Arsenal must score first if they are to get result at Chelsea, says Paul Merson

Arsenal must score first if they are to get result at Chelsea, says Paul Merson

Arsenal legend Paul Merson believes his old side have to score first in order to have any hope of getting a good result against Chelsea this weekend.

The Gunners travel to Stamford Bridge in somewhat unconvincing form, with their only wins this season coming against Leicester City, Bournemouth and FC Cologne.

Alexis Sanchez magic compensates for early wobble vs Cologne
Arsene Wenger has a dreadful recent record away to Arsenal’s main ‘big six’ rivals, and hasn’t won away to Chelsea since all the way back in the 2011/12 season.
Merson isn’t confident the north Londoners can eschew subjugate this time, presaging a 3-0 win for the Premier League champions.
Arsenal legend expounds the only way Gunners can eschew a drubbing at Chelsea

However, the former England international says Arsenal could make it interesting if they get the first goal, as they gain confidence in those situations, whereas they simply collapse if they go behind.
‘It’s all about the first goal. If Arsenal score first you will watch and think “wow, they look decent”,’ Merson told Sky Sports.
‘They will be confident and they have good players who look decent when they are winning.

Hector Bellerin reveals the change that sparked Arsenal's comeback vs Cologne
‘But when they are losing too many of them just go completely and utterly missing. The shape goes out of the window and if they let in the first goal it could be anything.
‘People are saying to me “what a good result against Bournemouth” but if you could have handpicked any team to play last week it was Bournemouth.
‘If Arsenal score first it will be a very interesting match but I don’t think they will.’

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Five players who scored in thier Champions League debuts

Five players who scored in thier Champions League debuts

UEFA Champions League set to kicked off last night in Europe with all the usual suspect like the holders Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Juventus and new Galacticos PSG among the contender for the 2017-18 seasons.

While Premier League champions Chelsea returns to competition after a one-year sabbatical and Manchester United also returned with Manchester City, Monaco, Atletico Madrid, Borrious Dortmund, Napoli and new entries RB Leipzig and Qarabag FK all set for this season tournament.

So many players around all the various teams set to make their Champions League debut with like Henry Onyekuru, Marcus Rashford, Sadio Mane, Naby Keita, Romelu Lukaku, Gabriel Jesus and Keita Balde Diao with the hope of them scoring which will mark their first ever Champions League appearance a memorable one forever.

Let's look at the past five goal scorer that have scored on the Champions League debut.
5. Tony Watt - Celtic

He made his Champions League debut on 7 November 2012, coming on as a second-half substitute for Mikael Lustig and scoring in the 88th minute in a 2–1 home win against Barcelona

4. Roberto Soldado - Real Madrid

Soldado made his Champions League debut with a lovely winning goal just six minutes into the pitch where he headed home from a trademark Beckham cross to record victory for Los Blancos against Olympiakos and a glorious personal triumph for the man himself.

3. Diego Costa - Atletico Madrid

Costa made his UEFA Champions League debut on 22 October 2013, where marked it with two goals against Austria Wien, the first coming after a fine individual effort in an eventual 3–0 group stage away victoriously triumph.

2. Faustino Asprilla - Newcastle United

The 1997-98 season was Asprilla's last for Newcastle with the sale of striker Les Ferdinand to Tottenham Hotspur and an earnest injury to Alan Shearer during pre-season, 

The Colombia striker was preferred as a first cull striker alongside the adolescent, callow Jon Dahl Tomasson with the club competing in that season's Champions League.

Asprilla scored a hat-trick for Newcastle in a 3–2 win over Barcelona, which would be his last goals for the club.

1. Wayne Rooney - Manchester United

Rooney was given the number 8 shirt upon his arrival at Old Trafford where he made his Manchester United debut on 28 September in a 6–2 home victory over Fenerbahce in the UEFA Champions League, scoring a hat-trick and laying on an assist.
Rooney goals made him the youngest player to score a hat-trick in the Champions League aged 18 years 335 days.

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BARCELONA CLAIM MESSI HAS SIGNED NEW CONTRACT... SO WHY IS IT NOT OFFICIAL?

