Darren Fletcher believes Manchester United can claim an important psychological edge over Chelsea with a win in Sunday s showdown between the Premier League s top two.
But the Scotland midfielder, who returned to action in Tuesday s 3-3 draw with CSKA Moscow after a month out with an ankle injury, insists the title race will remain wide open, regardless of the outcome at Stamford Bridge, where United have not won in seven years.
Sunday is a massive game. Games against Chelsea always are, Fletcher said.
It is not going to be make-or-break who wins the league by any means, although it is an important benchmark.
Maybe psychologically it might have an effect. But Chelsea are a top-class side and we will respect them.
Fletcher will expect to start…
Olivier Kemen has left Newcastle United for Ligue 1 side Lyon, having failed to make a senior appearance at St James Park in two years.
The 19-year-old arrived from Metz in 2013, but could not make an impact on the first-team picture under Alan Pardew and Steve McClaren.
Kemen returns to Lyon for an undisclosed fee,.
He tweeted: Official Lyon player really happy to sign for this great club.
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Coach Sinisa Mihajlovic was in a jovial mood at Milan s squad presentation, getting involved in chants and predicting a derby victory.
Mihajlovic, who concluded his playing career with Inter, smiled as he took part when supporters chanted whoever doesn t jump is an Interista , with plenty of his players promptly hopping on the spot as well.
Milan have not lost a derby to Inter since 2013 four matches without defeat and Mihajlovic, who believes his side can challenge for the Serie A title this term, predicted more success on Sunday.
Milan haven t been Milan for two to three years, the Serbian coach said, according to Gazzetta World.
We are convinced that we can contend this season. We must do better in our upcoming matches, and I m sure that we will star…
According to Sky Italia, newly promoted Parma Calcio 1913, also known simply as Parma, are set to confirm the signing of Rangers defender Bruno Alves soon with the 36-year-old currently undergoing a medical at the club. Due to injuries, the Euro 2016 winner struggled to get an extended run in the first team with the Glasgow-based club last season, as they failed to mount a serious title challenge against bitter rivals Celtic.
Now, however, he has the chance to play out his final days in the top tier of Italian football with a Parma side that have experienced three consecutive promotions back into the big time. Alves was a part of Portugal s squad at the weekend for their World Cup exit against Uruguay, but given his age, that could well be his final run in international footbal…
Competition: World Cup Qualifiers
Market: Scotland to win against Lithuania
Odds:
Scotland welcome Lithuania to Hampden Park in this weekend’s World Cup European Qualifier, and are big favourites to pick up all three points to stay top of Group F, potentially pulling away at the summit depending on results.
Hosts Scotland are currently top of Group F with three points from their opening game, having beaten Malta comfortably. Gordon Strachan’s men will fancy their chances against Lithuania on home soil with Scotland boasting four wins from their last six in all competitions and having lost just once at home since 2014.
As for Lithuania, the visitors have been short of wins this year, but did draw their opener in Group F to Slovenia so they have so…
Leonardo Bonucci conceded the jeers from Juventus fans were deserved in the Champions League defeat to Benfica, leaving the Bianconeri captain worried by a situation that needs to be changed .
Juve needed just four minutes to take the lead in Turin as Arkadiusz Milik headed in, only for Joao Mario to restore parity with a first-half penalty.
David Neres secured a deserved three points for Roger Schmidt s side after the interval, with Dusan Vlahovic seeing a goal ruled out for offside and Bremer blasting over as Juve looked to snatch a late equaliser.
That left Juve with just one win in seven European outings against Benfica, who sit level on points with Paris Saint-Germain at the top of Group H after the Ligue 1 side overcame Maccabi Haifa 3-1 on Wednesday.
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(GSM) Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Simon Rolfes may miss the rest of the season and the World Cup, after suffering a new knee injury during physical tests this week.
The 27-year-old had just played two games after recovering from knee injuries, and now faces another physical and emotional set-back.
In a first reaction, Germany coach Joachim Löw said to feel bad for the player. Simon always plays well for the national team. We will have to wait and see how long he will be sidelined exactly. First of all, I feel very bad for him.
We cannot give up on him just yet, said Germany team manager Oliver Bierhoff. We have to hope that he will be fit soon.
Rolfes has earned 21 caps so far and was part of the German team at Euro 2008, where the three-times World …
Jose Mourinho is confident he will be retained by Chelsea even if their poor start to the season translates to a mid-table finish in the Premier League.
Chelsea head into the weekend s clash with Aston Villa sitting 16th in the Premier League, having won just two of their opening eight games.
The champions fell to a comprehensive 3-1 defeat to Southampton last time out before Mourinho lashed out at the Football Association and challenged owner Roman Abramovich to sack him for a second time.
Abramovich instead took the surprise move of publicly backing Mourinho who claimed to be Chelsea s greatest ever manager after the Saints loss and the Portuguese now appears confident in his long-term prospects.
When asked if he would expect to survive overseeing a m…
Eden Hazard scored twice as Chelsea moved to the top of the Premier League with a scintillating 5-0 victory over Everton at Stamford Bridge.
Not since winning the 2014-15 title have Chelsea led the top flight, but they took advantage of Manchester City s 1-1 draw with Middlesbrough earlier on Saturday to do so, though Arsenal or Liverpool could displace them by winning their respective matches on Sunday.
Antonio Conte s team, unchanged for the fourth straight league match, ran riot and punished visiting manager Ronald Koeman for his decision to switch to a three-man defence.
That surprise tactical change came despite Everton having ended a run of five games in all competitions without a win at home to West Ham last time out.
Hazard opened the scoring in t…
According to , Timo Werner may leave Chelsea at the end of the season. The Germany international forward joined the Blues from RB Leipzig in the summer of 2020 for £45 million and was expected to be a massive success in the Premier League. However, Werner has failed to set English football alight and may leave the London club in the summer of 2021 or in the next year or two.
According to , Werner has made 23 starts and four substitute appearances in the Premier League for Chelsea so far this season, scoring five goals and providing five assists in the process. The 25-year-old forward has also made five starts and two substitute appearances in the Champions League for the English club this campaign, scoring three goals and providing one assist in the process, according to .
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