Juicy football news and updates
Valon Behrami has left Watford to sign for Italian side Udinese.
Behrami, 32, has signed a two-year deal with the Serie A club who, like Watford, are owned by the Pozzo family.
The Switzerland midfielder made 44 appearances in all competitions for the Hornets, having joined from Hamburg in July 2015.
Udinese become Behrami’s sixth Italian club, following stints with Genoa, Hellas Verona, Lazio, Fiorentina and Napoli.
SUNDAY
Romelu Lukaku announced his arrival at Old Trafford by scoring twice on his Premier League debut for Manchester United as they embarrassed West Ham.
Jose Mourinho’s team were a constant threat against a poor Hammers side, offering excitement and encouragement to their supporters on the opening weekend of the new Premier League season.
Lukaku, a £75m summer signing from Everton, put the Red Devils ahead with a rising drive off the post after racing onto Marcus Rashford’s pass.
The Belgium international doubled the lead after half-time, glancing in a header from Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s inswinging free-kick.
United teenager Rashford curled against the inside of Joe Hart’s left-hand post before substitute Anthony Martial ended the match as a contest with a slick finish.
There was still time for a fourth, however, as Paul Pogba curled in from distance.
The Hammers offered little going forward in a passive performance, although new signing Marko Arnautovic did flick a header onto the top of the home crossbar at 2-0.
The Red Devils have now lost only one of their 14 opening-day Premier League fixtures at Old Trafford, while West Ham’s season began with a record 11th defeat.
Tottenham made a winning start to the 2017-18 Premier League season as 10-man Newcastle endured a difficult return to the top flight.
The Magpies, promoted as winners of the Championship last term, had captain Jonjo Shelvey sent off early in the second half for standing on Dele Alli.
The Spurs attacker then put his side ahead with a close-range finish before Ben Davies finished off a neat move for Tottenham’s second.
It was a harsh re-introduction to life back in the Premier League for Newcastle, who were relegated from the division at the end of the 2015-16 season.
Rafael Benitez’s side did not really threaten Hugo Lloris in the Tottenham goal until late on, Christian Atsu forcing the goalkeeper into a low save and Ciaran Clark going close with a volley from 12 yards.
Instead, Spurs could have added to their lead as Harry Kane, last season’s Premier League top scorer with 29 goals, struck the post in injury time.
SATURDAY
Champions Chelsea suffered a nightmare start to their Premier League title defence, having two men sent off as Burnley claimed a superb win at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea were down to 10 men with 14 minutes gone when captain Cahill was dismissed for a lunging challenge on Steven Defour, and they fell behind with 24 minutes gone as Sam Vokes guided the ball past Thibaut Courtois.
Burnley’s lead was doubled when, with a little over five minutes remaining until the break, Jack Cork set up Stephen Ward to hammer home, and it was 3-0 before the interval when Vokes scored his second with a header.
Marcos Alonso had an effort saved by Burnley keeper Tom Heaton early in the second half before Alvaro Morata was brought on for Michy Batshuayi, and Alonso had a free kick saved soon afterwards.
Morata dived to head home his first Premier League goal from a Willian cross and bundled the ball home moments later only to see an offside flag deny him.
Fabregas then saw red for a second booking — but David Luiz pulled another one back to set up a frenetic finish in which Burnley’s Robbie Brady hit the post and Morata failed to touch home late on.
There was no Diego Costa (on his way out), no Eden Hazard or Pedro(injured) and, after 24 minutes, no Cahill, exposing the decisions to let Nathan Ake join Bournemouth and fellow defender Kurt Zouma go on loan to Stoke.
Cahill’s red card ended Jeremie Boga’s shock debut early, as he was replaced by Christensen, and handed the initiative to Burnley, whose three-goal salvo added disbelief to the list of negative emotions ripping through the home support.
Wayne Rooney scored on his Premier League return to Everton as they beat Stoke 1-0 in their opening fixture of the season.
It was a fairy-tale return to his boyhood club as Rooney headed home the winning goal in the added minute of injury time in the first half, and sealed the three points for the hosts.
The Toffees had drawn their last four opening day matches but managed to hold out for the victory against a Stoke side who had very few clear-cut chances, with Xherdan Shaqiri almost snatching a draw late on, only to be denied by a superb Jordan Pickford save.
