⚽️ News, discussion and buildup to Saturday’s action ⚽️ Premier League: 10 things to look out for | Mail us
Speaking ahead of the 12.30pm kick-off on Merseyside, Xabi Alonso has been speaking about the need for his porous defence to tighten up. Chelsea have shipped 13 goals already this season, more than double what their opponents Everton have let in.
Alonso is also dealing with the absence of Reece James for three months after the defender underwent knee surgery after picking up an injury in training. In the absence of his captain, Alonso is determined to build on Chelsea’s strong display in 5-1 win over Bournemouth last weekend atthe Hill Dickinson against Everton.
“You need a lot of clean sheets to win trophies,” he said. “But you [also] need to score a lot of goals. So it’s about being strong in defence, being good in attack and we are in that process. We are still early days; to do a very deep analysis, it’s too early. We can maybe talk in February. Those tweaks … they need to come naturally and we are not in that moment yet.
“The obsession is to win and to compete in the best possible way. The clean sheets will come, I’m pretty sure of that, because we want to play with good balance and good control.”
“When Jordan came back from the World Cup, it might be the best I have ever seen him,” the Everton manager said. “He was lean, he was sharp, his footwork was brilliant, he was fast across the goal and if you look at some of the saves he has made between now and then he has made a couple of brilliant, brilliant saves.
“I spoke to him when he came back and said: ‘You know you have a bit of competition now with Trafford, how are you going to deal with it?’ I don’t see Jordan falling away at the moment. I think if it really mattered to England then Jordan would still be the one who was there because he makes saves. He did that in the Argentina game. He has that experience and he is not ageing.”
Check out the talk, for more from the Premier League managers ahead of the weekend fixtures:
Looking to the Championship a few games stand out, we have early leaders Swansea welcoming West Ham to south Wales and third plays fourth as Birmingham City take on QPR at St Andrew’s.
Good morning, another Premier League weekend is upon us, kicking off with an intriguing fixture at Hill Dickinson Stadium between Everton and Chelsea.
Here’s a quick glance at today’s top-flight fixtures:
Everton v Chelsea (12.30pm BST) Brentford v Liverpool (3pm BST) Fulham v Hull City (3pm BST) Manchester City v Ipswich (3pm BST) Newcastle v Aston Villa (5.30pm BST)
Tom will be here shortly on what promises to be another lively day in the Premier League and beyond. In the meantime, here is Barney Ronay’s column on … the former Crystal Palace chair’s rage in the age of the algorithm constantly churning.