BARCELONA CLAIM MESSI HAS SIGNED NEW CONTRACT... SO WHY IS IT NOT OFFICIAL?

Josep Bartomeu is adamant the necessary contracts have already been agreed, blaming "scheduling problems" for a lack of an announcement

Barcelona president Josep Bartomeu claims Lionel Messi has in fact signed a new contract, blaming "schedule problems" for the delay in announcing the news officially.
The Catalan club's star man had been under contract at Camp Nou until 2018, with speculation mounting that he will look to leave as negotiations over improved terms continued to drag on.

He told Sport: "It's all agreed and signed. There are three contracts. One with the Messi Foundation, which is signed with the president of the Foundations and the player's brother.
"There's an image rights contract with Messi, which is father has signed, who is the administrator of his company, and the employment contract, which his father has signed, who has the power to do so.
When asked what is missing to be able to announce the new deal officially, Bartomeu added: "[What is missing is] that Leo arrives and we have the official photograph and the protocol of the signature.
"The contract's signed, it's valid from the month of June, from June 30, the same day that he got married, curiously. It's been audited because it goes into the accounts for last season.
"The renewal is included in the accounts for the closing of this season. There are no problems. It's just the protocol of the signature. We're relaxed. We've had schedule problems [which is why it hasn't already been announced. 

"Now, he's back on September 6 or 7, we play on September 9. There are a lot of games. We will find the [right] moment."
When pushed on why the deal hadn't already been made official and released to the public, the Barca president continued: "Two months have gone by. He got married on June 30, then when he came back he went to Japan, then there was the tour.
"Then he came back... what happened? There was the Super Cup, then La Liga started, the trip to Monaco. We will find the [right] moment. I hope [within a month]."
Following the world-record departure of Neymar to PSG, there have been reports that Messi has grown frustrated at the situation at Barca and that he could be looking to move on.
Bartomeu is adamant the Argentine remains happy at Camp Nou, however, insisting that the expressions of apparent discontent he has been showing are purely because he is focused.
He said: "I don't see that [Messi being unhappy]. Focused, yes, very. I saw him the other day on the trip to the UEFA event. He was relaxed, happy. We speak regularly with the players.

"They are all happy. [Jordi] Alba was saying it today, there's alarmism. I'd say there's pessimism. It's okay. There's a good team and we're aspiring to win every trophy, like each year."

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OZIL'S GERMANY PERFORMANCES SHOW HOW WENGER SHOULD USE HIM

OZIL'S GERMANY PERFORMANCES SHOW HOW WENGER SHOULD USE HIM

The 28-year-old has always sparked debate on how good he really is. It’s clear that someone who has made the most final third passes completed (3015), created the most chances (409), 

made the most successful crosses (229) and recorded the most assists (42) in the Premier League since joining in 2013 is undoubtedly a world class player whose statistics cannot be argued with.
The midfielder will always incite an array of opinion, but his performances for Germany show he can perform better than he has shown at Arsenal

Actions verbalize louder than words and no one kens that better than Mesut Ozil. People will always have an array of opinion on the best players in world football and the German international’s sizably voluminous convivial media presence and fame makes him a facile win for ex-players, pundits who probe for someone to criticise when things are going erroneous.
The negativity circumventing Arsenal at the moment has been brought on by years of frustration at the Gunners inability to maintain a consistent challenge for a major trophy. There have been immensely colossal victories, terrible defeats and, somewhere in between, major signings, with Ozil arriving in north London for a then-club record fee of £42.5m four years ago.

The 28-year-old has always sparked debate on how good he authentically is. It’s clear that someone who has made the most final third passes consummated (3015), engendered the most chances (409), made the most prosperous crosses (229) and recorded the most avails (42) in the Premier League since joining in 2013 is indubitably a world class player whose statistics cannot be argued with.

“I believe there are different types of leaders on the field. You have the technical leader, you have the vocal one, you have the one who doesn’t talk but shows it in his desire and how he competes.
“I’m more like that: the one who isn’t as vocal as Tony Adams but will show it how he competes on the field. And you have the type of leader who will want to take a penalty in the 95th minute — this is part of being a leader as well.”

