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How many seasons in a row we have big injury problems? This just never stops.

Looks like Maresca doesn't make decisions around here...

Donald Trump warns World Cup games may be moved from ‘dangerous’ cities US president’s threat focused on Seattle and San Francisco Draw for 2026 tournament takes place on 5 December https://www.theguardian.com/football/2025/sep/26/donald-trump-warns-world-cup-games-may-be-moved-from-dangerous-cities Donald Trump has warned that he will move matches from next summer’s World Cup away from host cities he deems to be dangerous. The US president said he was going to make sure San Francisco and Seattle were safe, adding that the cities were “run by radical left lunatics who don’t know what they’re doing”. Seattle’s Lumen Field is due to host six matches at the finals, with Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara – an hour away from San Francisco – doing likewise. Trump has again threatened to send federal troops into Chicago, having done so in Los Angeles and Washington DC. He pledged that Chicago would be made safe for the World Cup. The city is not hosting games. “If any city we think is going to be even a little bit dangerous for the World Cup ... because they’re playing in so many cities, we won’t allow it,” said the 79-year-old. “We’ll move it around a little bit. But I hope that’s not going to happen.” The draw for the World Cup – which will be co-hosted by the US, Canada and Mexico – takes place in Washington DC on 5 December.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6651432/2025/09/26/premier-league-predictions-md6/ Chelsea vs Brighton & Hove Albion If you’re a Brighton fan, do you resent Chelsea for continually raiding you in the transfer market? Do you take pride in seeing your players move on to — in theory — bigger and better things at Stamford Bridge? Or do you find it funny? It’s probably a combination of all three, but closer to amusement. Even though Moises Caicedo has lived up to his billing as one of the best defensive midfielders around, Marc Cucurella has rediscovered his rhythm and Joao Pedro has shown flashes of his obvious talent, those three sales alone earned Brighton a minimum of £220million. That’s before you look at £25m for Robert Sanchez (back from suspension after his wild red card at Manchester United), the mystifying loan signing of Facundo Buonanotte (ineligible to face his parent club) and £20m-plus compensation for Graham Potter and his staff. (Hang on, did Potter really manage Chelsea?). It’s real “Ah, how is my favourite customer today?” stuff. There are people who admire Chelsea’s hyperactive approach to player trading. I’m not among them. Chelsea 1-1 Brighton

