Even taking into account this rather unusual Premier League season, West Brom were not expected to get anything from their trip to Chelsea.
Beyond just their respective positions at opposites ends of the table, the visitors went into the fixture having managed just one away win all season in the league.
Stamford Bridge had certainly not been a happy hunting ground either – the Baggies had not triumphed there since September 1978 prior to Saturday s trip. They went on to finish third that season, as well as reaching the last eight of the UEFA Cup. Now, they just hope to stay in the top flight.
Chelsea, meanwhile, were unbeaten under Thomas Tuchel. Not only that, they had not conceded in their five Premier League home games since the German was appointed as Fr…
Gareth Bale says the key to his improved form is down to playing more regularly since Ryan Mason replaced Jose Mourinho as Tottenham boss.
The Wales international scored his second Premier League hat-trick, and first since December 2012, in Tottenham s routine 4-0 win over Sheffield United on Sunday.
He was a second-half substitute in last week s EFL Cup final defeat to Manchester City, but the forward has started both league games under Mason, scoring four times in total.
That compares to five goals in 14 appearances under Mourinho in the Premier League this season, just six of those being starts.
And Bale, who is due to return to parent club Real Madrid at the end of the season for the final year of his contract, is glad to be enjoying his football aga…
Best odds: 4/5
Bookmaker:
In a replay of a highly controversial clash from the World Cup in Russia four years ago, Serbia and Switzerland meet again on Friday at the Stadium 974 in the final round of the group stage of this year s tournament in Qatar.
Serbia
Serbia find themselves at the bottom of the table in Group G with just one point, after losing 2-0 to Brazil and dropping a two-goal lead against Cameroon in a game that ended 3-3. They still haven t lost all hope of progressing to the round of 16, but they obviously need to beat Switzerland for that to happen and hope that Brazil put in enough effort to avoid defeat against Cameroon at the Lusail Stadium at the same time.
It s not very easy to understand what exactly happened when Serbia and Camero…
After an international weekend, the Premier League is back and ready for the run-in.
Outgoing champions Liverpool got a morale-boosting win in their last game before the break and will now look for another victory away from Anfield when they visit Arsenal on Saturday.
Quadruple-hunting Manchester City face Leicester City, while there is also a Yorkshire derby between Leeds United and lowly Sheffield United.
Now, why not kick off the Easter weekend with our Opta-powered quiz? Find the answers at the bottom of the page – no cheating!
A hat-trick for Patrick as he s named in the Team of the Week for a third time!
— Leeds United (@LUFC)
1. Chelsea have had five goalless draws in the Premier League this season, with three of those…
El Clasico will have a very different feel this weekend as neither Lionel Messi nor Cristiano Ronaldo will be playing, the first time both have been absent for a clash between Barcelona and Real Madrid in more than a decade.
Ronaldo was always going to miss Sunday s meeting at Camp Nou after joining Juventus but Messi s absence feels more seismic, the Barca captain sidelined for three weeks due to a fractured arm sustained against Sevilla.
Real Madrid were 1-0 winners at Camp Nou in December 2007 in the last Clasico without both Messi and Ronaldo, Julio Baptista scoring the winning goal for Bernd Schuster s men on that occasion.
But who else was in the Barca and Madrid XIs on that day and where are they now?
BARCELONA
Victor Valdes…
Best Odds: 1/2
Bookmaker:
Desperate to try and make up some ground in the Serie A title chase, Inter Milan will welcome Fiorentina to the San Siro on Saturday evening.
Inter Milan
Starting with the hosts, while Inter Milan might have seen their Champions League adventure come to an end against Liverpool earlier in the month, the Nerazzurri did impress with a shock 1-0 win away at Anfield in their second-leg meeting. However, although Simone Inzaghi s side might have been looking to build off of the positives they showed on European duties, the defending Italian champions were last seen having to settle for a 1-1 draw away at Torino. Opening this weekend s fixtures sat third in the table and four points adrift of leaders AC, the former Lazio boss has seen his si…
Thomas Muller paid tribute to Bayern Munich s Mr Super Cup after Javi Martinez netted the winner against Sevilla.
Martinez headed the decisive goal in Thursday s Super Cup final, securing a 2-1 victory after extra time following first-half goals from Leon Goretzka and Sevilla s Lucas Ocampos.
It was the second time the midfielder has come up with a crucial goal as a substitute in this fixture, having also scored in the 121st minute against Chelsea in 2013 as Bayern reached a penalty shoot-out and won the title.
The familiar circumstances were not lost on Muller or Martinez, who had been on the pitch just shy of five minutes.
Muller told UEFA.com: We re delighted, it s unbelievable. We re so tired after 120 minutes against Sevilla, a tough opponent.
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He s obviously the big name they throw around in terms of who is going to make the next move, Friend said. Overall the Bundesliga, let s probably remove the top two in Bayern and Dortmund. You look at what Kai Havertz did at Leverkusen. Close to €100m move. That just shows you don t have to be a top club to achieve those transfer fees.
I think if you re Gladbach you re looking at a player like that. He has a pretty hefty price tag on him. As these players move on, whether it s Havertz, Werner etc it will be important that they have the success with the price tags they have on them. When I was playing, maybe you had a guy moving for five-10m outside the top two clubs and it was very important they had success in those leagues to substantiate the price tags that league is de…
Manchester United midfielder Nemanja Matic has confirmed he will leave the club at the end of the season.
Matic signed for United from Premier League rivals Chelsea in 2017 and swiftly established himself as a crucial part of Jose Mourinho s side, starting 35 top-flight games in his first season at the club.
His role lessened under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer but the former Serbia international nevertheless signed a new deal in July 2020, extending his stay at Old Trafford until the end of 2022-23.
However, having made only 11 Premier League starts this season, Matic has announced it will be his final campaign with the club.
After a great deal of thought, I have decided that this season will be my last with Manchester United, the 33-year-old wrote in a post on …
Julian Nagelsmann is not surprised Robert Lewandowski is being linked with a move away from Bayern Munich and has revealed he has already held talks with the star striker.
Lewandowski enjoyed his most prolific campaign yet last time out with 41 Bundesliga goals for Bayern to break Gerd Muller s long-standing single-season record.
His 48 in all competitions were the most scored by any player in Europe s top five league in 2020-21, followed by Kylian Mbappe (42) and Erling Haaland (41).
Poland striker Lewandowski has netted 294 goals in 329 appearances overall for Bayern since joining from domestic rivals Borussia Dortmund in 2014, including 203 in 219 league games.
Reports from Spain earlier this week suggested the 32-year-old is ready for a new challenge…