Liverpool conceded an injury-time equaliser as they were held 3-3 at Watford in their Premier League opener.
Mohamed Salah looked to have netted a winner on his Liverpool debut, but Miguel Britos headed home from point-blank range in the dying moments to secure a share of the spoils.
Liverpool — without Philippe Coutinho, who was ruled out with a back injury amid intense speculation over his future — fell behind on eight minutes, with Stefano Okaka taking advantage of some poor defending from a corner to head past Simon Mignolet.
Sadio Mane hit back on 29 minutes, but Liverpool’s defensive weaknesses were exposed again as Abdoulaye Doucoure slotted in for 2-1.
Liverpool turned it around early in the second half, with Roberto Firmino equalising from the penalty spot after Salah was brought down in the area by goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes on 55 minutes and then Salah nudging home.
Sergio Aguero was on target as Manchester City denied Brighton any hope of a shock on their Premier League debut.
Pep Guardiola’s side, for all their riches, took time to get into their groove in a 2-0 win at the Amex Stadium.
But the moment they did it was ruthless as striker Aguero converted 20 minutes from time.
Lewis Dunk turned Fernandinho’s cross through goalkeeper Mathew Ryan grasp and into his own net soon afterwards as City prevailed after previously being frustrated.
West Bromwich Albion made another set piece pay as they opened the season with a 1-0 win over Bournemouth at The Hawthorns.
The visitors produced plenty of neat football throughout, but were unable to create much threat and fell behind after 31 minutes when Ahmed Hegazi headed in a Chris Brunt free kick.
Jermain Defoe came on for Bournemouth after the break, replacing Benik Afobe, but the former Sunderland striker had little to work with as West Brom held firm.
Two goals in three minutes set Huddersfield up for a dream start to life in the Premier League as they defeated Crystal Palace 3-0 at Selhurst Park.
Tom Ince missed an early chance to give the Terriers the lead when he sent a bouncing effort from Tommy Smith’s cross straight at keeper Wayne Hennessey.
But they were ahead after 23 minutes when Palace failed to deal with an Aaron Mooy corner and the ball deflected in off Joel Ward — and with Palace rocking Mooy crossed again and Steve Mounie headed home. Palace made a half-time change, with Andros Townsend coming on in place of Luka Milivojevic, and Christian Benteke almost pulled a goal back — but Huddersfield made sure when Mounie struck again.
Southampton suffered a frustrating afternoon as they were held 0-0 at home by Swansea City.
Watford 3 – 3 Liverpool
Chelsea 2 – 3 Burnley
Crystal Palace 0 – 3 Huddersfield Town
Everton 1 – 0 Stoke City
Southampton 0 – 0 Swansea City West
Bromwich Albion 1 – 0 AFC Bournemouth
Brighton & Hove Albion 0 – 2 Manchester City
Tottenham 2-0 Newcastle United
Manchester United 4 – 0 West Ham United
Watford have confirmed the signing of Brazil Under-20 international Richarlison after he was granted a work permit.
The 20-year-old forward has joined on a five-year contract from Fluminense for about £11m.
Richarlison was signed by Brazilian top division side Fluminense from second-tier side America Mineiro in 2016.
The Nova Venecia-born player began his youth career at Real Noroeste before switching to America Mineiro’s academy, from which he graduated into senior football.
He made 67 appearances for Fluminense and scored 19 goals, while he has two goals in eight Brazil U20 outings.
Watford start their Premier League campaign at home against Liverpool on Saturday
Watford have signed midfielder Nathaniel Chalobah from Chelsea on a five-year deal for an undisclosed fee.
The 22-year-old was part of the England Under-21 side that reached the semi-finals of the European Championships in Poland last month.
Chalobah played 10 times as Chelsea won the Premier League last season.
He spent 2012-13 on loan at Watford, making 42 appearances for the Hornets, and has had five other loan spells, most recently with Napoli.
Watford have signed right-back Kiko Femenia from Alaves on a four-year deal.
Femenía featured 77 times during two seasons at Estadio Mendizorrotza, including 31 appearances in the Spanish top-flight during 2016/17 and 38 league outings – plus five goals – as Alavés secured promotion as champions the year before.
