Prediction: Chelsea to win to nil

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Chelsea will look to cut the gap to top-of-the-table Liverpool on Saturday afternoon as they take on Leicester City at Stamford Bridge.

Mauricio Sarri s troops currently sit fourth in the Premier League standings, already eight points behind the Reds so a victory this weekend is imperative. Elsewhere, Claude Puel s have gone right off the boil in recent weeks and have fallen into the bottom half of the table. The pressure is building on the Frenchman at the King Power Stadium so three points in West London could go a long way in silencing the doubters.

Chelsea

Despite having suffered consecutive away losses in the Premier League recently, the Blues have bounced back from that adversity in the …

Chelsea are interested in signing Theo Hernandez from AC Milan, according to . The former Premier League and UEFA Champions League winners have been closely following Hernandez, with head coach Mauricio Pochettino interested in the 25-year-old left-back, who is one of the best players in his position in Serie A.

Hernandez has been on the books of AC Milan when he joined from Real Madrid. The 25-year-old left-back has scored two goals in 19 appearances for France. Hernandez has scored one goal in 5 Serie A matches and has played once in the UEFA Champions League for Milan so far this season.

Chelsea are 14th in the Premier League table at the moment with five points from six matches, four points above the relegation zone. Meanwhile, AC Milan currently find themselves sec…

These have been some tough months for the grand old city of Liverpool, the men in red losing a Premier League title first and then the waterfront being stripped of its UNESCO World Heritage status.

The cause of the latter bitter blow might be boiled down to a rush to regenerate. United Nations cultural blazers were ultimately at odds with city chiefs over the merit in complementing an elegant Victorian window on the world with shiny towers, sharp-angled business premises and apartment buildings. There s an arena too, and, perhaps the straw that broke the camel s back, a gleaming new stadium for Everton.

Goodison is going, and perhaps UNESCO is privately upset to see another of Archibald Leitch s greatest hits bite the dust.

Quite what has gone wrong at Liverpool …

Penalties. It just had to be penalties.

Having grown immeasurably as a football manager and a statesmanlike public figure over recent years, Gareth Southgate might one day consider himself a specialist in exorcisms.

Demons have been slayed from 12 yards and now here are another legion of them to haunt poor Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka – the latter remarkably taking the first penalty of his career.

English football, 55 years of hurt and counting, allows these events to stick to the collective consciousness.

When England beat Colombia in a 2018 World Cup shoot-out, Southgate let out a guttural roar; a cathartic celebration to banish memories of his decisive miss against Germany in the semi-final of Euro 96.

Except they needed snu…

Neymar rejected his agent s Twitter tirade against Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, who called the 65-year-old an old jerk .

In a clear response to Brazil s 7-1 mauling at the hands of Germany in the FIFA World Cup semi-finals, Wagner Ribeiro Neymar s agent slammed Scolari s credentials to be coach of the Brazilian national team on Wednesday.

Ribeiro sarcastically listed six requirements to be Brazil coach, alluding to a number of Scolari s less impressive coaching achievements.

But Neymar was not interested in his agent s opinion when asked about it on Thursday.

I do not agree. I do not accept this attitude, Neymar said at a media conference.

Scolari took over as Brazil coach towards the end of 2012, replacing Mano Menezes, who had failed to le…

Western Sydney Wanderers want to improve the A-League s standing in Asia even more as they look to defend their AFC Champions League title.

Title-holders Western Sydney Wanderers will begin their AFC Champions League (ACL) defence with a trip to Japan to face Kashima Antlers, while runners-up Al Hilal host Lokomotiv Tashkent.

Wanderers defeated Al Hilal 1-0 on aggregate in November to become the first Australian club to become Asian champions, and Tony Popovic s side return to the competition in Group H, which also includes Kashima, Guangzhou Evergrande and FC Seoul.

Western Sydney s first test is away to the Antlers on Wednesday and, although the Wanderers have been struggling on the domestic front to sit bottom of the A-League, Popovic cannot wait to test his t…

Market: Both teams to score

Odds: 2/3 @

In what could prove to be an enjoyable EFL Trophy battle on Tuesday night, Salford will welcome Stockport to Moor Lane.

Starting with the hosts, while Salford might have opened the 2023/24 campaign in the midst of a public struggle, Neil Wood’s men have certainly claimed a welcomed boost over the past fortnight. Putting in a rampant performance over the weekend as they claimed a 4-2 victory at home against Crewe, the Ammies will find the mood in their camp at a season-high. Still dreaming of the chance to mount a play-off charge this time around, Salford have won each of their previous three appearances across all competitions and they have really found a clinical edge in the final third. Signing off September with a 2-1…

Lionel Messi was at his record-breaking, breathtaking best on Sunday as a stunning late strike helped Barcelona to Clasico glory over Real Madrid and moved him to 500 goals for the Catalan giants.

A devastating finish, so typical of the Argentine master, put Barca top of LaLiga as they try to overhaul Madrid in a domestic season of capital dominance.

But the strike served to once again highlight Messi s status as one of the all-time greats as Barca s record goalscorer became the first LaLiga player to net 500 goals for a single club.

Using Opta data, we break down the stunning statistics behind Messi s latest mind-blowing milestone.

500 Lionel Messi has scored his 500th goal for Barcelona in all competitions. Stellar.

— OptaJose (@OptaJose)

Manchester United have completed the signing of Southampton midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin on an initial four-year contract.

Schneiderlin, who has made 231 league appearances since moving to Southampton ahead of the 2008-09 season, moves to Old Trafford for an undisclosed fee, with the option to extend his deal by a further 12 months.

The France international has made no secret of his desire to test himself in the UEFA Champions League and has been a reported target for Arsenal and Tottenham in the past.

However, it is United who emerged as strong favourites for his signature and Louis van Gaal continues the rebuilding of his squad ahead of a return to the Champions League, having already snapped up Memphis Depay, Matteo Darmian and Bastian Schweinsteiger.<…

Bayern Munich s unbeaten start to Julian Nagelsmann s tenure came to an end on Sunday with a shock 2-1 loss to Eintracht Frankfurt.

The Bavarian giants had won nine in a row since an opening-game draw and looked set for another routine victory at Allianz Arena when Leon Goretzka deservedly put them in front.

But Martin Hinteregger equalised for Frankfurt before the interval and Kevin Trapp made a number of saves to put the visitors on course for a fifth successive 1-1 league draw.

Not content with only a point, Filip Kostic rifled in a winner seven minutes from time to inflict a first home Bundesliga loss on stunned champions Bayern since November 2019.

Defeat at home.

1-2

— FC Bayern English (@FCBayernEN)

Bayern dominated th…