Chelsea will look to collect a sixth Premier League title this season and become the first side since Manchester United in 2008-09 to retain their crown.

They will do so buoyed by the news head coach Antonio Conte has signed an improved two-year contract.

New signing Antonio Rudiger and Tiemoue Bakayoko are already in the building but, with a replacement for marginalised hitman Diego Costa still required, how many of these memorable triumphs from last time around will they be able to match or better?

ARSENAL 3-0 CHELSEA (24/09/2016)

A devastating first-half display from Arsenal at Emirates Stadium propelled the Gunners into an early title challenge and left Chelsea fans feeling wretched.

Alexis Sanchez, Theo Walcott and Mesut Ozil all …

Edinson Cavani hit a hat-trick on his return to the Paris Saint-Germain team as the Ligue 1 champions marched on with a 4-0 demolition of Thierry Henry s injury-hit Monaco.

Cavani missed PSG s last two Ligue 1 wins due to a thigh injury and he was on the bench for a midweek Champions League draw against his old club Napoli.

But the striker was back in the PSG side at Stade Louis II on Sunday, scoring a trio of close-range finishes as Thomas Tuchel s men extended their perfect league record to 13 wins.

Neymar added a fourth from the penalty spot and PSG s lead atop the table already stands at 13 points while Monaco are in the mire, with Henry s side only off the bottom on goal difference.

An extraordinary opening 11 minutes saw Cavani score twice with bo…

Coach Oscar Tabarez conceded he and his Uruguay side were left hurting following their crushing 4-1 defeat to Brazil in World Cup qualifying.

Uruguay opened the scoring in the top-of-the-table clash on Thursday but the hosts were unable to stop a rampant Brazil, who were led by Paulinho s hat-trick and Neymar s stunning lob.

The result saw Brazil move seven points clear of second-placed Uruguay in the CONMEBOL standings as Tabarez s men lost a World Cup qualifying match at home for the first time since 2009 a run of 14 games.

It hurts, although we are professionals we have passion for this and when we do not get what we want, it hurts, Tabarez said post-match after being without suspended duo Luis Suarez and Fernando Muslera.

Sometimes these hard knocks…

Brentford have completed the signing of Germany Under-21 international Kevin Schade on an initial loan from Freiburg.

The pacy attacker will join up with the Premier League side, subject to international clearance, until the end of the season, though Brentford confirmed they then expect to make the deal permanent for a club-record undisclosed fee , with reports suggesting that could be in the region of £22million (€25m).

Schade made his Freiburg debut in August 2021 and scored seven goals in 36 games for the Bundesliga club.

Speaking to the club s website after the announcement of the 21-year-old s arrival, Bees coach Thomas Frank said: I think Kevin is a typical Brentford signing. He is a young, promising talent that we see a big potential in. We have been fo…

According to a report from Sky Sports, Newcastle United have made an official enquiry to Atletico Madrid regarding winger Gelson Martins. The 23 year old hasn’t really been able to get much game time during his time with Atletico Madrid, after making the move over in the summer transfer window. The Spanish club initially seemed to be hell bent on signing him and giving him lots of playing time, but that seemed to subside pretty quickly.

Benitez wants to take him on loan until the end of the season, which would give him more than enough time to prove what he can do. Gelson made the jump over to Atletico from Sporting Lisbon, where he’d spent eight years of his career between 2010 at the youth level and 2018 with the senior team.

Martins is also a Portugal internation…

Germany U21 seal place in Euro 21 final

It’s been a remarkably exciting semi-final match at the Under-21 European Championship between England and Germany. Tides of dominance on either side, fantastic goalkeeping from the Germany shot stopper Pollersbeck and a string of (bad) luck was well enough to suggest we saw a cracker of a clash between two historic rivals.

Here is our in-depth match report:

Form Guide Team News

England Under-21 selection has displayed great courage in their first UEFA U21 European Championship appearance since 2009 and earned their place in the high-profile semi-finals thanks to two wins and a draw from three Group A fixtures.

Despite being one of the most consistent performers in the tournament thus far, Germany have mo…

Further allegations against Manchester United winger Antony have emerged following the domestic abuse claims that saw him dropped by Brazil.

The 23-year-old earlier this week was omitted from the Brazil squad after accusations of physical aggression on a number of occasions since January towards his former girlfriend Gabriela Cavallin, which are being investigated by police and which he denies.

Since then, Brazilian newspaper Extra has reported that influencer and law student Rayssa de Freitas in May 2022 filed a police report against Antony alleging she sustained injuries in an incident involving the player and another woman after a night out in Sao Paulo.

Meanwhile, banker Ingrid Lana has told Brazil’s RecordTV that in an incident at Antony’s home in Manche…

Ilkay Gundogan is confident about Manchester City s quadruple chances, insisting they had a squad capable of achieving the historic feat.

Already EFL Cup champions, Pep Guardiola s men are still in contention for the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup.

Gundogan believes City – two points adrift of Liverpool in the Premier League but holding a game in hand – have the players and depth to continue competing for all three of the remaining trophies.

Yes, we have [a strong enough squad]. I am sure about that, he told UK newspapers after Saturday s 2-0 league win at Fulham.

If we did not have the quality, we would not still be in all four competitions. That is the main thing.

We are already at the semis of the FA Cup so hopefully one mor…

In sacking Carlo Ancelotti, Bayern Munich made a rather unprecedented move.

Not that die Roten are immune to sacking coaches. After all, the team had been setting a series of unwanted precedents under the Italian tactician as of late. Bayern had conceded ten goals in their first ten competitive fixtures. That was the first time they had done this in over nine seasons, since Jurgen Klinsmann was in charge during the 2008/2009 campaign when they shipped 14 in ten matches.

Furthermore, their 3-0 defeat to PSG on matchday two marked the first time the Bavarian titans had ended up losing with a three goal margin during the first group phase of the Champions League. That loss came on the heels of a bad showing against Wolfsburg, during which they threw away a two goal lead to…

Market: Over 1.5 goals

Odds: 4/11 @

With plenty of pressure on their shoulders this weekend, Napoli will welcome Bologna to the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on Sunday night.

Starting with the hosts, while Napoli might have got a new era underway this summer following the arrival of Antonio Conte, the Blues opened the 2024/25 campaign with a nightmare performance. Slumping to what was an infamous 3-0 drumming at the hands of Verona, the former Tottenham boss will be demanding an immediate response here. However, enduring what was a public Serie A crisis last season as they only just dragged themselves to a top-half finish, Napoli remarkably recorded just a single victory from any of their final 11 matchups across all competitions prior to the summer break. Watch…