Gianfranco Zola: Why is the former Chelsea player driving a buggy at the Ryder Cup? https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6657852/2025/09/24/gianfranco-zola-ryder-cup-buggy/ There was a surprise famous face featured on Team Europe’s official 2025 Ryder Cup photograph at the Bethpage Black course this week. The former Italy and Chelsea striker Gianfranco Zola squeezed onto the end of the line-up as visitors Europe stepped up their preparations for the event, which starts on Friday a few miles east of New York City. Zola, a keen single-figure-handicap golfer having retired from football, has landed an unusual role as the official buggy driver for Europe’s vice-captain Francesco Molinari, a fellow Italian. The 59-year-old will be on the course during the three days of the tournament to offer support as the Europeans attempt to win the Ryder Cup on American soil for the first time in 13 years. For those who don’t know… who exactly is Gianfranco Zola? Zola is a Premier League icon from his time at Chelsea, where he spent seven years between 1996 and 2003, helping the west London club win two FA Cups, a League Cup and the now-defunct UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup. The diminutive 5ft 6in (168cm) forward was one of the most glamorous of the league’s early foreign imports following its launch in 1992, having made his name in Italy’s Serie A at clubs including Napoli and Parma, as well as with his homeland’s national team. Zola was a hugely popular figure at Chelsea (Ben Radford/Getty Images) He was part of the Italy squad who lost the 1994 World Cup final to Brazil in a penalty shootout and made 35 appearances at international level from 1991-97. Zola finished his playing career back on his home island of Sardinia with Cagliari from 2003-05 before retiring and becoming a manager. In England, he managed West Ham United, Watford and Birmingham City, as well as brief spells back at Cagliari and Qatar’s Al Arabi, but has been out of football since leaving his role as Chelsea assistant manager after a year in summer 2019. What is his job at this year’s Ryder Cup? Zola’s designated task is to drive the buggy for Molinari, who himself made history in 2018 when he won The Open to become golf’s first Italian major champion, around the course on Long Island, New York state. Molinari, 42, has been a member of three Ryder Cup-winning teams as a player and is one of five vice-captains selected for this event by current skipper Luke Donald, a list that also includes his elder brother Edoardo. Francesco also held a vice-captain’s role at the previous Ryder Cup in 2023, when Europe defeated the Americans 16½ 11½ near Rome. It was the first time the event has been played in Italy. Over the years, Ryder Cup vice-captains — usually veteran pro golfers who act as mentors to the younger players on the current roster and keep the captain up-to-date with on-course developments across its three days of often dramatic action — have been mocked as glorified buggy drivers themselves, so the fact they now have drivers to do that for them is another quirk of the modern tournament. Zola, right, prepares for his duties at Bethpage (Carl Recine/Getty Images) As no more than a keen amateur golfer, Zola will simply be there to drive his compatriot around the 18 holes at Bethpage, although it would be no surprise if some of the football fans on the Team Europe squad seek him out during the week for advice. How did he get the job? Purely through his connection and friendship with Molinari. The pair got to know each other in 2009, when Molinari moved to London and Zola was managing West Ham, who play their home games in the east of the UK capital. “Zola is a really nice guy, so I got attached to West Ham when he was managing there,” said Molinari in a 2010 interview. Though Molinari has since relocated to the U.S. state of California, the two have remained close. “He is a good friend of mine and there was no other choice,” Molinari said. “He has moved on but I have stuck with the Hammers.” The pair have previously reunited at Ryder Cups in an informal capacity, but this week Zola takes on a more involved role, inside the ropes separating the teams from fans and media, alongside Molinari. Is Zola a good golfer himself? He’s played to a single-figure standard since retirement and is a regular at Pro-Am tournaments and charity days. He played in last year’s Icons of Football golf series in a Team World vs Team England event in Bangkok, Thailand. Zola is a good golfer himself (Phil Inglis/Getty Images) Is this the first example of a footballer getting involved in the Ryder Cup? No, a number of figures from the game have cheered on the golfers in previous years and some have even been granted access to the team room. In 2014, Sir Alex Ferguson, the legendary former Manchester United manager, gave a pep talk to Team Europe’s players ahead of the match at Gleneagles in his native Scotland. “For me, being a Manchester United fan, it was the highlight of the week so far,” said Rory McIlroy, a member of the European team then and now, at the time. Two years ago in Rome, Welsh hero Gareth Bale and Ukraine great Andriy Shevchenko — both low-handicappers — played in the curtain-raiser to the main event, a celebrity all-star match, and interacted with the players. Several Ryder Cup golfers have formed friendships with footballers, most notably Tyrrell Hatton, who makes his fourth straight Ryder Cup appearance this year, and former Liverpool and Manchester City player James Milner, with the two Englishmen being mutual supporters of each other’s sporting careers.

Cole Palmer to miss Chelsea’s next three games due to groin injury https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6664770/2025/09/26/cole-palmer-injury-Chelsea-tosin-fofana/ Enzo Maresca has revealed Cole Palmer will not play again for Chelsea until after the international break due to his groin problem. Palmer aggravated the injury, which also ruled him out of two games last month, during the 2-1 defeat at Manchester United on Saturday and was substituted in the 21st minute. Maresca has confirmed he will not have an operation, but it means Palmer is going to miss Premier League games at home to Brighton and Liverpool as well as the Champions League fixture against Benfica. “We decided to protect Cole a little bit in terms of not making the injury worse,” Chelsea’s head coach said on Friday. “We have decided to rest him for the next two, three weeks, probably until (after) the next international break just to see if, with rest, he can be able to recover 100 per cent and be completely fit after the international break. “I don’t think he needs surgery, it is just about managing the pain in his groin. With the amount of games it is something that can happen, it is the reason why we are trying to be a little more conservative with him. “We said that with Cole we are a better team but we also said we need to play games without him. We are going to find a solution. We are not going to play with 10 players for sure! We will find a different solution.” What You Should Read Next No Cole Palmer is no longer a problem for Chelsea Enzo Maresca now has a wealth of attacking options available - he should be able to keep Cole Palmer fresh for the season ahead Maresca also revealed Axel Disasi will not be called into the squad despite Tosin Adarabioyo and Wesley Fofana adding to Chelsea’s injured centre-back list. Disasi has been told to train away from the main group, along with Raheem Sterling, after failing to get a move in the summer. Tosin has sustained a calf injury that will keep him out until after the international break, while Fofana is out for 12 days because of concussion and will not feature in the next three matches either. Levi Colwill is already on the sidelines for several months due to an ACL injury in his left knee. When asked if he will turn to Disasi to help fill in, Maresca replied: “There is not any information from the club to consider that so at the moment he is not an option.” Fofana was accidentally punched in the face by goalkeeper (and teammate) Filip Jorgensen within the first few minutes of the 2-1 victory over Lincoln City on Tuesday night. Chelsea followed concussion protocols and Fofana played the rest of the match, however, the Frenchman felt the symptoms following the final whistle. How Chelsea might cope without Palmer Being without Palmer is always going to be a blow for Chelsea. For starters, he scored four goals in the corresponding fixture at home to Brighton last year, when they won 4-2. Breaking down Benfica, who are bound to set up defensively with former Chelsea head coach Jose Mourinho at the helm, will not be easy on Tuesday night. Then comes the visit of champions and current Premier League leaders Liverpool. You always need your best players against them. Maresca obviously says he will find a solution, but that is easier said than done. Joao Pedro likes to operate there but with Liam Delap unavailable due to a hamstring injury, there is a question over who would then play up front. Enzo Fernandez has operated as a No 10 for Chelsea, while Brazil international Estevao Willian spoke openly before completing the move from Palmeiras in the summer that he wants to play there. Estevao, 18, is an option to replace Palmer in Chelsea’s line-up (Visionhaus/Getty Images) Facundo Buonanotte is on loan from Brighton so cannot play against his parent club, but will be available for the next two matches. One of the reasons he was signed was to provide cover for Palmer. Finally, Andrey Santos can be pushed further forward, although is more likely to play in a deeper position to allow Fernandez to play further up the pitch. Maresca has used Palmer in some different positions to the side of No 10 so it is not totally unusual for him not to be there specifically. Chelsea will still hope they come through this schedule unscathed and that Palmer will be over his issue once and for all next month.

