Frank Lampard gives injury update on Tammy Abraham as Chelsea lock horns with Bournemouth

Tammy Abraham is still out today and Frank Lampard admits he’s concerned about the young striker.

The forward has an ankle injury and Lampard has no idea when he’ll be ready to return.

Abraham said: “I can’t give you the proper doctor’s report. He has an ankle injury around the ligament.

“He has inflammation. It is causing pain so we are looking at ways to get rid of it.

“It’s been frustrating because we have seen him come back then go again. Sometimes things that are about pain threshold are like that.

“If he is not comfortable he probably has to come out for a few days at least and see where it is going.”

Odion Ighalo scores his first Manchester United goal, dedicates it to late sister (Watch Video)

Odion Ighalo appeared to dedicated his first Manchester United goal to his sister, who tragically passed away in December.

The January signing ​took to Instagram last December to mourn his sister Mary Atole, posting pictures of them both with the message: “R.I.P sister @blackboldbeautifull 12-12-19”.

The 30-year-old striker has since secured a move to his boyhood club United to boost Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s attack, being determined to make the most of his time at Old Trafford.

After three substitute appearances, Ighalo was handed his first start for United and wasted no time opening this account, report Evening Standard.

A beautiful goal saw Bruno Fernandes – another January signing – float the ball to the back post for Juan Mata to cut back for Ighalo to slot home.

While celebrating his goal, Ighalo turned to the crowd to lift up his shirt and revealed the photo of his sister with the date of her passing.

Photo Credit: Twitter @EuropaLeague

Willian reveals what he wants to stay at Stamford Bridge, says contract negotiations with Chelsea “difficult”

Willian has revealed that Contract negotiations have been “difficult” as the club refuse to budge on their current offer.

The Brazilian is out of contract in the summer and the two parties are about a year off on Willian’s desired three-year extension.

Chelsea have offered the 31-year-old a two-year extension which has led to talks hitting a snag.

Willian told Esporte Interativo: “Chelsea offered me two years, and they are not going to change what they offered.

“I said I wanted three more years. The situation is difficult because of this, I really don’t know if it will be possible.”

Zidane reveals why Real Madrid lost to Manchester City at Santiago Bernabeu

Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane has identified the reason his club were defeated by Manchester City, saying his side lost concentration in the closing stages of their 2-1 Champions League match.

The La Liga side led after an hour, as Spanish international Isco edged them in front, but Pep Guardiola’s side launched an excellent comeback in the final 15 minutes.

Goals from Gabriel Jesus and Kevin De Bruyne sealed a turnaround win for City, handing them a vital advantage ahead of the second leg.

“We played well for 75 minutes, and are annoyed by the loss,” he told a post match interview with Marca as cited by Football Espana.

“However the tie is 180 minutes, and it is not over.”

“We have given everything, but we lacked key concentration in the last ten minutes or so, and it was a very difficult.”

Photo Credit: Twitter@realmadriden

Chelsea, Serie A club commence transfer talks over red-hot Blues academy graduate

Reports in England and Italy claim Sassuolo are in negotiations with Chelsea to remove the €15m buy-back clause in Jeremie Boga’s contract, it’s reported.

The 23-year-old French-Ivorian is a product of the Stamford Bridge side’s academy and had loan spells at Rennes, Granada and Birmingham before his sale to Sassuolo for €3m in the summer of 2018.

His performances this season have really put Boga on the map, contributing seven goals and four assists in 23 Serie A games.

According to Tuttomercatoweb and The Sun newspaper, representatives of Sassuolo and Boga’s brother have flown to London for face-to-face talks with Chelsea.

The Neroverdi have asked to remove the buy-back clause and therefore own Boga outright, report Football Italy.

On the other hand, Chelsea are eager to either bring the wide forward back to London or activate the €15m option and sell him on at a profit.

Half-Time Report: Chelsea 0-0 Bayern Munich… Caballero keeps Lewandoski at bay

Bayern Munich have been the superior team so far as the half ended goalless in the Champions League first leg at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea have had their fair share of moments and Lampard will be delighted that they’ve kept a clean sheet in the first half, with Wilfredo Caballero keeping red-hot keeping Lewandowski at bay.

With Lewandowski not allowed a breathing space, Müller pulled the strings, hitting the crossbar for the Bundesliga giants. It has been a fairly uncomfortable half for the Blues. He has hit the bar, and Caballero has been forced into quite a bit of work.

Chelsea, despite seeing less of the ball, have had arguably the better opportunities, with Thiago bringing down Barkley, who was threatening to break. The Blues will be pleased to go in goalless.

Photo Credit: Twitter @chelseafc.com

Antonio Rudiger identifies what Chelsea squad lack as they face Bayern Munich

Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger has identified the absence of the Lewandowski-like killer instinct in the London team.

