Newcastle v Chelsea – Saturday 6th December, 1245. Live on BT Sport 1
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You can bank on Chelsea striker Diego Costa to score goals anywhere this season – and Newcastle could be his next victims.
The Spanish international has made his mark both home and away since Jose Mourinho splashed £32million of Roman Abramovich s cash in the summer to lure him away from Atletico Madrid.
Costa s finishing prowess made him an instant hit with the Stamford Bridge crowd, as he has been able to repeat the form which netted him 43 goals in 71 La Liga appearances.
The Brazil-born play…
A Vincenzo Grifo double and a Giovanni Di Lorenzo strike gave Italy a 3-1 comeback friendly victory over Albania in Tirana on Wednesday.
Roberto Mancini s men will not be at the World Cup in Qatar after a play-off defeat to North Macedonia, and they looked on course for another embarrassing loss here as Ardian Ismajli nodded Albania in front.
But Italy hit back almost immediately through Di Lorenzo, before Grifo added goals either side of half-time to secure victory.
It is now three straight wins for the European champions since their humiliating 5-2 thrashing at the hands of Germany in June, as they look to bounce back from their World Cup disappointment.
Italy started brightly, but they fell behind when Ismajli rose highest to meet Nedim Bajrami s free-…
Verdict: Manchester City to win and both teams to score
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Manchester City will be aiming to extend their record-breaking run on Saturday evening as they host Tottenham Hotspur at the Etihad Stadium.
Spurs meanwhile will hope to consolidate their position within the Premier League top four on a ground that they have enjoyed considerable success in recent years. A mouth-watering spectacle is sure to ensue then in what has been labelled one of the clashes of the weekend.
Manchester City
The superlatives to describe Manchester City s form at the current time are rapidly disappearing. The table-topping Sky Blues have won 15 Premier League matches in a row, a record for the top flight of English football. Pep Guardiola s men now sit a…
Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew says England are making a big mistake by failing to secure the allegiance of Wilfried Zaha.
Zaha has represented the Three Lions twice at senior international level but only in friendlies, and has now made himself available to Ivory Coast, the country of his birth, after being overlooked by England since 2013.
The 24-year-old has impressed at club level in recent weeks, scoring in the 5-4 loss to Swansea and netting a stunner as Palace drew 3-3 at Hull last time out.
On Wednesday ,Zaha will line up against his former side when Manchester United arrive at Selhurst Park.
Addressing the media ahead of the Premier League clash, Pardew called on England manager Gareth Southgate to prevent the exciting forward from completing …
AC Milan have released midfielder Mathieu Flaimini from his deal at San Siro after they were unable to agree on a contract extension.
The French midfielder was nearing the end of his contract with the Rossoneri, but was offered a new two-year deal despite missing a big part of last season through injury.
AC Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani has now revealed that the Frenchman has rejected an opportunity to extend his stay at San Siro.
“The deadline has passed and we told his lawyer we won’t be waiting any more,” Galliani said to Sky Sport Italia.
The Milan chief hinted that the Rossoneri could return for Liverpool midfielder Alberto Aquilani.
“We’ll bring in new midfielder by August 31. It could be Alberto Aquilani or someone else, …
Burnley are interested in signing Crysencio Summerville from Leeds United in the summer transfer window, according to . The report has claimed that the Clarets, who will play in the Premier League this season after winning promotion from the Championship, are planning to make an offer for the 21-year-old winger.
Vincent Kompany’s side have been trying to sign former Leeds and Tottenham Hotspur winger Jack Clarke from Sunderland, but they are struggling to get a deal done with the Black Cats. So, Burnley have now turned their attention to Summerville.
Leeds will play in the Championship next season after getting relegated from the Premier League. The West Yorkshire club are aware that they will get bids for many of their players, including Summerville, who made 34 appe…
Twente have completed the transfer of Chile international Felipe Gutierrez from Universidad Catolica for a reported three million euros.
The Eredivisie side have announced on their official website that the 21-year-old attacking midfielder will sign a five-year deal early next week.
Negotiations with Universidad took a while, but were always in a friendly atmosphere, Twente president Joop Munsterman said.
We are very pleased that Gutierrez is joining Twente. He is a talented player who has developed into a Chile international.
Gutierrez came through the ranks of the Everton de Vina del Mar youth academy, before joining Universidad Catolica, where he made his official first team debut in 2009.
The attacking midfielder had since made 87 appearan…
Japan defender Yukei Tokunaga was thrilled after their 1-0 victory over Morocco at the Olympic Games at St James Park, Newcastle.
The 28-year-old FC Tokyo stopper, who also represented Japan in the 2004 Athens Games, was chosen along with Maya Yoshida as one of the team s two over-age selections. The two veterans kept Japan s back line steady against a Morocco squad that was far more up to the task than Spain just three days earlier.
And Tokunaga said sewing up progression to the knockout stage came as relief for the Japanese squad.
It s a relief to escape the group stage with one match remaining, Tokunaga said.
We held together and defended, and to take three points from a match like this shows how we ve grown.
Now that we ve accomplished one…
Tim Sherwood has urged his players to be aware of the importance of Aston Villa s derby against rivals Birmingham City in the League Cup.
The Premier League side welcome their Championship opponents to Villa Park on Tuesday in the third round having lost their last two matches.
Only Ciaran Clark and Gabriel Agbonlahor are still on Villa s books from the last time the two sides met in a derby a 1-1 Premier League draw back in January 2011.
Sherwood is keen to stress to the newer players in his squad how important the game is and is expecting a fierce battle.
This means an awful lot it is not just a normal game, he said.
You can only convince them of that by talking to them and then the experienced players in the dressing room, who are experienc…
Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere has pledged his future to the Emirates Stadium, despite reported interest from Manchester City.
City have already lost three home-grown players from their squad in James Milner, Frank Lampard and Dedryck Boyata and are set to target English-trained talent in the coming transfer window, with only a handful of names remaining that satisfy Premier League and UEFA quotas.
But Wilshere is only interested in playing for a club that admires his talent alone.
I wouldn t go somewhere just because I m a home-grown player, Wilshere said while on England duty.
I d want to be wanted by a club; I want to be wanted by Arsenal.
I ve grown up at Arsenal, I m a home-grown player. As long as Arsenal want me, then I m happy.
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