Author: Brila

The battle for the international future of on loan Chelsea forward Tammy Abraham is far from over despite England calling him up to their senior squad for upcoming games later in the month. 20 year old Abraham has scored four goals for his loan side Swansea City, a form which has earned him a rise from the U21s to the senior team of England. He was named by manager Gareth Southgate in the squad to face Germany and Brazil in two high profile friendly games, but even if he plays he can still represent Nigeria who are keen on his…

Chelsea striker Alvaro Morata has said that Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho is now his rival as the sides prepare to meet on Sunday. Morata made his professional debut under Mourinho while at Real Madrid in 2010 and won the La Liga title twice in his four-year tenure in the Spanish capital. The striker will meet up with Mourinho again when Chelsea face United this weekend after joining the Blues from Juventus in the summer. “I have a good relationship with Jose [Mourinho],” Morata told reporters. “He was my first coach in professional football and he gave me the chance…

Alex Iwobi believes that Arsenal must focus on their defence if they are to get a result against Manchester City. Arsene Wenger’s side face a trip to the table-toppers on Sunday, with Pep Guardiola’s side five points clear at the top of the Premier League. The Nigeria international is optimistic however that Arsenal have the quality to hurt City, who have won their last 14 games in all competitions. “The attacking players we have will always create chances and should be able to get a couple of goals but we need to tighten up in defence especially against a team…

Hibs’ recent good form has already helped one Easter Road centre-half realise his international ambitions. Now Neil Lennon is hopeful Efe Ambrose can force his way back into Nigeria’s plans ahead of next summer’s World Cup The 29 year-old did not contribute to the Super Eagles’ success in reaching Russia having been dropped because he was not featuring regularly for Celtic. However, the centre-half is reaping the benefits of playing consistently at Hibs after being reunited with Lennon. The Easter Road side could make it four wins in a row when they take on struggling Dundee this afternoon and are…

German Bundesliga side, Mainz has given a green light on the inclusion of star defender, Leon Balogun to hook up with the Nigerian national team for the upcoming games against Algeria and Argentina. The central defender, Balogun was included in the Super Eagles latest roster at the start of this week, but his participation in the two matches was questionable after undergoing surgery two weeks ago. Although Leon made Mainz’s match day squad on game week ten last Friday, in truth, it was just to make up the numbers as manager Schwarz could not count on three defenders Alexander Hack,…

By the end of today, we will know which club will be representing Africa at the FIFA Club World Cup UAE 2017 in December, with Al Ahly and Wydad Casablanca all set to fight it out for that prize in the second leg of the CAF CL (Champions League). In an entertaining first leg, Momen Zakaria opened the scoring for the Egyptian club before Achraf Bencharki equalised for Wydad to leave the CAF CL final perfectly poised. After recovering from the blow of conceding an early goal, Houcine Ammouta’s charges defended stoutly in the first leg of the CAF CL,…

Marseille have suspended Patrice Evra after he kicked a fan in the head before his side’s Europa League defeat at Vitoria Guimaraes on Thursday. Footage showed the 36-year-old former Manchester United defender aiming an acrobatic kick at a supporter at the side of the pitch during the warm-up. Patrice will be interviewed before any disciplinary action is decided. A Marseille statement also condemned the “unacceptable behaviour” by a “handful of provocateurs”. European football’s governing body Uefa charged France international Evra with violent conduct earlier on Friday, with the full-back suspended for “at least one game”. French newspaper L’Equipe reported that…

Antonio Conte ‘s Chelsea will be looking to close in on the top three with a win when they take on Manchester United at Stamford Bridge on Sunday afternoon.

José Mourinho declared the case brought against him for alleged tax fraud to be closed after he accepted the arguments put forward by Spain’s Inland Revenue and paid the fee demanded to settle charges brought against him, which he has always denied.

Former Manchester United player Phil Neville believes that whoever was responsible for allowing midfielder Nemanja Matic to leave Chelsea for their Premier League rivals in the summer “needs sacking”.