Antonio Conte believes Manchester United and Manchester City have the strongest squads in the Premier League, despite his Chelsea side establishing a dominant 10-point cushion at the top of the table.
Chelsea host United in a blockbuster FA Cup quarter-final at Stamford Bridge on Monday and Conte is expecting a tough game although his team, widely dubbed the champions-elect, are sitting 17 points clear of Jose Mourinho s United in the league.
United are unbeaten in the league since they were battered 4-0 at Chelsea in the Premier League on October 23 but they have been unable to climb higher than sixth.
Despite their inability to break into the top four, Conte was full of praise for the quality available to managerial rivals Mourinho and Pep Guardiola.
…
Prediction: Match to end in 1-1 draw
Best Odds:
Bookmaker:
Southampton and Nottingham Forest will face each other in the Premier League this week. The match between the Saints and the Reds will be held at St. Mary’s Stadium and is scheduled to kick off at 7:30pm UK time on Wednesday.
Southampton
Southampton are a big and established club in the Premier League, but they are having a poor campaign and are in real danger of suffering relegation to the Championship at the end of the season. The Saints have already made a managerial change, but it does not appear that the team have got the bounce that they were hoping for.
The Saints are at the foot of the Premier League table at the moment with just 12 points from 17 matches. They are two point…
Willian scored a brilliant winner as Chelsea battled to a 2-1 Premier League victory over Newcastle United at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
Pedro opened the scoring with the help of a classy assist from David Luiz, but the hosts were pegged back by a Ciaran Clark header shortly before half-time.
The points were Chelsea s, however, thanks to Willian s curling strike 12 minutes into the second half.
Newcastle offered little going forward after falling behind for a second time, as fourth-placed Chelsea pulled six points clear of Arsenal.
Chelsea took just nine minutes to go in front, with Pedro getting on the end of a wonderful Luiz ball from his own half to delicately chip over the onrushing Martin Dubravka.
Luiz almost added his own name to the s…
Former Bayern Munich striker and Croatia international Ivica Olic insists he has not retired, despite appearing to announce his career was over.
The veteran forward, who made over 100 appearances for his country and scored for Croatia at the 2002 and 2014 World Cups, appeared to tell Bild he was hanging up his boots at the age of 37 on Friday.
That came after his club 1860 Munich were relegated to the third tier of German football.
But while Olic says his playing days could be at an end, he is keeping his options open over extending his career with a new club, describing the retirement reports as not true .
I know Bild published I am retiring, but that is not true, he told Sportske novosti.
Maybe I have played my last game and maybe not. It …
Best Odds: 19/20
Bookmaker:
Knowing that only three points will be good enough in their bid to punch a Champions League knockout stage ticket, Manchester United will welcome Bayern Munich to Old Trafford on Tuesday night.
Manchester United
Starting with the hosts, while Manchester United might have snatched an eye-catching 2-1 victory against historic rivals Chelsea last week, Erik ten Hag’s men immediately came crashing back down to earth a few days ago. Putting in what was an infamous performance at Old Trafford as they slumped to a 3-0 drumming at the hands of Bournemouth, it is no secret that the former Ajax boss has a huge amount of pressure on his shoulders. Only continuing to show a string of glaring issues this season, the Premier League heavyweights …
According to a recent report from AS, Raphael Varane is considered to be at the top of Paris Saint-Germain’s wish list when it comes to defensive targets. Varane has won just about everything there is to win when it comes to his time at Real Madrid, where he has been able to play a key role in much of their success. The Frenchman is considered to be a natural successor for Thiago Silva, the club’s current captain, who’s contract is set to expire in 2020. When that happens PSG won’t want to be waiting around forever to bring in a new high level replacement, with Varane being as good of a choice as any. The Frenchman’s motivation to become one of the all time great defenders is evident, as is his desire to keep reinventing his own game.
The 25 year old joined Real from …
Former Liverpool and England striker Rickie Lambert has retired from football, saying his career has surpassed his wildest dreams .
The 35-year-old had been without a club since leaving Championship side Cardiff City in July.
Lambert won 11 caps for England and scored three times, playing once at the World Cup in 2014.
At club level, he achieved most success with Southampton between 2009 and 2014, helping the club to two promotions before impressing in the Premier League.
Lambert then joined boyhood heroes Liverpool, but struggled to break into the starting XI for a lone season before rounding off his career with West Brom and Cardiff.
I feel lucky to have been involved in this sport for as long as I have, Lambert said in a statement.
I…
Paolo Di Canio has warned Liverpool not to expect Alisson to solve all their defensive problems next season.
The 25-year-old became the most expensive goalkeeper in world football when he joined Liverpool from Roma in a deal that could cost as much as £65million.
While Di Canio praised the Brazilian s qualities, he is not convinced Liverpool s defensive concerns will necessarily be solved simply by smashing the transfer record for a keeper.
Jurgen Klopp s side were the Premier League s second-highest goalscorers in 2017-18 on 84, but they conceded 38 – 11 more than title winners Manchester City – and Di Canio recalled similar patterns from the Reds during his own playing days.
When asked about Alisson s prospects at Anfield, the former West Ham forwa…
Hansi Flick believes Joachim Low does not deserve to be criticised despite Germany s shaky form and pointed to the lack of a natural centre-forward in the team.
Bayern Munich coach Flick previously served as Low s assistant for their 2014 World Cup win and then moved into the role of DFB sporting director.
He is therefore well placed to assess the national team, who have drawn four of their five matches in 2020, edging Ukraine in their other fixture.
Low coach since 2006 is under pressure as a result, but he has Flick s backing.
Overall, I think the criticism is too harsh, Flick said ahead of Bayern s DFB-Pokal clash with Duren. The work Jogi Low is doing is sensational.
He is a great coach. That s why we should remain objective and try to do th…
According to a recent report from Sky Sports News, Wolverhampton Wanderers are now closing in on the signing of PSV Eindhoven defender Nigel Lonwijk. At the age of just 17 it would appear as if he’ll go into the club’s development side as opposed to the first team, which makes sense, although you’d have to think that Wolves will need to start focusing their attention on bringing in people for the first team squad sooner rather than later.
PSV has already confirmed that a deal has been agreed with the Midlands side, and now, it’s all about ironing out the details.
The deal itself is believed to be worth around £180,000 which many will see as a bargain straight off the bat, but again, it all depends on what sort of progress the teenager is able to make over t…