Manuel Neuer has heaped praise on Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy who has been churning out superlative performances since joining the west London club in the summer.

The Senegal international secured a £20million move from Rennes in the summer, and has since kept nine clean sheets in his opening 13 matches as a Blues player.

The Bayern Munich No.1 goalkeeper told L’Equipe: “There are a lot of world-class goalkeepers right now. For example, Edouard Mendy, who moved from Rennes to Chelsea.

“He is a player that we only saw in Ligue 1, who joined a big club and has immediately been successful.

“It’s great to see that. Overall, I’m happy to see so many good goalkeepers because we’re a brotherhood.”

Kepa Arrizabalaga is back in the line-up for the Krasnodar clash at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday.

Frank Lampard has confirmed the goalkeeper rotation with Chelsea already qualified for the last-16.

He told reporters: “Kepa starts. It is about attitude and how you play, his situation now is different with Mendy’s form.

“Kepa is training brilliantly well and acting brilliantly well. I have no qualms about putting him back in.

“He has been very supportive [of Mendy]. I have seen that.

“I watch from afar and he has been supporting him and training well. That’s what I look at. Goalkeepers have to push each other as a group.”

Cesc Fabregas has revealed the reason why Maurizio Sarri wanted Chelsea players to train in the afternoon and is convinced Andrea Pirlo will become a ‘great coach.’

The former Chelsea and Barcelona midfielder told Tuttosport he could have joined Milan or Napoli before he moved to Monaco.

During the same interview, he discussed his relationship with Maurizio Sarri at Chelsea.

“He wanted to play Jorginho who had joined Chelsea for €60m, playing only League Cup or Europa League games was not enough for me, I’ve always been a starter and in the end I left Chelsea” he said.

“Sarri is a good coach but he has strong convictions on a tactical level. He is very superstitious and it’s difficult to make him change his mind,” he added.

“For example, he always wanted us Chelsea players to train at 3pm. It was bad for players who have a family like myself. We would not be able to see our children for the whole day. They went to school in the morning and they would sleep when we returned home after the training session.

“One day we asked him to let us train in the morning. He said we had to train at 3pm because a professor in Pisa had proved it was the best time for the body. I only know that for any player it’s important to spend time with his family.”

Ronald Koeman has expressed his annoyance with his side’s recent results and performances.

The Dutchman was speaking two days after his side crashed to a 2-1 defeat at newly-promoted Cadiz, meaning they have won just two of their last eight La Liga matches and have lost four times in that timeframe.

Barcelona news has subsequently been dominated by criticism over the team’s performances and Koeman admits that the main area where they must improve is defensive organisation.

With just one clean sheet in their last eight league matches and with a long-term injury for central defender Gerard Pique, the club are short for cover in the position.

The boss has now admitted he has let his players know just how dissatisfied he is and admits that results are not good enough.

Koeman explained in his pre-match press conference ahead of this week’s Champions League clash against Juventus, in quotes carried by Marca as cited by Football Espana: “There is a difference between the defeat on Saturday and the one against Atletico. We have to analyse how they score against us, how they create danger, the effectiveness in attack.

“I have told the players that I am annoyed, this is what happens when my teams lose. While at Barcelona you cannot accept these goals that we have conceded in several games.

“Lionel Messi is an easy target (for the media), but he is not responsible for the defensive organisation.

“The responsibility is always in the hands of the players. I do the rotations for the wellbeing and freshness of the team and the maximum responsibility lies with the coach.

“What is discussed in the dressing room stays inside the dressing room, but the players know that we have to improve things. It is more a matter of analysing and communicating. We are the team that has created five or six clear chances in each game and you have to find a balance in being more effective. We have lost too many points for things that we cannot be doing.”

Jurgen Klopp’s claim that Chelsea are Premier League title favourites has not deterred Frank Lampard.

The reigning champs won again last night to jump the Blues, who sit third and two points behind Liverpool and Tottenham.

He insisted: “I don’t think we think much of it. Liverpool and Manchester City have built a great squad, there are others in contention.

“I think where we are out, we are in good form, but we have players who have come in and City and Liverpool have had a lot of success for long periods. We are trying to reach that.”

Klopp had earlier told Sky: “If I watch football games at the moment then Chelsea, for me, look like favourites.

“They have the biggest squad, great players playing well together after a rusty start – and they are full on.

“They have unbelievable opportunities to change in games and make changes from one game to the other – so that is it.”

Tony Cascarino has been hugely impressed by Chelsea’s defensive improvements owing to the yeoman’s job by Reece James and Thiago Silva.

The two defenders have both made themselves undroppable in the early weeks of the season.

And ex-Blues ace wrote in The Times: “I have been impressed by how Reece James has improved,” wrote Cascarino.

“His attacking attributes were clear last year but when it came to choosing whether to stay back or surge forwards, the right back’s judgement was questionable.

“The defensive side of his game has come on in leaps and bounds and I am sure the arrival of Thiago Silva has helped.

“Chelsea have been crying out for an organiser at the back and [he] is looking more and more like the bargain of the season.”