Fears have emerged over the Chelsea-Everton with reports claiming that the Stamford Bridge club have had at least four players, not including Mateo Kovacic, test positive for Covid-19 in the last 24 hours.

Goal reveals that Chelsea are currently testing the squad who have been in close contact with the players who have already tested positive for COVID-19. There could be more positive tests before kick-off vs Everton tonight.

But, according to the Evening London Standard, the game is still due to go ahead despite fresh cases of Covid among the first-team squad at Chelsea.

It is understood a “small number” of players tested positive on Wednesday, joining Kovacic in isolation.

That immediately threw the game with Everton into doubt, with the football calendar rapidly being impacted by the spread of Omicron.

But the situation at Chelsea is not considered an outbreak because there were no new cases during testing on Thursday morning.

It is understood that it takes two consecutive days of positive cases for an outbreak to be declared, with Chelsea having no fresh cases since Wednesday.

But doubts will still remain given the rapidly changing situation at clubs.

There are growing fears the Premier League will have to shut down due to the failure to control Omicron.

Tottenham had games against Rennes and Brighton postponed last week after an outbreak among staff and first-team players.

Manchester United shut down first team operations this week, leading to the calling off of their visit to Brentford.

And late on Thursday Burnley’s clash with Watford became the latest to be postponed.

The ball breaks for Southampton striker Armando Broja in the Crystal Palace half. He drives at goal and from about 25 yards out belts the ball into the back of the net.

Wilfried Zaha had opened the scoring after just two minutes but a fine free-kick from James Ward-Prowse levelled. Armando Broja put the away side ahead just four minutes after the equaliser.

Chelsea loanee Armando Broja has scored in four of his six starts in the Premier League for Southampton. No player aged 20 or younger has scored more goals than Broja in the competition this season.

Photo Credit: SouthamptonFC/Twitter

Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski has hinted at a possible move to Italy as he collected the 2021 Golden Player award.

He picked up the award from Italian newspaper Tuttosport – who famously also hand out the Golden Boy award for best young player.

And speaking at the awards ceremony, Lewa flirted with the idea of a move to Serie A.

He said: “Play in Italy? I can’t say something that I don’t know yet, but I know that in Italy I have a great appreciation.

“It is possible, also because by coming to Italy I would have the chance to face great players and great teams.”

Patrick Vieira rates Conor Gallagher as a ‘manager’s dream’ with finishing ability similar to Frank Lampard and Ray Parlour’s energy.

Gallagher’s superb double in Sunday’s 3-1 win over Everton made Gallagher Crystal Palace’s six-goal top scorer on loan from Chelsea this season.

And Eagles’ boss Vieira compared the new England midfielder’s drive to ex-Arsenal workhorse Parlour.

Gunners’ all-time great Vieira said: “Conor has this passion for the game when he is on the field like a Ray Parlour.

“But I would say he has maybe the quality finishing of a Frank Lampard.

“It is a manager’s dream to have a player like Conor because when he is on the field, he will give everything.

“He is focused, concentrated and will always give his best. This is something that for me is really important.”

Vieira added of the 21-year-old: “I think it is his determination to progress.

“Every time he is putting his feet on the field, he wants to improve and to challenge himself.”

Reports have emerged in England as to why Chelsea cannot recall Conor Gallagher in January despite the calls by Blues faithful that their club should bring the youngster back mid-season.

The 21-year-old has been one the season’s star performers; earning him his first England cap, coming on as a second-half substitute in the 1-0 win over San Marino last month.

His form on loan at Selhurst Park has led to talk of the Blues recalling Gallagher in January to help supplement their trophy tilt next year.

However, according to the Daily Mail, Gallagher is ineligible to return to Stamford Bridge at the turn of the year due to a quirk in his loan agreement.

The midfielder has played over 50 per cent of Crystal Palace’s matches so far.

Chelsea did insert a recall clause in Gallagher’s loan deal to Palace last summer but it can only be activated if the midfielder plays less than 50 per cent of the games during the first half of the season.

So far Gallagher has been a virtual ever-present, playing in 16 of Palace’s 17 games so far this season.

Gallagher has been vital to Palace’s season so far and the fact he is staying until the summer is a major boost for head coach Patrick Vieira.

Chelsea refused to entertain loan offers for Gallagher that included a permanent option to buy the midfielder.

Antonio Rudiger was hilariously forced to backtrack after trolling Chelsea’s Twitter admin over the calamitous Champions League draw.

The reigning champions drew Lille in the first attempt, leaving the Blues Twitter to post the news.

