William Gallas has backed incoming Chelsea manager Antonio Conte to revive the club s fortunes following their miserable 2015-16 season.
Chelsea s Premier League title defence was nothing short of horrendous and they ended the campaign in 10th place.
Jose Mourinho paid the price for Chelsea s dismal start to the season by being sacked in December, before Guus Hiddink steadied the ship and staved off any threat of relegation.
Conte will take over at Stamford Bridge after leading Italy at Euro 2016, and Gallas who won two Premier League titles with Chelsea during his stay between 2001 and 2006 expects the former Juventus boss to propel the club back towards the top of the table.
The former France defender told Omnisport: It was very, very hard to see Che…
The phrase Earn your stripes is unlikely to resonate too much with the average Premier League fan, but it ought to be viewed in foreboding fashion after Hull City s Championship play-off success.
City beat Sheffield Wednesday 1-0 at Wembley on Saturday to book a third spell in the top flight and an immediate return after 2015 s relegation, which was largely overshadowed by owners – the Allam family – attempting to change the club name to Hull Tigers , a move which caused ructions within the fanbase.
They will return with controversial off-field matters once again dominating the discussion.
Season tickets at the KCOM Stadium have been abolished for 2016-17 and replaced with a membership scheme – titled Earn Your Stripes – but a pricing structure w…
Competition: La Liga
Market: Real Betis to beat Leganes
Odds:
La Liga is back for another exciting round of games as Spain s top league continues to simmer away nicely. The importance of going on a positive run in January cannot be underestimated, with many teams getting bogged down after the turn of the year, seeing their good start count for nothing. With all of this in mind, Real Betis host Leganes on Monday.
Real Betis have been in fairly good form this season but they need to climb up the table even further if they are to put the threat of relegation out of their minds. From their 18 games they have won seven, drawn three and lost eight, while they have scored 30 goals and conceded 34 times. In their last five they have managed to win twic…
Arsene Wenger is hopeful Barcelona midfielder Cesc Fabregas will return to Arsenal at some point in his career.
The Spain international made 303 appearances in an eight-year spell with Arsenal before moving back to boyhood club Barca in 2011.
According to Wenger, Fabregas watches every Arsenal game and predicted he will make the switch back to the Emirates Stadium before he retires.
The Frenchman told reporters: Fabregas was an exception, a world-class player.
I m not convinced that he will not one day come back here, because he is a real Arsenal man. He loves Arsenal, he watches every Arsenal game. But of course, Barcelona was his home town and you had to accept that that would come into it, especially with their club having the best team in the world …