Sturridge salvages point at Chelsea to keep Liverpool unbeaten in league

London (AFP) – Substitute Daniel Sturridge’s sensational strike a minute from time preserved Liverpool’s unbeaten start to the Premier League season as Jurgen Klopp’s men salvaged a 1-1 draw at Chelsea on Saturday.

For the second time in four days Eden Hazard seemed set to haunt Liverpool as after deciding a League Cup tie between the pair on Wednesday, the Belgian fired Chelsea in front on 25 minutes.

Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino had efforts cleared off the line and Xherdan Shaqiri sliced wide a great chance as Liverpool were headed for defeat.

But Sturridge’s late intervention means they move level on points with Manchester City at the top of the table ahead of a huge clash between the two at Anfield next weekend.

Chelsea are just two points back in third and showed their own title credentials by continuing an unbeaten start under Maurizio Sarri with an impressive defensive display complemented by Hazard’s class at the other end of the field.

Both sides were back to full strength after Sarri and Klopp made eight changes for the League Cup between the pair.

Salah was back for Liverpool after being crowned the third best player in the world for the past year by FIFA on Monday.

But the dead eye for goal shown by the Egyptian last season to earn that accolade ahead of the likes of Lionel Messi and Hazard was missing as Liverpool paid for a wasteful start.

Twice Salah wriggled into clear shooting positions on his favoured left foot on the edge of the box inside the first 10 minutes, but his first tame effort was easily saved by Kepa Arrizabalaga before he blazed his second high and wide.

– Moment of magic –

Just as in midweek when Hazard came off the bench to win the game with a stunning individual run and finish, Liverpool were undone by a moment of magic from Chelsea’s number 10.

Hazard was picked out by a fine through ball from Mateo Kovacic and forced onto his weaker left foot he still managed to drill the ball low past Alisson Becker for his seventh goal of the season.

Chelsea have dominated possession since Sarri took charge, but the hosts seemed happy to sit on their lead and not expose themselves to Liverpool’s rapid counter-attack after going in front.

Salah should have levelled against his old club just after the half hour mark when he outmuscled Marcos Alonso and rounded Kepa, but his goalbound effort was cleared off the line by Antonio Rudiger.

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Chelsea end Liverpool’s perfect start to Premier League season

London (AFP) – Chelsea ended Liverpool’s perfect start to the Premier League season as the title contenders drew 1-1 at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

Liverpool had won all six of their previous league matches this term but, having lost to Chelsea in the League Cup in midweek, they fell behind on Saturday when Eden Hazard gave the west London club a 25th-minute lead.

But Daniel Sturridge’s brilliant long-range strike a minute from full-time preserved Liverpool’s unbeaten league run.

This result left Liverpool in second place, with champions Manchester City, who beat Brighton 2-0 earlier on Saturday, now top on goal difference.

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Perfect PSG brush aside Nice to equal 82-year-old Ligue 1 record

Nice (France) (AFP) – Paris Saint-Germain cruised to a 3-0 victory at Nice on Saturday to equal the record of victories from the start of a French top division season.

Neymar, who ended the game with a bloodied mouth, scored twice as PSG opened the season with eight straight wins, a feat that had only been achieved once, by Lille in 1936. 

With 24 points, PSG, chasing a sixth French title in seven seasons, are sure to end the weekend at least eight points clear of their closest challengers.

PSG have lost this season, in the Champions League, and with Red Star Belgrade visiting Parc des Princes on Wednesday, coach Thomas Tuchel left Marco Verratti and Edinson Cavani on the bench and also experimented again with a back three. His team still dominated

Nice goalkeeper Walter Benitez turned away early efforts from Adrien Rabiot and Kylian Mbappe. Then Angel di Maria hit a post.

In the 22nd minute, Christopher Nkunku surged down the right and slid the ball to Mbappe, who completely missed his shot. The ball was retrieved by Moussa Diaby who rolled it to Neymar and the Brazilian curled his shot into the net from 22 metres. 

PSG wasted several chances before half-time and in the 44th minute Mbappe set up Neymar, who netted from close range only for VAR to show a marginal offside.

Nice coach Patrick Vieira threw on Mario Balotelli for the second half, but any hopes of a fightback were quickly punctured.

A minute after the restart, Di Maria released Mbappe who raced through the visiting defence and evaded Benitez and one defender. When his shot struck another Nice player, the ball fell to Nkunku who popped it into the goal.

