former Arsenal player…
Luis Suarez is unconcerned at being overshadowed by Lionel Messi’s scoring feats at Barcelona but remains angry about being labelled a “racist” and a “cheat” in England. . The former Liverpool striker has made more an impact with his assists since returning from a biting ban at the end of October while Messi has become the top scorer in La Liga and Champions League history. . “I have always been a goal scorer but I also like to help set up goals,” Suarez told the Catalan newspaper Sport. . “I came here to score goals and not provide passes. I…
Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal says he has sympathy for Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers after the Reds’ poor start to the season. . United meet arch rivals Liverpool at Old Trafford on Sunday, with van Gaal’s side seeking to extend their wining run to six matches. . Liverpool, who finished second in the Premier League last season, are currently ninth in the table and crashed out of the Champions League on Wednesday with a 1-1 home draw with Basle. . Rodgers has come in for criticism during Liverpool’s poor run. . But, like United, Liverpool have also had to…
Manchester United record signing Angel Di Maria will miss the visit of bitter rivals Liverpool in the Premier League on Sunday but the Old Trafford injury crisis is easing, manager Louis van Gaal said on Friday. . The Argentina winger, signed for a British transfer fee record £59.7 million from Real Madrid, will miss his third consecutive game after failing to recover from a hamstring injury. . The 20-times English champions will also have to cope without injured defenders Luke Shaw and Chris Smalling as well as midfielder Daley Blind. . But United manager Van Gaal remained upbeat on Friday,…
Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has praised the recovery time of talented youngster Jesse Lingard saying that he was impressed the player could come back from injury so quickly. . Lingard was a surprise inclusion in Van Gaal’s first competitive game, a 2-1 defeat at home to Swansea City, but his performance was cut short when he had to be taken off with a nasty looking knee injury. . The original diagnosis was that he wouldn’t played again until 2015 but Lingard has worked hard at his recovery and he has now returned to first-team training. . Is Louis…
Jose Mourinho insists Chelsea will show no fear when they dive into the shark infested waters of the Champions League last 16. . Mourinho’s side got back on track with a 3-1 win over Sporting Lisbon in their Group G finale at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday to erase the bitter taste of their first defeat of the season at Newcastle last weekend. . As group winners, the Blues will be pitted against one of big-spending French club Paris Saint Germain, Italian champions Juventus, Swiss side Basle, Germany’s Bayer Leverkusen or Shakhtar Donetsk of the Ukraine in Monday’s draw for the…
Barcelona coach Luis Enrique was delighted to have ended PSG’s unbeaten run in all competitions this season despite being forced to adopt a new system in a landmark Champions League triumph for the Catalans. . Former Barcelona striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic put the French side ahead after 15 minutes on Wednesday before the home side turned the Group F decider around with goals from Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez. . The victory ensured that Barca topped the standings on 15 points, two ahead of PSG, and set a new record of 13 group wins in the competition, one more than…
Manchester United will bid for a sixth straight Premier League victory to heap more misery on Brendan Rodgers and his beleaguered Liverpool side when the bitter rivals meet at Old Trafford on Sunday. . United, who finished seventh last season, continued to recover from their poor start to the campaign with a fortunate 2-1 win at high-flying Southampton on Monday that lifted them into third place for the first time since August 2013. . By contrast, last term’s runners-up Liverpool are ninth and suffered an early Champions League exit with a 1-1 home draw in their final group game against…
Real Madrid face Almeria in La Liga on Friday aiming to extend their record winning run to 20 matches but injuries are beginning to take their toll. . Ancelotti’s side have been in blistering form and a 4-0 victory over Ludogorets in the Champions League on Tuesday set a new Spanish record of 19 wins in all competitions. . Injuries are becoming a concern, however, with James Rodriguez going off against Celta Vigo last weekend to join Luka Modric and Sami Khedira in the treatment room. . Asier Illarramendi has earned a chance to claim a regular place in the…