Taking a giant leap towards securing a top-six return, Chelsea claimed a 2-1 victory away at Brighton on Wednesday night.

Now on the cusp of booking a Europa League ticket, Mauricio Pochettino’s men opened the scoring just after the half hour mark as the record-breaking Cole Palmer notched a 22nd Premier League strike of the season.

Watching French international Christopher Nkunku come off the bench and calmly finish Male Gusto’s cutback 14 minutes after the restart, the Blues have now won all of their previous four appearances on the bounce.

Welcoming Bournemouth to west London for their final showdown of the season on Sunday afternoon, a single point will be enough to officially clinch their top-six spot.

Although Chelsea might have extended on the…

The 30-year-old shot-stopper proved his quality time and again throughout 2023/24, helping his team avoid the fight against relegation despite the deduction of eight points. The Toffees eventually finished 15th, 14 points ahead of Luton Town, the nearest team to end the campaign below the red line.

Meanwhile, Chelsea have parted ways with Mauricio Pochettino and are actively working on securing a new manager to take them into the upcoming season, even though Pochettino successfully led them to European qualification through a late surge of good form. They re also keen to sign a new goalkeeper, with apparently neither Robert Sanchez nor Djordje Petrovic considered good enough to stand between the posts at Stamford Bridge. Apart from Pickford, whose contract with Everton …

Eddie Howe has warned his Newcastle players that no-one is guaranteed a place in his team as he attempts to turn around an alarming slump in form.

Boxing Day’s humbling 3-1 home defeat by Nottingham Forest was the Magpies’ sixth in seven games in all competitions, a run during which their first Champions League adventure in two decades has drawn to a close and hopes of a second successive Carabao Cup final appearance have gone up in smoke.

Head coach Howe hopes to have more of his injured troops back to assist those who have been wearied by a schedule which brought 10 games in 30 days during December and he will have no qualms about shaking things up, with the January transfer window also just days away.

He said: “I’ll be prepared to make any change that …

Chelsea forward Timo Werner is confident he can rediscover his best form in front of goal after learning on the job during a tough first season in English football.

The 24-year-old has endured an underwhelming campaign since joining Chelsea from RB Leipzig in a deal worth a reported £53million last June.

Werner ended the longest goal drought of his career with a strike in the win over Newcastle United last month, but he has failed to score in Chelsea s subsequent three games.

He has netted 10 times in 35 appearances overall this term, half of those goals coming in the Premier League, compared to 34 goals in 45 outings in his final season for Leipzig.

Germany international Werner recently admitted to struggling with the demands of Premier League football…

Bayern Munich host Paris Saint-Germain in a repeat of last season s final and Porto meet Chelsea at a neutral venue in Wednesday s Champions League quarter-final first legs.

Bavarian giants Bayern beat PSG 1-0 to win the trophy last year and have remained unbeaten throughout this season s campaign.

But the reigning European champions are without injured star man Robert Lewandowski and do not have the best of records in this fixture.

Porto will be looking to build on their impressive win over Juventus in the last round when they take on Chelsea in what will be classed at their home leg at Sevilla s Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.

The Portuguese side famously lifted the trophy in the 2003-04 season under Jose Mourinho, who was Chelsea boss the last time th…

Jose Mourinho says Roma s project is about creating a legacy for the club, not for himself.

Mourinho led Inter to the treble during the 2009-10 campaign and his return to Serie A has been successful so far, Roma scoring seven goals across their opening two games for just the second time since the 1970s.

It is also the first time since 2014-15 that they have opened with two Serie A wins, defeating Fiorentina 3-1 and Salernitana 4-0, Mourinho becoming the third coach to win his first two top-flight games with the Giallorossi.

However, the former Real Madrid, Chelsea and Manchester United boss declared his ambitions are secondary to those of the club after replacing Paulo Fonseca.

It’s not the Mourinho project, it’s the Roma project, Mourinho told Seri…

Cristiano Ronaldo s scathing criticism of Manchester United will not have an impact on Portugal s quest for World Cup glory in Qatar, insists midfielder Joao Mario.

Ronaldo has endured a torrid season after reportedly expressing his desire to leave Old Trafford in the transfer window, making just four Premier League starts and only scoring once in the competition.

Having been temporarily exiled from first-team activities by Erik ten Hag after refusing to come on as a substitute against Tottenham last month, Ronaldo s United future is again in doubt following his decision to grant an explosive interview to Piers Morgan.

In early excerpts published from the interview, the five-time Ballon d Or winner claimed to have been betrayed by United and said he has no respec…

French Football Federation (FFF) president Noel Le Graet played down links with former Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane, insisting Didier Deschamps will remain in charge until at least 2020.

Zidane surprisingly resigned just days after guiding Spanish giants Madrid to their third successive Champions League crown via a 3-1 win over Liverpool.

The 45-year-old has been linked with the France post – occupied by former international team-mate Deschamps, who will lead Les Blues at the World Cup in Russia.

However, Le Graet said 1998 World Cup winner Zidane will not coach France before 2020.

Zidane can sign in Juventus tomorrow, I don t know anything, Le Graet said via RMC. You were surprised, me too, but don t create a debate Didier-Zizou , it s not serious…

Gareth Bale was only behind Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo at the peak of his career, according to former Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp.

Wales legend Bale announced his retirement from football on Monday, bringing to a close a career that included three LaLiga titles and five Champions League medals with Real Madrid, among other accolades.

Prior to his move to Spain, Bale made a name for himself at Spurs under Redknapp, where he won two PFA Player of the Year awards and scored 71 goals in 237 games for the Premier League side.

Speaking to Stats Perform, Redknapp said he was not overly surprised by Bale s decision, and feels at his very best his name belongs in the most esteemed of company.

I suppose it was a bit of a surprise but not a great surpr…

Alonso Martinez scored a hat-trick as New York City FC maintained their impressive MLS form with a 5-1 rout of San Jose Earthquakes.

Hannes Wolf and Santiago Rodriguez were also on target for Nick Cushing s side, who made it five wins on the bounce to move into third place in the Eastern Conference.

After a goalless first half at Yankee Stadium, the hosts broke through within five minutes of the restart through Wolf. However, the lead only lasted three minutes, with Amahl Pellegrino levelling the contest.

Rodriguez drove City back in front in the 80th minute before Martinez took centre stage late on. The Costa Rica international struck with five minutes remaining, while completing a quickfire treble with a further goals in stoppage time.

Haciendo historia…