Wenger’s main problem in getting the best out of Ozil is refusal to bring in a player who can offset some of the German’s weaknesses. He would be more effective if a central midfielder with defensive qualities could play behind him, but the Frenchman continues to stick with the vulnerable midfield pivot of Granit Xhaka and Aaron Ramsey – neither of whom are defensive midfielders.
Let's not forget that this is a player who topped the league's assist chart two seasons ago with 19 - one short of Thierry Henry's record for most in one season.. Wenger certainly knows how to utilise his strengths but there is the fact that Arsenal's defensive side has been neglected in the past couple of seasons which saw them finish fifth in the last campaign.

He's been coerced to play from deep in recent games due to Arsenal's defensive deficiencies and failure to get the ball in the final third expeditiously enough. That isn't an issue for the German national team where they play with two holding midfielders and possess a defensive unit which infrequently concedes goals.
Ozil has consistently shown what he can do for club and country. He engenders an abundance of opportunities for his team-mates, opens up the pitch with his perspicacious runs and pin-point passing while he showed last season that he isn't trepidacious to score a goal - recording his best goalscoring tally at club level during the antecedent campaign.

He will always elicit, exhilarate, regale and frustrate, but that's what makes Ozil so enigmatic. Those who feel this will be his last season at Arsenal should appreciate what they have afore it's gone because once the No.10 leaves Emirates Stadium they will virtually certainly be worse off as a team and overall assailing unit.

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'MESSI IS NOT FROM THIS WORLD' - DEMBELE LABELS BARCELONA TEAM-MATE AS BEST EVER

'MESSI IS NOT FROM THIS WORLD' - DEMBELE LABELS BARCELONA TEAM-MATE AS BEST EVER

The 20-year-old is excited to link up with his new club-mates, having been inspired by them as a youngster

Ousmane Dembele has labelled his new Barcelona team-mate Lionel Messi as "the greatest player in history", claiming he is out of this world. 
The 20-year-old completed his €105 million move from Borussia Dortmund on August 28, following weeks of speculation which marked him as Neymar's replacement after the Brazil star's record-breaking €222m switch to Paris Saint-Germain. 

The France international took matters into his own hands by refusing to train with the German club in order to force through his "dream move".


Now, having been confirmed as a Barca player, Dembele has shared his early memories of the Catalan club and named Andres Iniesta and Messi as inspirations.

"I remember two games especially," Dembele told Sport. "One against Chelsea, when Iniesta scored the goal to qualify for the Champions League final. When I see Andres now I remember it. I can't wait to tell him.

"And the other was a Champions League game against Arsenal. Barcelona had not done great in the first leg but in the second leg they produced a brilliant performance, with four goals from Messi.

"That's when I realised Messi's not from this world. It was incredible.


"I had a poster of Iniesta. He seemed like a different player to me: elegant, special... a genius. I watched all the Barcelona games to see how they played and the geniuses, Iniesta and Messi. After, I tried to imitate them but it was difficult.

"They do things that no one does. Messi always plays at a sublime level. He's the best player in history!"

Dembele, widely labelled as one of the most exciting young talents in world football before his transfer to Dortmund, earned a five-year deal at the Bundesliga club in 2016 following an outstanding campaign in the Rennes first team. 

Six goals and six assists in 32 German top-flight outings saw him linked with a move to Barca, before a deal was completed following confirmation of Neymar's departure.

And though his former manager, Thomas Tuchel, had tipped him to go on to be named as the best player on the planet, Dembele has stressed his focus sits with establishing himself as a first-team player at Camp Nou.

"He [Tuchel] loved me too much," he added. "Being serious, it's not a challenge in my life. My objective is to learn from the best in the world, to integrate myself into the team. I am only 20. Personal titles aren't something which motivate me."

Asked whether comparisons between himself and Neymar, Dembele said: "No. Honestly I don't think so.