Robert Sanchez and Filip Jorgensen have both had tough weeks. Do Chelsea stick or twist? https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6661754/2025/09/26/Chelsea-goalkeepers-robert-sanchez-filip-jorgensen-analysis/ With a growing outfield injury list including Cole Palmer, Liam Delap and Romeo Lavia, Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca could really do without questions over his goalkeeper. Unfortunately for him, Robert Sanchez put paid to that when he was sent off after just four minutes for taking out Bryan Mbeumo in Chelsea’s 2-1 loss to Manchester United on September 20. It was the earliest red card a Chelsea player has ever received in the Premier League. The Spain international can be a fantastic shot-stopper and was named the tournament’s best goalkeeper when Chelsea won the Club World Cup this summer. But the 27-year-old’s errors — including five that led to goals in the Premier League last term — can be costly. “On his day, Sanchez is the best of the best,” The Athletic’s goalkeeping expert Matt Pyzdrowski says. “It’s just his consistency. Once you get labelled as a goalkeeper with a mistake in you, it sticks — whether it’s true or not.” His errors have already cost him the trust of some supporters. The question is whether they could cost him his place in this Chelsea team. Last season, after poor positioning saw Sanchez lobbed by Erling Haaland in January’s 3-1 defeat by Manchester City, back-up Filip Jorgensen played the next four league games. On Saturday, Chelsea face Sanchez’s former club Brighton & Hove Albion. With Sanchez serving his one-match suspension during Tuesday’s Carabao Cup tie at Lincoln City, Jorgensen had a free chance to audition for that league clash. Sanchez fouls Mbeumo at Old Trafford (Alex Livesey/Getty Images) It was unconvincing. Jorgensen fumbled several high claims, the most notable coming after 31 minutes when he missed a punch in the box and only an accidental block by Lincoln’s Sonny Bradley stopped team-mate Freddie Draper from opening the scoring. Chelsea came back from 1-0 down to win 2-1 and progress to the third round, but Jorgensen saw multiple errors go unpunished. It served as a reminder to Sanchez’s naysayers that, as frustrating as he can be, replacing him is difficult. Chelsea are unlikely to pursue a goalkeeper in January. They are reluctant to block the pathway of Mike Penders, who is on loan at Strasbourg and held in high regard at Stamford Bridge. There was interest this summer in a potential cut-price deal for Mike Maignan as he entered the final year of his AC Milan contract, but Chelsea walked away over the valuation. Maresca’s system demands a goalkeeper who is comfortable on the ball, capable of stepping up to help build-up play, and happy sweeping behind a high line. This season, that person needs to be Sanchez or Jorgensen. “Both are extremely athletic,” says Pyzdrowski. “Both of them can make some ridiculous saves, with really good reflexes. “The biggest difference is that Sanchez is much more offensive in his play. This does not just mean with the ball at his feet — it’s the positioning that he takes. “He is someone who likes to come and command his box. Even with free-kicks that are launched into his box, he loves claiming them. Jorgensen is much more conservative.” Jorgensen, 23, developed at Villarreal, where Pyzdrowski says box dominance is less important. He has had to adapt significantly since arriving at Chelsea in the summer of 2024 for €24.5 million (then £20.7m, $26.6m). He has had only one full senior season as No 1, and that showed against Lincoln. “There was a lot psychologically going on because he wanted to show in this game that he’s the guy, because he wants to play against Brighton,” Pyzdrowski says, “and it was a little bit of wanting something too much. You saw that in some of his decision-making.” Below, late in the game, he makes an ambitious leap to intercept the ball before Justin Obikwu can reach it. He fails to punch it clear and is fortunate that Francis Okoronkwo, who is left facing an open net, cannot get his shot on target. “He had almost made up his mind before the ball was served that he wanted to go out and try to attack it, and mistakes earlier probably played a role in that,” says Pyzdrowski. “He wants to prove he can do the job.” “I don’t know how many balls they put into the box — throw-ins, free-kicks, crosses — so I think it was not easy for any goalkeeper,” Maresca said after Tuesday’s match. “For Filip, it was the first (full) game of the season, so not easy.” Maresca confirmed on Monday that the Denmark international was promised minutes in all competitions this season. Last term, three of Jorgensen’s league outings were against struggling Southampton and Ipswich Town, indicating Maresca is willing to build his experience against weaker teams. However, Jorgensen’s performances to date — which included a mistake to allow Aston Villa a late winner in February — cast doubt on his suitability to replace Sanchez. Some fans see having Sanchez in the net as an inherent risk. But it is a risk they have to take. Pyzdrowski says: “Sanchez needs the backing: ‘You’re our guy, regardless of what happens. Go out and play your game.’ “He’s very much a Premier League starting goalkeeper. You can question whether or not he’s good enough for Chelsea, and that’s a question that Chelsea are going to have to answer themselves.”

