Leading Liverpool and untouchable one-on-one – Van Dijk in Opta numbers

Chelsea s Ruben Loftus-Cheek has expressed his and announced the possibility of departing Stamford Bridge if he isn t given the opportunity.

The 22-year-old broke into the Chelsea team in 2014/15 but made only four appearances in his debut season. In total he played 32 times for the London Blues before going out on loan to Crystal Palace last summer. For the Eagles he played 25 games in 2017/18 and scored twice. He has been named in Gareth Southgate s England World Cup squad and made a substitute appearance in the Three Lions first game against Tunisia.

Having broken into the national team, Loftus-Cheek is keen on keeping the status of an England international and he s fully aware he needs to be playing regularly to achieve that goal. Once touted as the first player li…

Glenn Murray s late penalty earned Brighton and Hove Albion a 2-2 draw in a pulsating Premier League clash at Southampton.

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg scored a sensational long-range drive and Southampton were seemingly on track to record successive league wins when Danny Ings converted a penalty he won himself.

But Shane Duffy s header put Brighton back in the game and when referee Anthony Taylor penalised James Ward-Prowse for holding the defender at a corner, the stage was set for Murray.

The veteran striker struck the ball down the middle to beat the diving Alex McCarthy, taking his tally to five goals in six league starts for Brighton against the Saints.

Southampton dominated the opening exchanges, Anthony Knockaert scrambling an Ings effort off the line a…

Gareth Southgate hailed match-winner Raheem Sterling for standing tall amid a mixed bag of an England performance in Iceland.

With Harry Kane off the field, Sterling won and converted a 91st-minute penalty to secure a 1-0 Nations League victory in Reykjavik but there was a further twist in the tale.

Joe Gomez fouled substitute Holmbert Fridjonsson under a long ball in the England box, giving Iceland a chance to level deeper into stoppage time, only for Birkir Bjarnason to blaze wildly off target.

Both sides were down to 10 men by that point, with Kyle Walker and Sverrir Ingason having seen red.

While Ingason s second booking came when he handled Sterling s goal-bound shot in the decisive moment of the match, Walker departed 20 minutes from time for a rash…

Chelsea midfielder Mario Pasalic will spend a fifth season out on loan after Atalanta agreed a season-long deal for the 23-year-old.

Pasalic moved to Stamford Bridge in 2014 and has had temporary spells across Europe, including a year with Italian giants AC Milan.

He spent the 2017-18 campaign with Spartak Moscow, making 21 appearances in the Premier League, scoring four goals.

A second stint in Serie A beckons after Atalanta added him to their squad for the 2018-19 campaign, with the Italian club holding an option to make the move permanent.

Mario Pasalic will spend the upcoming season on loan at Serie A side Atalanta.

Good luck, Mario!

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC)

Ai nostri microfoni Mario
 La prima intervista da giocatore dell�…

Jurgen Klopp was left to rue an opening 15 minutes that killed our confidence and conceding completely unnecessary goals after Manchester City knocked Liverpool out of the EFL Cup.

City beat the holders 3-2 in a thrilling tie at the Etihad Stadium on Thursday to secure their place in the quarter-finals.

Erling Haaland put the Premier League champions in front by volleying in Kevin De Bruyne s pinpoint cross, but Fabio Carvalho equalised against the run of play 20 minutes into both sides first game after the World Cup break.

A sublime touch and finish from Riyad Mahrez restored City s lead right at the start of the second half, only for Mohamed Salah brought the Reds level again just 80 seconds later.

City were the better side, though, and Nathan Ake heade…

Market: France double chance

Odds: 4/9 @

In a battle between two European heavyweights, Germany and France will meet in Munich on Tuesday night for their opening Group F meeting.

Starting with France, managing to land themselves a pair of routine 3-0 victories against Wales and Bulgaria in preparation last week, The Blues open their European adventure tipped as one of the leading contenders. Manging to prove that their 1-1 draw against Ukraine in March s World Cup qualifying opener was just a minor blip, the defending world champions have also continued to shine while on foreign soil. Welcoming Real Madrid talisman Karim Benzema back into their squad after a free-scoring run with Los Blancos this season, Head Coach Didier Deschamps has seen his high-flying team …

While the Premier League might offer just a single fixture on Sunday afternoon, the rest of Europe’s elite have a string of intriguing showdowns.

Ahead of a stacked schedule from the likes of Germany, Spain and Italy, we have found a pair of contests that are worth keeping an eye out for.

14:30 Darmstadt vs Werder Bremen

After spending large spells of last season looking over their shoulder at a looming relegation scrap, Sunday’s guests are simply hoping for smoother sailing this time around. Although the River Islanders might have opened up the 2023/24 campaign with back-to-back defeats, Ole Werner’s men have claimed a recent boost on either side of September’s international break.

Putting in another eye-catching performance last weekend as th…

Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti insisted the ongoing Kylian Mbappe transfer saga is not on his mind as he focuses on the Champions League final against Liverpool.

Mbappe s contract with Paris Saint-Germain is due to expire at the end of the season as reports persist that the World Cup winner will move to the Spanish capital.

The France international has stated he will announce his decision before joining up with Les Bleus for international duty in June, with PSG still hopeful of keeping their talisman at the Parc des Princes.

Mbappe s 57 goal contributions in all competitions this season can only be bettered by Madrid forward and international team-mate Karim Benzema (59) among players in the top five European leagues.

Ancelotti could have the pair…

Manchester United were held to a 1-1 draw by Rostov in the first leg of their Europa League last-16 clash on Thursday, leaving the tie in the balance ahead of next week s return fixture at Old Trafford.

The fit-again Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored the opening goal with United s first real chance 10 minutes before half-time, the Armenian finishing off a cute cutback from Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Mkhitaryan s return was a timely boost for United, having not featured since the win over Saint-Etienne in the last round due to a hamstring problem, but his side could not hold on to their lead.

Aleksandr Bukharov equalised for Rostov eight minutes into the second half, getting between Chris Smalling and Phil Jones to take Timofei Kalachev s lofted pass on his chest and finish we…

Arsene Wenger praised Arsenal s attitude after they secured a last-gasp opening-day win over managerless Crystal Palace.

Debutant Brede Hangeland gave the south London side a surprise 35th-minute lead at the Emirates Stadium in their Premier League opener on Saturday, but Laurent Koscielny restored parity on the stroke of half-time.

Palace remained tough to breakdown, retaining many of the qualities installed by Tony Pulis before his shock departure as Selhurst Park boss on Friday.

Nevertheless, Arsenal stuck to their task and, following a second booking for Palace winger Jason Puncheon in the 89th minute, Aaron Ramsey followed his Wembley goals in the FA Cup final and Community Shield with a close-range winner deep into stoppage time.

I believe that our…