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Transfer:- Arsenal confirm Kolasinac signing

Transfer:- Arsenal confirm Kolasinac signing

Interestingly, the Schalke left-back will join now join up with the rest of the Gunners squad for pre season training in July after penning a long-term contract.


Arsenal have corroborated the signing of Sead Kolasinac, who will join the club on a free transfer from Schalke. 
The north Londoners have won the race to sign the Bosnian defender, with Reports revealing back in April that they had beaten competition from the relishes of Juventus and Chelsea for his signature.

In a statement released on Tuesday, the Gunners announced that the 23-year-old will join the club "on a long-term contract" and will link up for pre-season training in July "subject to the completion of all regulatory processes".
Arsenal had been keeping tabs on Kolasinac since the start of the 2015-16 season. They stepped up their interest in the last year and, as reported by Goal, the left-back completed a medical and agreed personal terms with the club at the end of April.

He scored three goals in 25 Bundesliga appearances last term as Die Knappen finished a disappointing 10th in the table.

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2016/17's Premier League underachieving XI of the season

2016/17's Premier League underachieving XI of the season 

is being listed below:

From club-record flops heading for the exit to good players who must do better – the footballers who’ve failed to live up to their potential this season

GK: Steve Mandanda (Crystal Palace)
Mandanda's move to Palace after eight years with Marseille seemed to be a signal of intent from the Eagles last summer. The 32-year-old keeper was a Ligue 1 winner – and even more impressively had been named the best goalkeeper in the division on four occasions (including for 2015/16).
Yet the France international has made just nine appearances for the south London club. Admittedly, his season was disrupted by a knee operation – but even before that, he had conceded 11 goals in four straight defeats.

In February Mandanda said it would be a "great pleasure" to return to Marseille. It looks like he may get his wish this summer.

CB: John Stones (Manchester City)
It's not Stones's fault that City paid £47.5m for him over the summer, but it certainly raised expectations. The merger of England's best ball-playing defender and the master tactician, Pep Guardiola, seemed like a match made in heaven. Right?

Well, not entirely. Stones has been directly at fault for three Premier League goals (the second most in the division) and played in all six of City's top-tier defeats. They've won seven of the 10 matches he's missed, drawing the other three. Stones finished the season on the bench, with Nicolas Otamendi and Vincent Kompany the preferred central defensive duo.

CB: Shkodran Mustafi (Arsenal)
"Think Jonny Evans would have been a better buy than Mustafi," tweeted The Mirror's chief football writer and Gunners aficionado, John Cross, after the 3-1 defeat to West Brom in April.

He could well have been right. The £35m paid to Valencia for the Germany international last summer seemed increasingly cockamamy as the 25-year-old perpetuated to accommodate as a symbol for why this Arsene Wenger team is falling short. The potential may be there (and he’s shown glimpses of what he can do), but the consistency isn’t.

CB: Ragnar Klavan (Liverpool)
With Martin Skrtel deemed past it last summer after eight years at Anfield, Reds fans could have been forgiven for thinking a younger model would be signed to fit Jurgen Klopp's high-intensity tactics.

Instead Klavan arrived, a centre-back just one year junior to Skrtel and effectively a budget version of the Slovakian at £4.2m. Liverpool have kept three clean sheets this season with the 31-year-old Estonian in the starting XI, while the four consecutive clean sheets they recorded in May were all achieved with Klaven on the bench.

RM: Wahbi Khazri (Sunderland)

Other than Jermain Defoe and Jordan Pickford, no Black Cats player has come out of this campaign with much credit.

Yet if any other player has the quality to have joined that (oh so short) shortlist, it was Khazri. The Tunisian who arrived from Bordeaux in January 2016 was key to Sunderland dragging themselves out of relegation last season, scoring in victories against Manchester United and Chelsea.

However, the winger has been virtually anonymous in 2016/17 until a late-season upsurge, with just one of his 21 league appearances coinciding with a win – a game in which he was a last-minute substitute against Watford.

CM: Moussa Sissoko (Tottenham)

Surely even Mike Ashley couldn't have hidden his surprise when Spurs agreed to pay relegated Newcastle £30m for Sissoko.