The Blues are set to face Bayern Munich in the first leg of the Champions League last-16 tie scheduled for Tuesday at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea do not have a player like Robert Lewandowski who can make the difference in front of goal, according to Antonio Rudiger, who admires the Bayern Munich forward for his insatiable hunger to score week in, week out, report Goal.

The Blues have relied heavily this season on the talents of 22-year-old frontman Tammy Abraham, who returned to the club last summer after a successful loan spell at Aston Villa.

Abraham has hit 15 goals in 32 appearances across all competitions, but has only just returned to action following an injury lay-off.

Frank Lampard only has Michy Batshuayi and Olivier Giroud to call upon in reserve, with the former struggling to live up to expectations and the latter set to leave the club when his contract expires this summer.

Rudiger is also likely to be involved, but he has been quick to point out the Blues’ failings in the final third ahead of the clash, while talking up the talents of Lewandowski.

The Polish star has scored 10 goals in five Champions League outings this term, while also finding the net on 25 occasions in the Bundesliga.

“We sometimes miss the killer instinct that Lewandowski has, for example,” Rudiger told SID .

“Just the greed for more, this greed in front of the goal. Lewandowski is 31 years old and is still hungry for goals.”

Rudiger went on to express his belief that Chelsea need to work on their ability to take advantage of teams on the break, insisting standards have dropped at the Bridge in recent months.

“We have weakened recently with opposing standards and counterattacks, we have to work on that,” Rudiger added.

The Blues head into their meeting with Bayern fresh from a morale-boosting 2-1 victory at home to Tottenham on Saturday.

Hakim Ziyech reveals why he opted for Chelsea, explains how Frank Lampard influenced his decision through phone calls

Ajax forward Hakim Ziyech has revealed the rationale for signing for Chelsea, stating that the London club’s attacking football swayed his decision to join Frank Lampard’s team.

The Moroccan signed a five-year deal for the Stamford Bridge club after both Ajax and Chelsea reached an agreement for the switch.

Ziyech told the Blues website: “Happy, proud, I am excited and I cannot wait. It (Chelsea) is a big club in a big competition.

“I like the style of play, they play really attacking football, and that is something that fits me and that is one of the biggest reasons I chose, therefore.”

The playmaker stated that Frank Lampard played: “A big role. We had a lot of contact in the last couple of weeks, and he gave me a good feeling and that was also big to do with the decision.”

Antonio Rudiger reacts to Tottenham fans booing him during Chelsea home win

Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger claims “racists have won” after Tottenham fans booed him over a failed probe into abuse from their supporters.

The German was booed by Tottenham fans whenever he touched the ball during a Premier League match on Saturday at Stamford Bridge.

He said: “Yes, I heard it. It’s sad. I don’t know why they would. Maybe it’s because I voiced about the racism. If you boo me because of that, then you are poor people.

“This is a sign that we have a very big problem.

“At the end of the day I am alone in this case because I am the one who has to swallow this.

“With the win (against Spurs) it makes me feel a bit like, yes, OK. But it makes me feel like it will always be like this. For me, in this case, racism won.”

Rudiger alleged Tottenham fans aimed monkey noises at him ­during December’s clash.

It resulted in the game being halted and warnings made over the stadium PA for the first time at a Premier League fixture.

Spurs and the Met Police launched an immediate investigation — but two weeks later the club announced that neither they nor the cops had found no evidence to support Rudiger’s claims, report The Sun.

The Berlin-born star added: “For me, it was not a surprise, because sometimes they get ­punished — but mostly they get away with it.

“I’m not trying to offend anyone but you will never understand what goes through my mind at this moment. Or other black players’ minds.

“I am along. I am totally alone. Authority-wise, I’m alone. People are investigating but I don’t want to say they did their job wrong. I hope they tried everything.”

Coronavirus outbreak in Italy: Government considers postponing all football matches across the country

Prime Minister of Italy Giuseppe Conte confirmed “we will evaluate postponing all next week’s matches” due to the Coronavirus outbreak.

According to Football Italia, the rapid spread of cases diagnosed in northern Italy has seen several regions essentially go on lockdown, shutting all sporting events, public spaces and schools until midnight on March 1.

There were four Serie A matches postponed on Sunday, Inter-Sampdoria, Atalanta-Sassuolo, Verona-Cagliari and Torino-Parma.

PM Conte was on RAI television this evening and asked if the next round of Serie A fixtures could be called off entirely.

“I don’t think that in just one week we’d be able to slow down the contagion so much that we could resume sporting events,” was the reply.

“We are constantly monitoring the situation and will evaluate. We’ll see the evolution of the contagion and evaluate postponing all next week’s matches.”

This would not only include Serie A, but also Serie B, Serie C, the amateur leagues and potentially the Europa League too, as Inter are due to host Ludogorets at San Siro on Thursday.

It is increasingly likely that game will now be played behind closed doors.