Think you may be disappointed

Josh for Hato and Santos for Facundo. I can't watch another game with a Enzo-Caicedo midfield

Said last week everything is starting to unfold and the usual injuries/bad results are happening

With all the injuries we can say farewell to LittlePep..

Oh dear, things are looking grim for Enzo Maresca with so many players injured now that he's being so stubborn with formations and player selections!!!

Fofana is an absolute melt

It's not concussion then he's fucked again, the usual club PR spin shit Blokes a fucking crock

Now just waiting for James to join him.

Whats that 3 games in a row and now missing again

ahaha

facundo can not play this game

Snachez, Reece, Chalobah, Hato, Cucurella, Enzo, Caicedo, Neto, Facundo, Estevao, Pedro

I genuinely think Brighton could batter us. A combination of injuries, terrible form, and Brighton playing really well lately. They always give us trouble even when we aren’t in a bad way.

Fofana also out, concussion apparently

Palmer and Tosin out until after the international break

Fan View: I was a HUGE backer of the model until the summer window This is a big turnaround, let me explain why.... https://siphillipstalkschelsea.substack.com/p/fan-view-i-was-a-huge-backer-of-the A couple of fan view articles today written by myself but honing in on some very important comments written by community members on our site. Last season, one community member called Billy was always a very positive voice in the the fan base. I often had disagreements with him and I know many others did too. He was even positive throughout our really bad period after Christmas last season. I’m never here to tell people how to think and I will always welcome other opinions to my own. But for me at that point, I could only see gloom. I prefer to be more balanced myself but I will forever respect all views, especially on this site. Billy has done articles for this site before as well and he is someone I fully respect. Well, fast forward almost a year, and Billy’s views are changing - something I never thought I would see and something that the ownership should be VERY concerned about. Because when backers of the project, even those who had been backers through the toxic times, are now having more than doubts about it all, you have to be worried. Billy replied to a comment on the live blog yesterday… He said: “I was a huge backer of the model/project until this summer, I really really thought this summer would be different but it wasn’t. The hype around the club hadn’t been that high since we won the CL in 2021, we’re the current world champions. Chelsea needed to sign a few needle movers & depth but instead just reverted back to signing the same types of players & ultimately replacing players further along in their development with rawer/younger players - it’s like the directors constantly think we have to move backwards to move forwards - every summer feels like an overhaul & we’re going nowhere fast with the constant amount of business we do, especially when you’re not really improving the squad in terms of quality. Just feels like they’re constantly gambling... “How anyone can say with their chest they’re confident the likes of Gittens, Garnacho, Delap, Hato etc will still be here in a year or 2 years time I don’t know - will probably just be replaced with another player with potential. Whose making way for Quenda in the summer? Neto? Means he only managed 2 years before being shipped off... “I just want a bit of continuity in the squad, we have an entire new crop of attackers this summer so i’m not surprised we look blunt going forward.” Billy, I concur! I didn’t think I’d ever agree as much with a comment you have posted, but this is spot on and what I have always feared and doubted about this project. Whether it comes good or not, and I still think it will eventually, nobody can doubt what Billy and others are thinking with these points above, in my view. Why couldn’t we do both, the here, now, and the future? I’ll never understand it.

