Defending English Premier League champions Chelsea continued their wobbly descent down the table following their 5th defeat in 10 domestic games
ADVERTISEMENTDefending English Premier League champions Chelsea continued their wobbly descent down the table following their 5th defeat in 10 domestic games.
The club’s latest slip-up reignited the rumours in the British press of an early dismissal for boss Jose Mourinho whose self proclaimed tag ‘The Special One’ appears to be in tatters.
‘Crisis’ remains the buzz word at Stamford Bridge and the pressure continues to mount on Mourinho.
The Blues’ disastrous defence of their Premier League title continued with a 2-1 defeat by London rivals West Ham, who had Andy Carroll power home a late winner.
The result left Chelsea down in 15th position.
Despite previous support from Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich the fate of Mourinho could be decided in the coming week which features a Capital One Cup tie with Stoke, a visit from Liverpool in the League and a crucial Champions League clash with Dynamo Kiev.
Elsewhere in the EPL Arsenal are flying high.
The Gunners followed up their stunning victory against Bayern Munich in the Champions League midweek with a fine performance to beat Everton 2-1.
Olivier Giroud and Laurent Koscielny sent Arsene Wenger’s men to the top of the table albeit they were alone at the summit for only 24 hours as Man City overtook them the next day on goal difference.
With six should-win league fixtures ahead, including Swansea, Norwich and Sunderland, Arsenal will look to maintain their title winning momentum before hosting City on December 21st.
Meanwhile Manchester United and Man City played out a drab goalless stalemate at Old Trafford on Sunday.
The 170th Manchester derby was bereft of attacking quality and left both clubs with a point each. With the share of the spoils City went top while Utd slip down to fourth.
Up&Down
On the Up this week are German champions Bayern Munich who chalked up their 1000th Bundesliga win with a 4-0 victory over Koln.
The result maintained their 100 per cent league record this term and also marked a stunning return to action after two months out injured for Arjen Robben, who scored the opener.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang also makes our up list this week after scoring a hat-trick for Borussia Dortmund in their 5-1 win over Augsburg on Sunday.
It was the Gabon international’s second straight hat-trick after hitting three in the Europa League midweek.
And finally just five years ago Jamie Vardy was playing non-league football for Halifax Town, but on Saturday he became just the eighth player in Premier League history to score in seven consecutive games.
ADVERTISEMENTThe 28-year-old England international scored the winner as Leicester beat Crystal Palace 1-0.
Road to Euro
In 1972 West Germany won the European championship for the first time. When the captain Franz Beckenbauer was receiving the Henri Delaunay Cup nobody could imagine that this was the beginning of a hugely dominant period of international football for Die Mannschaft.
West Germany won the tournament, beating the Soviet Union 3–0 in the final, with goals coming from Gerd Müller (twice) and Herbert Wimmer at the Heysel Stadium in Brussels. It was the largest margin of victory in a UEFA European Championship final until 2012.
This resounding win began a great run with West Germany and then Germany reaching nine finals in 13 major tournaments up to 1996.
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Next weekend we expect a high-intensity showdown between Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea and Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool, while we’ll see Inter and Roma lock horns as well as a Turin derby.
Here are our predictions for those games. Why not have a go yourselves – send your results in on the social networks using #TheCornerScores.
Chelsea 1-2 Liverpool
Inter 1-3 Roma
Juventus 2-0 Torino
Werder Bremen 1-3 Borussia Dortmund