But an error in the initial draw meant Uefa had to do it all over again, leaving Rudiger to post a ‘delete’ GIF in response to Chelsea’s tweet.

In a remarkable coincidence, the Blues drew Lille AGAIN, and the German then backtracked and tweeted: “okok,… sorry admin.”

Chelsea’s admin got their own back, as they replied to Rudiger with a picture of the centre-back cupping his ears.

Patrick Vieira heaped praise on Conor Gallagher after the midfielder scored a brace in Crystal Palace’s 3-1 win over Everton and said the youngster’s biggest ‘challenge’ going forward will be maintaining his current level.

The England international, who has also provided three assists since joining Palace on loan from Chelsea, has quickly won Vieira over with his lung-busting performances in the middle of the park and it’s clear Thomas Tuchel is also an admirer.

However, Vieira, keen to keep Gallagher’s feet firmly on the ground, urged the 21-year-old to continue with the same attitude and work-rate to ensure he is able to live up to expectations.

“He wants to improve – he’s really humble and working hard,” the Palace head coach told reporters shortly after his side’s victory.

“The challenge for him is to maintain that level to fulfil his expectation.

“Today, he was fantastic, and when the team plays at that level, it allows him and some of the players to express themselves.

“We have to keep challenging him, we have to keep working with him to keep improving, but he can score goals.

“We as a team have to play to a style that allows those types of players to score and take their chances.”

Photo Credit: premierleague/Twitter

Reports in England claim that Premier League clubs are fearful of mass postponements and the potential need for another shutdown due to the rapid spread of Omicron and their slow progress in vaccinating players.

The League announced 42 positive tests for Covid on Monday night — the most ever recorded in a single week — with at least five clubs having confirmed cases, including Manchester United whose fixture at Brentford on Tuesday is in doubt as a result.

The clubs’ worries have been exacerbated by the slow pace of their vaccination programmes, which has left the majority of players facing a wait to receive the booster jab required to provide protection against Omicron, after studies showed that two jabs offer little immunity.

According to the Daily Mail, Wolves are the only top-flight club who expect to meet Boris Johnson’s target of boosting all over-18s by the end of the month — although Leeds and Brentford are also understood to be well advanced in their planning to give the crucial third jab to their players and staff.

Almost a third of players will therefore have to wait until at least the end of January to receive their booster, and many others will be hanging on until the new year, because a significant number of second doses were not administered until the start of October.

Tottenham’s matches against Rennes and Brighton were called off last week, along with Monday’s Championship game between Sheffield United and Queens Park Rangers. Leicester and Norwich also considered postponing their games against Newcastle and Manchester United before going ahead.

The Premier League insist that with rigorous testing measures in place and emergency protocols reintroduced they should be able to continue, but sources at several clubs are privately questioning whether they can carry on in the event of mass postponements without compromising the competition’s integrity — particularly ahead of the congested festive period.

Nigerian Football Federation President Amaju Pinnick has explained why the Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr was sacked, stating that the decision was taken to head off a “disaster” waiting to happen.

Rohr’s contract as the Super Eagles coach was terminated on Sunday after months of fireworks between the federation and the Franco-German coach who managed the first team for the past 64 months.

“It wasn’t an individual decision; it was a collective decision from the committee,” Pinnick said on Monday when he featured as a guest on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, as cited by The Punch Newspaper.

“We didn’t want a disaster to happen before taking the decision,” he added.

Pinnick said the last two games under Rohr were abysmal and Nigeria won’t have qualified for the last round of the World Cup if not for providence.

The NFF President also said the 68-year-old coach failed to enforce discipline in the team, adding that there were so many things not known to the public on the matter.

He added that the football federation still owed Rohr some unpaid salaries but promised that they would be cleared off in months.

In his place, the football federation appointed Augustine Eguavoen, currently its Technical Director, as the Technical Adviser of the Super Eagles on an interim basis.

Arsenal captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has been DROPPED from the squad following a ‘disciplinary breach’, manager Mikel Arteta has confirmed.

The Gunners skipper did not even make the bench for the Gunners’ Premier League clash against Southampton at the Emirates on Saturday afternoon.

And when asked why the forward would play no part in the match, Arteta revealed it was a disciplinary matter.

Speaking ahead of the game, the Spaniard said: “Unfortunately due to a disciplinary breach.

“I think we have been very consistent that we have certain non-negotiables in the team that we have set ourselves as a club, and he’s not involved today.”

This is not the first time Aubameyang has been dropped by Arteta for off-field issues.

On the day of the North London derby last season Arteta axed the Gabon captain from the team after he arrived late for the game.