Femenia started his career as a winger and has also played for Hercules, Barcelona B, Real Madrid B and Alcorcon.
Austria Under-21 goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann has also joined the Hornets from Stoke City.
The 22-year-old, who spent six seasons with the Potters, has signed a three-year deal at Vicarage Road.
The Austrian has 16 international caps at Under-21 level and has also been selected for Austria’s senior squad in each of the last two international breaks.
He has gained first-team experience through loan spells with Wrexham, Ross County and Bury, and prior to joining Stoke in 2011 was part of Austria Wien’s youth setup.
Arsenal 3 – 1 Everton
Burnley 1 – 2 West Ham United
Chelsea 5 – 1 Sunderland
Hull City 1 – 7 Tottenham Hotspur
Leicester City 1 – 1 AFC Bournemouth
Liverpool 3 – 0 Middlesbrough
Manchester United 2 – 0 Crystal Palace
Southampton 0 – 1 Stoke City
Swansea City 2 – 1 West Bromwich Albion
Watford 0 – 5 Manchester City
Premier League champions Chelsea beat Sunderland 5-1 to break the Premier League record for wins in a season, as captain John Terry waved goodbye to Stamford Bridge.
With their 30th Premier League victory of the season, Chelsea have broken the competition record set by Jose Mourinho’s title-winning Blues teams in the 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons, who both won 29 of their 38 league matches.
The win also means Conte’s men finish the season with 93 points, a tally beaten only by Chelsea’s first Premier League title-winning side in 2004-05.
Blues legend, Terry, who has spent 22 years at the club but will leave this summer, played 26 minutes after starting his second match in a row and was replaced to a standing ovation and a guard of honour from his team-mates.
Willian’s equaliser had already cancelled out Javier Manquillo’s third-minute strike by that point, and Eden Hazard and Pedro scored after the break to put the hosts in control.
Substitute Michy Batshuayi grabbed a late double to seal a record-breaking 30th Premier League victory this season.
It was the perfect prelude to the lifting of the trophy after the match and for Chelsea’s FA Cup final against Arsenal on Saturday.
Harry Kane finished as the Premier League’s top scorer for the second successive season after scoring a hat-trick as Tottenham thrashed Hull 7-1 on the final day.
The striker, who netted four in a 6-1 win at Leicester on Thursday, followed up with two goals inside the opening 15 minutes at the KCOM Stadium.
Dele Alli made it 3-0 before half-time and, after Sam Clucas pulled a goal back in the 66th minute, Spurs finished with a flourish.
Victor Wanyama headed in before Kane completed his hat-trick and Ben Davies and Toby Alderweireld scored their first Premier League goals of the season.
Kane wins the Golden Boot award with 29 goals, four more than nearest rival Romelu Lukaku.
And the rout concludes another impressive campaign for Spurs, who finish second behind Chelsea on 86 points with just four defeats and a club-record 26 goals conceded.
Hull, meanwhile, drop to the Championship with uncertainty over the future of Marco Silva, who was serenaded by fans throughout the match in a bid to keep him at the club, with talks planned next week.
Manchester City sealed their place in next season’s Champions League by crushing Watford to finish third in Pep Guardiola’s debut season.
City skipper Vincent Kompany was left unmarked to head in an early opener before Sergio Aguero twice clinically fired in after quick counters-attacks.
The Blues, needing a point to guarantee a finish in the top four, were 4-0 up at half-time after Fernandinho bundled in.
Gabriel Jesus clipped in a fifth after the break as Watford ended the reign of departing manager Walter Mazzarri with a shocking display.
Mazzarri, who leaves after just one season, was booed by some Hornets fans during the game as the hosts suffered a sixth successive defeat to finish in 17th place.
Liverpool secured their Champions League return as their initial nerves turned to jubilation and relegated Middlesbrough crumbled at Anfield.
With top-four rivals Arsenal ahead at Everton, Liverpool were impotent in attack and twitchy at the back for most of the first half.
But Georginio Wijnaldum eased the tension in injury time, bursting into the box and smashing in a fierce shot at the near post.
Philippe Coutinho’s low curling free-kick six minutes into the second half was quickly followed by Adam Lallana slotting in to give the Reds a comfortable cushion to ride out to full-time.
