Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho believes Manchester City are favourites to win the Premier League title this season.
Mourinho s men welcome 2011-12 champions City to Stamford Bridge on Sunday just two points adrift of league leaders Arsenal.
City are a point further back in fourth, but Mourinho who guided Chelsea to consecutive Premier League crowns in 2005 and 2006 believes Manuel Pellegrini s side are most likely to lift the trophy this term.
You have to say that (City are favourites), Mourinho said.
Pellegrini can win the title. And he has the most important thing which is an unbelievable squad of players.
They are a very good team. They have two very good teams one playing, and another one on the bench and in the stands.
A fantastic squad and fantasti…
Lucas Torreira will be prepared for life in the Premier League when his scary transfer to Arsenal is completed, according to the player s father.
Arsenal look set to sign Torreira, who has started in Uruguay s last two World Cup games, from Sampdoria once the midfielder s campaign in Russia is over.
The 22-year-old would become Unai Emery s fourth signing of the transfer window.
There are doubts over Torreira s ability to adapt to a more physical league than Serie A, but his father Ricardo claims his son has a programme ready to help him settle in England.
296 Lucas Torreira made the most recoveries (296) among the outfield players in Serie A in the 2017-18 campaign. Worker.
— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo)
There will be people that will ac…
Prediction: Correct score 1-1
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Two of the main contenders for the Premier League top four square off this weekend as Chelsea host Manchester United at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
Just six points separate the two sides in the table and with the league title looking likely to evade both, a victory in West London could see each of them put down a real statement in the race for UEFA Champions League football next season.
Chelsea
It would be an understatement to say that Thomas Tuchel has had a hugely positive impact since replacing Frank Lampard at Stamford Bridge. The dramatic 1-0 win against Atletico Madrid last time out made eight matches unbeaten in all competitions at the start of his tenure. Despite that great run, the Blues we…
As I write this article only two of the home nations out five have a chance of appearing at next summers World Cup. England have already qualified as most of you know and the Republic of Ireland will face a difficult game against a seeded nation in the play-offs.
However the countries I want to focus on are Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland. All three have struggled miserably to qualify to major tournament in recent years and its a similar story this time around.
Lack of players available
There is an argument that those sides have less players to choose from than England. Wales has a population of just three million people according to the latest estimate. Scotland has a population of just over five million and Northern Ireland just over a million and a half.…
Gary O Neil s return to West Ham was always on the cards, according to the player.
The midfielder s contract ended at the end of last season and, as such, the 30-year-old left Upton Park with his future looking as though it lay elsewhere.
However, O Neil has confirmed he will be among Sam Allardyce s squad for the forthcoming season, and believes his resigning it was only a matter of time.
All the terms are agreed and everyone s happy, so I ll just sign Monday morning, O Neil confirmed to Sky Sports News .
It took a little while. With everyone being on holiday stuff drags out, but we got there in the end.
O Neil also explained that, simply because a player is released from a club, this does not mean all ties are severed.
He added: That s the way i…
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French daily newspaper that Nice goalkeeper Mouez Hassen is set to join Premier League side Southampton.
The 21-year-old has seen his first team chances severely limited of late and he is set to leave the club in the January window,
According to Nice-Matin, Hassen will soon be reunited with former boss Claude Puel at St Mary’s as he is about to join on loan with an option to buy.
The talented shot-stopper was a first team regular at Allianz Riviera when the current Saints manager was in charge and the duo will get another opportunity to work together.
Hassen already has 49 Ligue 1 outings to his name, but he was last a starter in France’s top flight back in November 2015.
Current goalkeeper options at Southampton include veteran Stuart Tayl…
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is confident his side can close the gap to Manchester City next season.
Wild inconsistencies in results – beating Manchester United 7-0 and Bournemouth 9-0 but losing to struggling Leeds, their only home defeat of the season – had left the Reds 20 points adrift of the Premier League leaders going into the weekend.
It has been more common for the two to push each other all the way to the final day of the season, Liverpool twice coming second by just a point, and despite their most recent troubles Klopp expects normal service to be resumed when the new campaign kicks off in August.
“There are two games a season, maybe with cups three, four or five, when you play City, Arsenal and the others,” he said ahead of the trip to strug…
Sunderland manager Tony Mowbray admitted his side are in “good spirits” ahead of the second leg of their Championship play-off semi-final at Luton.
The Black Cats take a slender advantage into the game after securing a 2-1 win at the Stadium of Light in the first leg on Saturday.
Luton had gone ahead in the 11th minute through Elijah Adebayo’s close-range strike, but Amad Diallo curled in a stunning equaliser before Trai Hume headed them in front after the break.
There are no words
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— Sunderland AFC (@SunderlandAFC)
“I think the team are in good spirits. I’ve said all season, we believe we can compete against anybody in the league,” Mowbray told a pre-match press conference.
“This game is against a team who …
Manchester City s takeover of the Melbourne Heart could spark an arms race that lifts the A-League standard, according to John van t Schip.
The Heart coach anticipated not only a dramatic increase of quality on the pitch in Australia s domestic football competition as a result of the Premier League giant s purchase of his club, but he envisaged more big overseas backers to get involved in the A-League as well.
Every team would get stronger, play against better teams if you play against good teams normally you get better yourself as well, he said.
If we now get resources with the new owners and strengths that we can grow as a club, we will benefit and in the end everyone will benefit, will make the level higher.
And also other clubs will maybe now find in…