Joomsport

  Belgium’s all-time leading goalscorer was ridiculously labelled as a limited striker with a poor first touch during his underwhelming spell at Manchester United. But the truth is that Lukaku’s technical ability is just as scary as his physical prowess. Lukaku scored his first ever goal at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. In doing so, he made two Aston Villa players look silly. After timing his run perfectly to collect Mateo Kovacic’s through-pass, he sat defender Axel Tuanzebe on his backside with a superb turn. Romelu Lukaku's got the goal but it's really been the Edouard Mendy show with a number of great saves from the Chelsea goalkeeper. The balance of play you'd have to lean to Villa but it's the hosts who have the lead after Kovacic's excellent long pass and Lukaku's well taken finish. Aston Villa are still in this though. Luiz gets away from Jorginho and finds Cash who wins a corner. The corner comes in and it comes off the head of Lukaku just in front of Me...

  The Blues have made a strong start to their top-flight campaign. Victories were recorded over Crystal Palace and Arsenal while a battling 1-1 draw was earned at Liverpool last time out despite Thomas Tuchel's side having ten men for the entirety of the second period. The expectation is Chelsea secure three points today but they will have to do so without N'Golo Kante and Christian Pulisic, both of whom are currently ruled out due to ankle injuries. Thiago Silva has been cleared to play after Brazil dropped plans to impose a five-day ban on the centre-back following extensive talks between FIFA and the respective associations. Premier League clubs made a collective decision not to release players if it meant them travelling to red-list countries as they would face ten days of quarantine on their return. As always, we'll have full coverage of today's game. Our Chelsea correspondents Adam Newson and Scott Trotter are at the game at Stamford Bridge and will detail all the...

Chelsea face the prospect of losing a quartet of influential stars for their Premier League contest against Aston Villa on Saturday. The international interlude has certainly provided plenty of highs for Thomas Tuchel’s squad. However, the Blues boss won’t be best pleased by the damage done to some of his players. Romelu Lukaku  revealed  after Belgium’s World Cup qualifying win yesterday, incidentally the striker’s 100 th  cap, that he was going to have a scan on a thigh problem. Chelsea’s walking wounded Lukaku will join N’Golo Kante on the treatment table. The influential midfielder is recovering from damage to his ankle. Kante picked up the knock during Chelsea’s 1-1 draw with Liverpool. The injury forced him to come off at half-time. He was still selected by France manager Didier Deschamps for national team service, yet was deemed unable to play following further assessment of the injury. Kai Havertz is also a doubt for the weekend’s fixture as he overcomes a flu bug...

  Arsenal spent over £100million in the summer transfer window but Mikel Arteta did not get all of his top targets. Ben White was the biggest signing, arriving in a £50m move from Brighton. Martin Odegaard also made his loan move permanent as he quit Real Madrid. However, the Gunners' main problem area this season has been up front as they have not scored a single goal in their opening three league matches. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette continue to draw blanks and Arteta wanted a new forward before the window shut. The north Londoners put out the feelers to Chelsea, who were looking to offload Tammy Abraham. Thomas Tuchel gave the green light for the England international to link up with Jose Mourinho's Roma after Romelu Lukaku arrived at Stamford Bridge.

 Paul Merson has expressed his bemusement over his former club Arsenal and Manchester United's failure to try and sign Saul Niguez in the summer. On Tuesday, Saul completed a deadline day loan move to Chelsea to bolster Thomas Tuchel's already-stacked midfield options. Tuchel now has Saul, Mateo Kovacic, N'Golo Kante and Jorginho battling for the two central midfield spots in his current 3-4-3 system. Meanwhile, Arsenal have endured a dismal start to the new season, and Man United have shown signs of evident weakness in the middle of the park. In his latest Daily Star column, Merson hailed Chelsea for signing Saul but questioned why Arsenal and Man United didn't show concrete interest in his services. The Hammers' hefty valuation fended off interest this summer, but Rice is Solskjaer's priority midfield target, and many expect a pursuit next summer. United could battle with Chelsea for the 22-year-old's signature at the end of the season, with Saul's pre...

 Chelsea have handed Ross Barkley, Malang Sarr and Lewis Baker squad numbers for the 2021/22 campaign despite the trio facing uncertain futures at Stamford Bridge. Barkley, a £15million signing from Everton in January 2018, was free to leave the Blues during the summer transfer window if the right offer was received by Chelsea. However, no club was able to strike a deal for the midfielder, who started back-to-back games for England just two years ago. Earlier this summer, Barkley lost the No.8 shirt he claimed following his move from Everton to Mateo Kovacic and wasn't handed a new squad number. However, after Chelsea submitted their Champions League squad to UEFA, it's been confirmed he will wear the No.18 shirt should he get onto the pitch. Malang Sarr, meanwhile, has been assigned 31. The French defender was close to completing a deadline day loan move to Bundesliga side Greuther Furth, even going as far to fly to Germany for a medical. Yet it collapsed late on and he's ...