Reform on brink of outright majority at next election, major new poll says Disastrous polling for Labour comes amid growing questions over Keir Starmer’s leadership of the party https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/reform-uk-nigel-farage-keir-starmer-polling-b2834138.html Nigel Farage is on track to become Britain’s next prime minister, with a major new poll showing the party is close to having enough support to form a majority government if an election were held today. The seat-by-seat YouGov poll, the second such poll since the election, indicates the party has extended its lead over Labour, significantly increasing Mr Farage’s chances of entering Downing Street in 2029. It suggests Reform would increase its MPs from just five to 311, making it the largest party in a hung parliament and just 15 seats short of the 326 needed for an outright majority. In June, the last time YouGov conducted a seat-by-seat poll, it put Reform on track to have 271 MPs. The multi-level regression and post-stratification poll (MRP) showed Labour would lose 267 of the seats it won in 2024, putting the party on just 144 MPs. This is down from the 178 MPs YouGov predicted they would win in their last MRP poll. There would also be a significant number of cabinet casualties, with ministers Bridget Phillipson, Ed Miliband, Lisa Nandy, John Healey, Jonathan Reynolds, Emma Reynolds, Pat McFadden, Wes Streeting and Yvette Cooper all at risk of losing their seats. Writing in The Times in the wake of the polling, pollster Sir John Curtice issued a stark warning, saying Labour MPs have “every reason to fear being swept away in a tsunami of unpopularity that would be every bit as damaging as that which engulfed the Conservatives last year”. The poll shows that 231 Labour seats would be lost to Reform, 26 would be lost to the SNP, and the remaining 10 would be split between the other parties. The Tories would also face a disaster scenario, being left with just 45 MPs, the poll showed – putting them behind Reform UK, Labour and the Liberal Democrats, which the poll put at 78 MPs. This is a marginal improvement from the 72 seats they won at the general election. Meanwhile, the SNP would win 37 seats, the Greens would win seven, and Plaid Cymru would win six. The disastrous polling for Labour comes amid growing questions over Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership of the party, with voters increasingly feeling that Labour has so far failed to get a grip on the problems facing the country. There are now an increasing number of Labour MPs looking to Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham as a possible successor to the prime minister. This week, Mr Burnham said Labour MPs are privately urging him to challenge for the Labour leadership, accusing Downing Street of creating a “climate of fear” and that “wholesale change” was needed to see off the “existential” threat of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK. It came as Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, who has been an outspoken ally of Sir Keir since he took over as leader, refused to say he has full confidence in the prime minister. But speaking to regional media, Sir Keir insisted he would lead Labour into the next election, saying he has been “very clear that this is a project of national renewal”. “I’m very clear that that is a 10-year project. I led from the front into the last election. I’ll lead from the front into the next election,” he told ITV Meridian. The PM also dismissed the “personal ambitions” of Mr Burnham and seemed to attack his potential leadership rival’s economic agenda by drawing parallels with Liz Truss. Speaking to BBC North West, Sir Keir said: “I’m not going to get drawn into commenting on the personal ambitions of the mayor, but I do want to be really clear about our fiscal rules because economic stability is the foundation stone of this government. “It was three years this week ago that we had the Liz Truss experiment where she abandoned fiscal rules, in her case for tax cuts, and the result was a disaster for working people. “The same would be true if you abandoned fiscal rules in favour of spending. And I’m not prepared to ever have that inflicted on working people again.” If the latest YouGov polling materialised at an election, it would leave Reform able to form a majority government with the Conservatives. But Labour would be unable to form a majority even if it were to agree a pact with the Liberal Democrats, the SNP, Plaid Cymru and the Greens. Mr Farage has previously said Reform has “no intention in forming coalitions with the Tories at any level” because “the Tories broke Britain nationally for 14 years, and their councils continue to break local communities with the highest taxes ever and worst services”. The MRP poll, which surveys political support at a constituency level, was based on a survey of more than 11,000 people.

Their tea lady is negotiating a 12 year contract with us. 200k a week.