Ancelotti coy over potential Mbappe debut in Super Cup

Gary Cahill says Chelsea are riding a wave of confidence after equalling their top-flight winning record of 11 matches by beating Crystal Palace on Saturday.

Chelsea s title winners of 2009-10 were the last to reach that number and Diego Costa s winner sent the club nine points clear at the top of the Premier League.

And Cahill claims Chelsea are in bullish mood every time they take to the field under Antonio Conte.

We feel very confident, he told Sky Sports. We re a very strong team and we ve worked very hard on it.

Physically, we re in good shape and we ve got some fantastic players, so that s the reason behind it.

We re organised and we re enjoying it.

You build momentum, you win games, you step out on the pitch or you re in the tun…

Fulham became the third and final team to be relegated from the Premier League when they were beaten 2-0 by Burnley on Monday.

Scott Parker s side got that sinking feeling at Craven Cottage, where first-half goals from Ashley Westwood and the in-form Chris Wood – his 50th for the club – consigned them to an immediate return to the Championship.

It is the first time in Premier League history that all relegation slots have been confirmed with as many as three matches remaining.

Matej Vydra set Westwood up for the opener after 35 minutes and Wood clinically fired home his eighth goal in as many games to leave Fulham shellshocked just before the break.

3+ Fulham’s defeat means all three/four teams have been relegated with as many as three games remain…

Neymar has won the Samba d Or for the third time in his career.

The award, which recognises the best Brazilian player in Europe and is voted for by fans, journalists and a selection of former players, was previously won by the Paris Saint-Germain superstar in 2014 and 2015 during his time at Barcelona.

It means Neymar joins club team-mate Thiago Silva with three victories in the poll, which launched with inaugural winner Kaka in 2008.

Liverpool midfielder Philippe Coutinho – still touted as a potential Camp Nou replacement for Neymar – won in 2016 and came second overall this time around, with Real Madrid full-back Marcelo coming in third ahead of Paulinho, Casemiro and Gabriel Jesus.

2 Games with at least 1 goal AND 1 assist in the Top 5 European lea…

Best odds: 3/2

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Arsenal will host Fulham at the Emirates in another London Derby on Saturday, within round three of the 2023/24 season in the Premier League. It s important for every team to make a good start to the campaign, so there s obviously a lot to play for, and while the Gunners seek to improve on the title disappointment of last season, the Cottagers will be looking to do better as well.

Arsenal

Having led the race for the Premier League title for a majority of 2022/23, failures to grind out results in the final stretch of the race cost Arsenal dearly and allowed defending champions Manchester City not only to overtake them, but finish in relative comfort, five points ahead.

Since then, it is widely believed that the Gunners have done…

Wales midfielder Aaron Ramsey has signed for Ligue 1 side Nice after being released by Juventus.

The 31-year-old joins as a free agent less than a week after agreeing to terminate his contract with the Bianconeri, with Nice yet to disclose the length of his deal.

Ramsey spent three years with Juventus, joining in 2019 after his contract at Arsenal expired, but he struggled to establish himself in Italy and made just three Serie A appearances last season before joining Rangers on loan.

He featured seven times for Rangers in the Scottish Premiership, but his time in Glasgow will mostly be remembered for his crucial penalty shoot-out miss in the Europa League final against Eintracht Frankfurt in Seville, which Rangers went on to lose.

Nouveau chapitre �…

Arsene Wenger has been troubled by the frequent sight of a half-full Emirates Stadium but is optimistic of strong backing from Arsenal fans in their Europa League clash with CSKA Moscow.

Empty seats have marked recent Emirates Stadium matches as supporters demonstrate dissatisfaction with a campaign that appears likely to end without qualification for the Champions League for a second successive season.

Winning the Europa League is the Gunners last realistic hope of returning to the competition next term and they can strengthen those chances with a strong showing in the first leg of the quarter-finals on Thursday.

Club great Ian Wright has commended Arsenal fans for the positive step of staying away from matches and Wenger accepts slumping attendances are a w…

The new Women’s Super League season gets under way with the opening round of fixtures taking place on Sunday.

Here, the PA news agency looks at some of the talking points heading into the action.

Champions chase more glory

After securing their fourth WSL title in a row last season – and third successive FA Cup – the simple question regarding Chelsea ahead of 2023-24 is can they keep their dominance up? While skipper Magda Eriksson and Pernille Harder were notable departures over the summer, there have been eye-catching signings such as Catarina Macario and Ashley Lawrence joining a Blues squad featuring stars like Sam Kerr, Millie Bright and Lauren James, who shone so brightly at times for England at the World Cup. With Fran Kirby back in the fold after injury as …

Romelu Lukaku seems to have found himself in a limbo between Chelsea and Inter Milan, having publicly complained about his situation with the permanent employers in London and being informed, just as publicly, that he wouldn t be remaining with the Serie A club at the end of the ongoing loan. Further more, Inter CEO Giuseppe Moratta said the Belgian striker wasn t the same player who spearheaded their attack as they charged towards the Scudetto in 2020/21.

But according to Spanish outlet Fichajes, Real Madrid could offer Lukaku a way out of his current predicament by taking him to the Santiago Bernabeu. Apparently, they believe he s still a high-quality player when free of injury, obviously boasting plenty of top-level experience, and they re currently believed to be working ha…

Does he?

Taking a neutral standpoint on the entire Karim Benzema debate is impossible. The Frenchman has come under the spotlight for his lack of goals and two tides of generally accepted opinion have taken shape to divide the public in a stance on former Lyon front man.

As a public person himself, a man of football and of journalist stature, Gary Lineker has every right to aim a critique towards a certain football subject matter which is exactly what he did when he threw a bone at the blood thirsty plebeians with the following twitter post.

Is it me or is Benzema a tad overrated? A goal every other game in a team as strong as Real Madrid is nada especial. Decent not great.

— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker)

The former Barcelona star caused quite…

Inter mounted a stunning late turnaround to come from behind and shock Tottenham with a dramatic 2-1 Champions League victory at a raucous San Siro on Tuesday.

With five minutes of normal time remaining, the home side were trailing to Christian Eriksen s heavily deflected strike until Mauro Icardi and Matias Vecino netted in quick succession to turn the Group B encounter on its head.

Spurs were perhaps fortunate to see Eriksen s opener loop over Samir Handanovic off Miranda, but Mauricio Pochettino s side looked in little danger of relinquishing their lead heading into the final stages.

Inter were inspired by Icardi s moment of magic, however, the captain thundering a first-time volley into the bottom-left corner from 20 yards before Vecino nodded in Stefan de Vr…