With Manchester City thrashing Watford, Liverpool finished fourth in the final Premier League table and will have to negotiate Champions League qualifying at the start of next season.
Arsenal missed out on a place in the Champions League for the first time in 20 years despite beating Everton on the final day of the season.
Arsene Wenger’s side got the win they required despite having defender Laurent Koscielny sent off for a reckless first-half challenge on Everton’s Enner Valencia. He will now serve a suspension that will keep him out of the FA Cup final against Chelsea at Wembley.
Arsenal took the lead early on through Hector Bellerin’s far-post finish and Alexis Sanchez scrambled in a second after Koscielny’s dismissal to put the Gunners in control.
It was to no avail as Liverpool completed their task by beating Middlesbrough to finish fourth.
The Gunners did end the league campaign with a flourish though thanks to Aaron Ramsey’s brilliant injury-time strike from 20 yards after Romelu Lukaku pulled a goal back for Everton from the penalty spot.
The hosts, who also had defender Gabriel taken off injured on a stretcher, now turn their attention to Wembley, after which an announcement on manager Wenger’s future will be made.
Josh Harrop scored on his debut as Manchester United’s disappointing Premier League campaign ended with a comfortable victory over Crystal Palace.
Harrop was one of four players given their first top-flight starts as manager Jose Mourinho named the youngest United line-up in Premier League history, with an average age of 22 years and 284 days.
The 21-year-old midfielder was brimming with confidence and lashed in a superb finish from inside the box in the first half, and could have had a second, but curled an effort narrowly wide.
Paul Pogba doubled the advantage with a low strike before being replaced by Michael Carrick with Wednesday’s Europa League final against Ajax in mind.
With two minutes remaining the London-born and Salford-raised Angel Gomes replaced captain Wayne Rooney to become the club’s youngest ever Premier League player at 16 years and 263 days old.
He is also the first player born in the 21st century to appear in the Premier League.
Palace’s best chance went to Christian Benteke in the second half, but the striker’s towering header struck the foot of the post.
Victory means United collect £28.5m in competition prize money for a sixth place finish – their second successive season outside the top four – while Palace end the season in 14th, earning them £13.3m.
Southampton” miserable home form continued as Peter Crouch struck the only goal of the game to help Stoke to a first away win since January on the final day of the season.
The home side enjoyed the majority of possession but Nathan Redmond’s lob on to the bar on the stroke of half-time was their best moment until Crouch pounced.
The striker’s 10th goal of the season arrived when he headed home a Geoff Cameron cross and they deserved the lead after creating openings throughout.
Southampton rallied late on as Jack Butland produced fine saves to deny Steven Davis, James Ward-Prowse and Sofiane Boufal but Claude Puel’s side end the campaign without a win in five games at St Mary’s.
His side end the season eighth, with their lowest points tally since 2012-13, while Stoke finish 13th, their lowest finish since the same season.
Bournemouth secured their highest top-flight finish with a draw at Leicester on the final day of the 2016-17 Premier League season.
Junior Stanislas put the Cherries ahead after just 59 seconds, smashing in a rebound from Ryan Fraser’s shot at the end of Lys Mousset’s driving run.
Leicester started poorly but were transformed after the break and Jamie Vardy poked in Islam Slimani’s knockdown early in the second half.
Vardy had a goal incorrectly ruled out for offside nine minutes later as he stabbed in after Slimani’s blocked shot, while Slimani headed badly wide when found in space by a Riyad Mahrez free-kick with five minutes to play.
The Cherries – who finished 16th in their first Premier League campaign last year – end the season in ninth, while 2015-16 champions Leicester move down to 12th.
Swansea City fought back from a goal down to beat West Brom on the final day of the Premier League season.
Having secured survival a week earlier, the hosts were in relaxed mood at a relieved Liberty Stadium but fell behind in the first half as Jonny Evans nodded in from a corner.
Swansea improved after the interval and equalised as Jordan Ayew headed his first goal for the club, before Fernando Llorente volleyed the winning goal with five minutes left.
A fourth win in five games lifts the Swans up to 15th in the Premier League table while a ninth match without victory means West Brom finish the campaign in 10th place.
Whereas the Baggies’ second-half decline was symptomatic of their fading fortunes at the end of the season, Swansea’s late revival was representative of their inspired run-in.
