Football Archives - Page 123 of 184

Eden Hazard updates Chelsea fans on his future ahead of Real Madrid move

Chelsea fans have been given a timely update on the future of Eden Hazard by no other person than the Belgian attacker himself.

Hazard has been a target of Real Madrid for the past few months and he has openly flirted with them as well, he was expected to leave the Blues before the English transfer window closed so that they would have enough time to replace him, however, that hasn’t been the case.

Hazard has now committed his short-term future to the FA Cup holders but he did not commit long-term future to them.

He told RMC;

“I am happy at Chelsea for now. I have two years left on my contract, and we will see what happens.

“Leave this year? I won’t go. The transfer window in England is already closed.

“Players can leave, but clubs can’t make new signings.

“It would be strange for Chelsea’s people to let me go without signing anyone to replace me.

“You could see once again in the Arsenal game that the fans love me, and I am happy here.

“We will see what happens in a year or two’s time.

“You know what I said after the World Cup finals. I am happy at Chelsea and I don’t yet want to talk about leaving.

“Plenty of things have been said about me – a lot of rubbish and everything.”

Chelsea suffer blow in their bid to replace Eden Hazard

Chelsea have suffered a major setback in their bid to sign a replacement for Real Madrid target, Eden Hazard.

The Blues have been looking for a replacement for the Belgian star who has two years left on his current deal, and one of the players they have been targetting to move in as his replacement is Leon Bailey of Bayer Leverkusen.

However, the Jamaican has just signed a new long-term contract that would see him remain at the German club for the next 5 seasons at least.

Bailey, 21, was the breakthrough star of Bayer last season and his performance has even prompted Gareth Southgate to consider handing him an English debut if he can prove his English heritage.

The Blues are not the only team looking to bring Bailey to the Premier League as Arsenal have also made enquiries about his signature in the past year, while AS Roma also considered making a bid for him after missing out on signing Malcom.

His suitors would now have to pay significantly more than they would have paid before to sign him.

Soccer Predictions – Matchplug smashed football tips 17th August 2018

Here are our winning tips for the 17th of August.

What are you waiting for? Sign up now and start winning.

Chelsea vs Arsenal Match Preview, Soccer Prediction and Betting Tips

These two teams started their domestic campaign with different degrees of success and this match offers them both a chance to get early bragging rights over the other in the London Derby.

Chelsea beat Huddersfield 3-0 at the John Smith Stadium last weekend, while Arsenal were beaten 2-0 at home by Manchester City.

Chelsea players showed in their win over the Terriers that they have begun taking in the lessons of Maurizio Sarri, while Arsenal struggled to show that there has been any improvement in their play under Unai Emery.

The Gunners wanted to play from the back as Emery’s teams always do, but they were always caught in possession by Manchester City who pressed them relentlessly to the point that Petr Cech almost scored himself by passing the ball straight into his own net.

Chelsea would be welcoming Eden Hazard for this game, and the Belgian who gave an assist for the 3rd goal last weekend comes with extra goals threat in him.

Arsenal’s defensive issues has not been helped by news that Maitland-Niles is set to be sidelined for the next two months, that leaves Emery with no recognized left fullback at the moment.

Five of the last six meetings between these sides have ended in draws, with Arsenal winning the remaining one game. However, The Gunners have failed to score in four of their last five Premier League visits to Stamford Bridge, with Chelsea winning four of these five encounters as well.

Tottenham Hotspur vs Fulham Match Preview, Soccer Prediction and Betting Tips

Tottenham were expected to field a weakened side in their Premier League opener against Newcastle as several of their key players returned late from the World Cup following their team progress to the semifinal stage.

However, Mauricio Pochettino thought otherwise and the Argentine boss fielded six players who played at the World Cup semifinals, and it was obvious that most of them were match rusty.

However, they still got the job done with a 2-1 win over Rafa Benitez’s side with goals from Jan Vertoghen and Dele Ali coming on either side of an equalizer from Joselu.

Fulham won the Playoff last season and they are determined to spend some time in the English top flight after that. This desire has prompted them to spend some money in the last transfer window, even more than some established names and at least £100 million more than their host in this game.

However, their return to the top flight did not start on a very good note as they lost their first game 2-0 at home last weekend to Crystal Palace. That must have been a very rude welcoming and they would be determined not to lose a second London derby is as many matches.

Fulham have lost their last 18 away games against Spurs.

Barcelona vs Alaves Match Preview, Soccer Prediction and Betting Tips

Barcelona begin their La Liga title defence when Alaves comes to town for this fixture, and their fans would be expecting them to start their season with three points.

The Catalans won the league title by 14 points last season, but this season should be a lot tougher with renewed competition from Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid.

Apart from Andres Iniesta, there has been no major departures from Camp Nou. Philippe Coutinho is expected to perform even better than he did last season now that he is with them from the beginning, while Ousmane Dembele who scored a stunner in the Super Cup win over Sevilla is expected to also shine having struggled with injuries last season.

Alaves were expected to be relegated by the time December came around last season. At that point, they had already fired two managers, however, Abelardo Fernández took charge and helped them surprisingly avoid relegation in an unexpectedly easy manner.

That survival now means more would be demanded from them this season, and this game offers them the chance to start the season as they wish to go on. They would be looking to sit back and hit Barca on the break in this game, and the Catalans have shown that teams who play that way can get results from them.