Nice finished the game with 10 men. Wylan Cyprien, a first-half substitute, earned a second yellow for whacking Neymar in the face with an elbow while leaping for a header. Cyprien went off, Neymar continued, holding a bandage to his bleeding mouth.

In the dying seconds, Mbappe again burst clear and squared the ball to Neymar who tapped in his second.

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Pochettino voices burn-out fears after Kane double downs Huddersfield

Huddersfield (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Mauricio Pochettino is worried about Tottenham Hotspur’s international players becoming burned out and injury-prone with the increasing demands being placed on them.

The Spurs head coach, who saw England captain Harry Kane score twice in a 2-0 win away to Huddersfield on Saturday, faces being without three key players for next week Champions League group match against Barcelona at Wembley.

Dele Alli will definitely be absent, while Jan Vertonghen and Moussa Dembele  are now significant doubts for Wednesday’s match against the Catalan giants.

Alli this week aggravated a hamstring injury initially sustained during England’s UEFA Nations League loss to Spain on September 8, and Belgium internationals Vertonghen and Dembele were both withdrawn at half-time during the win at Huddersfield with muscle problems.

All three players were involved at the World Cup until mid-July, with Belgium beating England in the third-place play-off, and Pochettino believes they may have had insufficient rest before their Premier League season began on August 11.

The Argentinian manager has expressed particular concern over European football governing body UEFA’s decision to add more competitive international games to the calendar by introducing the Nations League, arguing there is now less chance to rest players.

– ‘Who cares about the player?’ –

“The players finish the World Cup and they need to rest a few weeks,” Pochettino said. “Then they start the Premier League, and then there are the first international games. They play two games but they are not friendlies; instead, they play in the Nations League, and all the teams want the best players to play. 

“Who cares about the player? It’s so difficult.

“With the circumstances of the season, it’s a massive challenge for everyone. It’s not only us; there are a lot of teams that have the same problem.

“The players are not machines. You want to push and push and push them, and it’s not easy. And no one helps, but we are warned before every single game to play the same players.”

Alli’s injury is of particular concern to Pochettino, because it appears to be an old problem that has resurfaced.

Asked how long the midfielder would be absent, the coach said: “I don’t know. He reinjured the same muscle as with England against Spain, and that is the problem. It’s important to be relaxed and calm.”

Kane is another player who could claim to have suffered from such a busy schedule, having struggled for form since returning from the World Cup, where he was the leading scorer.

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Guardiola believes City could be improving on champion form

Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Pep Guardiola reckons Manchester City may be playing at an even higher level than the one they achieved in winning the Premier League title in record-breaking style last season. 

The City manager saw his side beat Brighton 2-0 in comfortable fashion at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday, with goals from Raheem Sterling and Sergio Aguero.

It was a result that meant the reigning champions had dropped just two points — in a draw at Wolves — during their first seven league games.

City’s results are all the more impressive given they have been without Kevin De Bruyne, arguably their best player last season, who is yet to kick a ball this term having injured his knee on the eve of the new campaign.

And Guardiola insisted the attitude of his players has helped City reach the same — if not higher — heights than they did last term, a claim that will be tested in Sunday’s visit to Liverpool.

“Most of the time we are playing even better than last season,” said Guardiola. “After the kind of season we had, we had fears we might drop points. We dropped two at Wolves but in general all the performances were good.”

However, the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss warned: “But it is only September. The two games before the international break will be so important for us. 

“With that spirit, the way we play, people are focused on the normal things — set-pieces, throw-ins, defence, what we’re doing without the ball.”

– Aguero injury worry –

Aguero wrapped up the win, playing a superb role in making and claiming the second goal, after 64 minutes only for Guardiola to immediately replace him and reveal he is struggling with a heel injury ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League visit to Hoffenheim.

“Sergio is struggling a little bit with some problem in his foot, he is not 100 percent,” said Guardiola.

“He’s not recovered after his injury against Newcastle (last month) and we spoke about him playing 50–55 minutes. We were lucky he scored a goal in the right moment.

“Hopefully he will be okay for Tuesday. We’re controlling the injury, we’re fighting it but he needs time. Now we have two games before the international break, hopefully he can do those and, after, make a final recovery.”

Having played a one-two with David Silva, Aguero dribbled 30 yards, beating four defenders in the process, before playing the ball wide to Sterling and continuing his run. 