The midfielder was, however, coming off the back of an impressive Euro 2016 campaign with France – so while the transfer fee was steep, more was surely expected from the 27-year-old than clueless cameos from the bench. Or maybe it wasn't.

There's a player in there somewhere, but this one has looked short of too much. 

CM: Mark Noble (West Ham)

Noble's inclusion may raise a few eyebrows, but the midfielder's stock has certainly dropped in the past 10 months after an excellent 2015/16 season.

So has West Ham's, of course, after finishing seventh last term – but it's never good when some Hammers fans are calling for their homegrown captain to be dropped. This is the man that a significant section were saying should be in England's Euro 2016 squad a year ago. That seems a long time ago now.

CM: Giannelli Imbula (Stoke)

Much of Stoke's big spending over the past few seasons has gone largely unnoticed (more on that later), but it’s hard to ignore when their £18.3m record signing has been such a flop.

Signed from Porto in January 2016, Imbula was solid in the second half of 2015/16, but played just 12 league games in 2016/17 and managed only seven minutes after the turn of the year. The Frenchman is being heavily linked with an inevitable summer exit from the club. 

LM: Jordon Ibe (Bournemouth)

On the subject of club record signings we come to Ibe, a player well regarded at Liverpool but one who didn't get much game time. Cherries manager Eddie Howe hoped he could change that, paying all of £15m for the now-21-year-old last July.

That hasn't done much to improve his output, though: Ibe failed to record a single goal or assist for Bournemouth in 25 league matches this season. 

FW: Vincent Janssen (Tottenham)

It seems unfair to include not one but two players from a side that finished second in the table, but not every player seen in a Tottenham shirt this season has been a positive.

With the White Hart Lane faithful craving Harry Kane cover, chairman Daniel Levy responded by splashing £17m on Dutch hitman Janssen. The former AZ Alkmaar has since scored two league goals in 25 games, one of which was a penalty.

Janssen works hard, but currently looks doomed to be the latest striker flop from the Eredivisie.

FW: Ahmed Musa (Leicester)

Fresh on the back of their incredible title win and readying themselves for a debut year in the Champions League, Leicester paid a club record £16m (later broken by the £28m signing of Islam Slimani) for Musa last summer.

The 24-year-old, who arrived with bags of European experience from his time with CSKA Moscow, was meant to help take the Foxes to the next level.

Instead, as the club stuttered domestically, Musa increasingly became a peripheral figure. Since the club's recovery under Craig Shakespeare, the Nigeria international has appeared in just three of their 12 league games – all from the bench.

Manager: Mark Hughes (Stoke)

There were a few candidates for this in what has been a general season of underachievement, but Hughes often goes under the radar.

The Welshman is about to conclude his fourth season as Stoke boss, having finished each of the previous three in ninth. This season it was 13th. 

That record is adequate, but it’s the lack of progress that sees Hughes featured here. Over the past two years he's spent over £70m on transfers including Imbula and Saido Berahino, and also had the 

services of stars including Xherdan Shaqiri and Marko Arnautovic, but ultimately the Potters have still gone backwards.

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I want four more! Kane fires warning to Hull City as Tottenham star closes on Golden Boot

I want four more! Kane fires warning to Hull City as Tottenham star closes on Golden Boot

Tottenham's Harry Kane leads the Golden Boot standings and he has told his rivals that he plans to stay there by the end of the final day.

Harry Kane verbally expresses he wants to score four more goals against Hull City to clinch the Premier League Golden Boot after his masterful exhibit in Tottenham's thrashing of Leicester City.
The England international netted four times in Thursday's 6-1 rout to take his tally for the season to 26 and move two clear of Romelu Lukaku in the goalscoring charts.
Kane verbalized of his desire to boost his numbers at King Power Stdium and is equipollently determined to integrate to his tally on the final day of the season and clinch a second Golden Boot in a row.
"First and foremost, we wanted to come here and put in a good performance and win," he told Sky Sports.