 Xavier Mbuyamba enjoyed his very first training session with the Chelsea seniors yesterday, almost a year after he became a Blue. A watchful fan spotted the defender in the background of Saul Niguez’s opening day with his new teammates. Mbuyamba has yet to truly stamp his mark upon Chelsea after joining from Barcelona last August. A wonderful prospect, who’s been likened to Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk, the move looked promising for all parties involved. But repeated injuries and fitness issues have held the 19-year-old back, to the extent some would be excused for forgetting he was still at the club. Yet, the young Dutchman finally made his Chelsea debut in April, coming off the bench in an U23s fixture against Southampton. Tuchel is making quite a habit of promoting youngsters from the academy to rub shoulder with his celebrity stars. He recently included Harvey Vale in training, another Cobham talent who Chelsea value highly. Levi Colwill, Tino Livramento, Lewis Bate and Tino An...

Germany’s opening goal during the country’s meeting with Liechtenstein this evening was not only netted by a Chelsea star, but also created by a former Blues talent. Werner on target Die Mannschaft men are currently locked in action, in the nation’s latest World Cup qualifier. The clash of course marks something of a momentous one for Germany, in the form of their first without long-time boss Jogi Low on the sideline. Instead, ex-Bayern Munich boss Hansi Flick has taken up the reins, ahead of a potentially prosperous new era. And, as things stand at Kybun Park in Liechtenstein, Die Mannschaft are well on their way towards a first 3-point haul under the the guidance of their new boss. This comes with a dominant opening hour having culminated in a 1-goal advantage for the visitors. A scintillating break down the left saw Jamal Musiala eventually slip in Timo Werner inside the Liechtenstein box, with the oft-maligned Chelsea hitman having made no mistake in taking the ball in his stride b...

  Chelsea have confirmed that Tino Anjorin has joined Russian side Lokomotiv Moscow on a loan deal. Lokomotiv will have the option to sign him outright for £17million from January next year. However, transfer supremo Marina Granovskaia made sure she included a £34m buyback clause before the deal was sanctioned. Tino Anjorin was among those bright academy starts to emerge into the first-team picture under Frank Lampard. He managed to get sporadic chances here and there but those trickled down to just a one-off appearance under Thomas Tuchel. A solitary FA Cup appearance was all he could manage in the latter half of last season. Anjorin featured just once under Tuchel. The attacking midfielder has been hovering around the first-team picture for a while now. But with so many world-class names such as Mason Mount, Hakim Ziyech, Kai Havertz, Anjorin was nowhere close to breaking in. Anjorin will be heading to Lokomotiv Moscow on loan due to the efforts of Ralf Rangnick. The Russian outf...

  With the summer transfer window slamming shut on Tuesday, Premier League squads are now set for at least the next six months. Manchester United decided against signing another midfielder this summer, instead securing the likes of Raphael Varane, Jadon Sancho and Cristiano Ronaldo in what can only be described as a successful window. Making 99 appearances over the next three years, the defensive midfielder has racked up modest goal contribution numbers (four goals and two assists). Last season proved to be a breakout season for the 25-year-old, producing more tackles and interceptions than any other player (174) and missing just two games both due to suspension. Bissouma has been likened to Chelsea’s N’Golo Kante, even outperforming the World Cup and Champions League winner in key metrics last term, including tackles, interceptions and clearances. United were linked with a plethora of midfielders this window, with the likes of Saul Niguez, Ruben Neves and Eduardo Camavinga all rum...

  Chelsea have reached an agreement with Lokomotiv Moscow over a loan deal for Tino Anjorin, according to transfer journalist Fabrizio Romano. What's the latest transfer news involving Tino Anjorin? It was reported on Deadline Day that Anjorin was undergoing a medical with the Russian club ahead of a loan deal.  The Athletic's David Ornstein claimed the agreement includes a £17m option to buy the 19-year-old midfielder outright in January, which would then trigger a £34m buyback clause for the Blues.  No announcement arrived confirming the deal before Tuesday's transfer deadline, however Romano has claimed the two clubs have reached an agreement.  What has Fabrizio Romano said about Anjorin? On Wednesday, Romano reminded his followers on Twitter that the transfer window is still open in Russia, so Chelsea remain able to offload players there.  He also claimed an agreement had been 'completed', with Anjorin agreeing a long-term contract in west London.  Roma...