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Valverde accepts blame for Barca defeat after Messi rested

Barcelona (AFP) – Ernesto Valverde admitted his gamble to rest Lionel Messi backfired on Saturday as Barcelona drew 1-1 at home to Athletic Bilbao to make it three games without a victory.

Messi came on in the 55th minute at the Camp Nou and it was the Argentinian’s shot that was turned in by another substitute, Munir El Haddadi, with six minutes left to play. 

By then, however, Oscar de Marcos had given Bilbao a deserved first-half lead and despite a late rally, Messi and Barca could not find a winner. 

After drawing at home to Girona and being beaten by Leganes, Barca will head to Wembley to face Tottenham in the Champions League on Wednesday short of rhythm and lacking confidence.

The last time Bilbao took a point at the Camp Nou, Valverde was sitting in the away team’s dug-out, in 2004, during his first spell as Bilbao coach. 

Now in charge at Barca, he will have questions to answer, having made the bold decision to rest Messi with Spurs in mind, along with Sergio Busquets. 

Barca will surrender top spot in La Liga if Real Madrid beat Atletico in the city derby later on Saturday. Bilbao move up to 14th. 

“Leaving Messi on the bench is absolutely my responsibility,” Valverde said. “He has four games in 10 days and I think it’s good for Leo to rest, like Busquets, thinking of the Champions League. 

“I know it was the right decision. It was a risk and on this occasion, it didn’t come off.”

Lack of rotation was chief among the criticisms levelled at Valverde after they crashed out of the Champions League quarter-finals last season, with Luis Suarez admitting he regrets playing 90 minutes against Leganes, three days before the collapse against Roma. 

Valverde has certainly acted. Of the preferred 11 that started a 4-0 win over PSV Eindhoven two weeks ago, eight have started at least one of the three games since on the bench. The trouble is that seven of those have been required to come on as substitutes.

“We can’t expect Messi just to come on and fix things,” Suarez said. “We should have won the game before he came on, that’s why we are Barca.”

Bilbao took the lead in the 41st minute and could have scored earlier. Inaki Williams’ attempted lob had Marc-Andre ter Stegen beaten but drifted wide. Ter Stegen had to push Raul Garcia’s effort over and was then rounded by Williams but the angle proved too tight. 

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Emery fears Cech will be out for three weeks

London (AFP) – Unai Emery expects Petr Cech to be sidelined for up to three weeks after the Arsenal goalkeeper limped off during Saturday’s 2-0 win over Watford.

Cech suffered a hamstring injury in the first half at the Emirates Stadium and Arsenal manager Emery fears the former Chelsea star will be sidelined for several weeks.

The 36-year-old will be assessed by Arsenal’s medical team on Sunday.

“I think it’s a hamstring. Maybe he will miss two or three weeks. I hope not more. We will see tomorrow,” Emery said.

If Cech’s injury absence is confirmed, Emery can at least rely on Bernd Leno to prove an able deputy judging by the German’s impressive display against Watford.

With Arsenal under the cosh in the second half, Leno made a fine save to deny Troy Deeney and coped well under the Watford bombardment.

It was Leno’s first taste of the Premier League after his only other appearances came in the Europa League and League Cup.

Emery called on the pre-season signing from Bayer Leverkusen to seize his chance, saying: “I’m very happy with Leno. 

“I think he was content to wait for this moment and now it is arriving. His performance was the best for us today.”

Arsenal’s fifth successive Premier League win, and seventh in all competitions, was harsh on Watford, who bossed the game for long spells before Craig Cathcart’s 81st minute own goal.

Mesut Ozil’s strike two minutes later put a flattering gloss on the scoreline for Arsenal, who are up to fifth place.

Emery conceded Arsenal had laboured at times, but he was pleased with the way they kept fighting.

“We knew it would be a difficult match. The ball was near our box a lot. The rhythm of the match was not what we wanted,” he said.

“In the first half we were a little nervous. We had to improve with our positioning, then our moments were arriving and we found our efficiency to score.

“We need players being hungry, to come in and help the team. Today we had Leno, who came on for Cech, then also Danny Welbeck and Alex Iwobi. They showed their quality.

“Each match is very important to win to help our confidence.

“We need the whole 90 minutes to have this control. We need more control, with the possession and the positioning.”

– Frustrated Ramsey –

Emery also needs to resolve the tricky issue of Aaron Ramsey’s future.

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