"Of course I'd been thinking a lot about getting on the scoresheet and it's the first time I've scored four goals [in a game]. It's a good moment to do it.
"I was hoping to get one or two goals at least and then hopefully take it into the next game. But now I'm in the driving seat.
"There's still one game left to play so I'm not resting on my laurels. I've got to go out against Hull and get four more, hopefully.
"I felt good. Leicester made it tough for us, they came out in the second half and really put the pressure on. For us to get that third [goal] was vital and then the game opened up.
"I started to cheat a bit, get a bit lazy and wait on the last man. It was one-v-one and two-v-two at the back and I fancied my chances."

Son Heung-min scored Spurs' other two in the rout, with Ben Chilwell netting what proved to be scant consolation for last season's champions.

Son, who set up Kane's opener in the first half, believes the 23-year-old would boast a formidable goal tally had he not been sidelined with ankle injury problems this term.

"I think the pressure was down, we enjoyed the night. Every player really enjoyed the game," said Son.

"I'm really happy for H and I scored two goals, as well.

"It's very important to support him. I don't know how long he had an injury but he's still scored 26 goals. He's an unbelievable player, he can score from anywhere."

"It's very important to support him. I don't know how long he had an injury but he's still scored 26 goals. He's an unbelievable player, he can score from anywhere."

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Official: Ronaldo will not be rested for Real Madrid v Celta

Official: Ronaldo will not be rested for Real Madrid v Celta

Cristiano Ronaldo will take part for Real Madrid against Celta Vigo on Wednesday, having been rested in recent weeks.

Having sat out Real Madrid's last four LaLiga away games, Cristiano Ronaldo will be in the squad when they take on Celta Vigo at Balaidos on Wednesday.
Head coach Zinedine Zidane has employed a rotation policy in recent weeks to keep his star players fit for key matches in the Champions League and the LaLiga designation race.
Ronaldo was reposed in away games against Leganes, Sporting Gijon and Granada around their European quarter-final and semi-final ties, while the 32-year-old withal sat out the midweek trip to Deportivo La Coruna that preceded the Clasico against Barcelona.
However, Zidane verbalizes the Portuguese superstar will be available when Madrid look to take a three-point lead over Barca at the top of LaLiga with their game in hand in Galicia.

When asked if Ronaldo would be part of the squad or rested, Zidane told a pre-match news conference: "He will be with us."

Ronaldo, along with Isco and Lucas Vazquez, will be suspended for the final match of the domestic season at Malaga should he pick up a yellow card at Balaidos.
Despite the possibility of losing a key player for what will be a crunch match at La Rosaleda, Zidane is not concerned.
He said: "Whatever happens, if they have to play, they play. The cards as always, they'll do everything they can not to get a yellow.
"I don't know how long those players have had four yellows, so we'll keep going. This is football, you know?
"We're just keeping going until the last minute of the last game. We're not going to relax at all, I promise you that. Whatever happens, happens. We haven't won anything.
"We've just got two games left and that's it. I'm thinking positively about the game tomorrow.
"I'm not thinking about anything else, very positive, focusing 100 per cent on what's ahead of us. I'm just being positive."

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Giggs wants Sanchez at Manchester United

Giggs wants Sanchez at Manchester United

The Manchester United legend believes Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez would be a great addition for the Old Trafford side.

Ryan Giggs has urged Manchester United to make a move for Arsenal assailer Alexis Sanchez ahead of the 2017-18 Premier League season.
The Chile international's future at Emirates Stadium is in doubt after contract verbalizes were put on hold earlier this campaign, with his subsisting deal due to expire in June 2018.
Manchester City and Chelsea have since been credited with an interest in signing the 28-year-old, but Giggs feels he would be an ideal suit for United.
"Sanchez is a brilliant player," Giggs told The Express.

"His work rate, the effect he has on his team-mates, a winner. He just looks how South Americans are, tough aren't they.
"Jose Mourinho bought [Zlatan] Ibrahimovic because he is a winner.
"He had won everywhere he'd gone. Not only the effect on the pitch but off the pitch as well.
"You can just feel that Sanchez would give his team-mates a lift as well."
Sanchez has netted 26 goals in 48 appearances in all competitions this term.
See Wo gave chelsea the league

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