West Ham ended their season with an away victory as they came from behind to beat Burnley at Turf Moor.
Burnley went ahead when Sam Vokes scored his 10th league goal of the season when he finished off Andre Gray’s low cross.
The hosts’ lead only lasted four minutes before Sofiane Feghouli netted to complete a fine move that also involved Edimilson Fernandes and Andre Ayew.
Ayew scored the winning goal with a close-range header after Tom Heaton had pushed Fernandes’ shot on to the crossbar.
The result means West Ham end the season in 11th place, missing out on a top-10 position on goal difference, while Burnley finish in 16th.
Chelsea 4 – 3 Watford
John Terry scored on potentially his final start as Chelsea celebrated winning the Premier League title with a thrilling 4-3 victory over Watford on Monday amid a party atmosphere at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues made nine changes from the team that clinched the title at West Brom on Friday, and it was departing captain Terry who scored the opener from a corner in the 22nd minute.
Terry appeared to have tears in his eyes after the celebrations but, less than 90 seconds later, it was his miscued header that gifted Etienne Capoue the equaliser.
Cesar Azpilicueta and Michy Batshuayi scored either side of half-time to make it 3-1 to Chelsea, only for Daryl Janmaat to reply with a fine individual goal before substitute Stefano Okaka levelled in the 74th minute.
But Cesc Fabregas came off the bench to snatch the winner with two minutes remaining and Sebastian Prodl was sent off in a fiery finish before fireworks and streamers filled the air.
The champions now finish the campaign at Stamford Bridge against Sunderland on Sunday when they will lift the Premier League trophy, and a victory would see them finish on 93 points, the second-highest tally behind Jose Mourinho’s 2004/05 Chelsea side, and become the first side to win 30 games in a Premier League season.
Chelsea have now won 29 PL games this season, a joint record with their 04-05 and 05-06 teams.
Watford, meanwhile, could end just a point above the relegation zone if they lose to Manchester City on the last day.
Everton 1 – 0 Watford
West Brom 0 – 1 Chelsea
Michy Batshuayi stepped out of the shadows to strike a famous late winner as Chelsea sealed the Premier League title with two games to spare after a hard-fought 1-0 win at West Brom.
Batshuayi had not scored in the league since August but slid to meet a Cesar Azpilicueta cut-back in 82nd minute, just moments after coming off the bench, to ensure the Blues secured a second league crown in three seasons and Antonio Conte triumphed at the first attempt.
Chelsea had been frustrated during a goalless first half in which the hosts defended stubbornly, yet a game seemingly set for stalemate might have swung the other way had Salomon Rondon and Nacer Chadli finished fine second-half chances.
Eden Hazard and Diego Costa had toiled in front of goal as Chelsea looked forced to wait at least until the weekend, but Batshuayi proved the unlikely hero to spark wild celebrations from Conte on the touchline at the final whistle.
The Italian can now set his sights on emulating compatriot Carlo Ancelotti’s 2010 featof winning the league and domestic Double as the Blues prepare for an FA Cup final against Arsenal at Wembley on 27 May.
Ross Barkley brushed aside speculation about his future to fire in Everton’s winner in their 1-0 victory at home to Watford.
The England international was issued with an ultimatum by manager Ronald Koeman on Thursday, who told the 23-year-old he has one more week to sign a new deal at Goodison Park or face being sold.
Despite the demand, Barkley started for the hosts and then stepped up in the 56th minute to power home Everton’s only goal from 25 yards out.
Defeat for Watford means their Premier League safety is still not confirmed, while Everton can now draw a line under a three-game winless run.
It was an inspired half-time substitution from Ronald Koeman which brought Everton to life, as Enner Valencia brought pace and vigour to his side, which was somewhat lacking in the opening 45.
It has been a fantastic start to the season at the sky blue half of Manchester. Teams have been beaten convincingly and there is a swagger about the City side which has made them odds on favourite to win the title. With UEFA failing to follow through the Financial Fair Play effectively, City have gone on to make some stellar signings and Kevin De Bruyne is expected to join soon.
Watford have had 3 draws so far and making it 4 will be seen as a huge achievement against a side that easily dispatched Chelsea. Manchester City’s assault on the title is led by Sergio Aguero. The Argentine has continued from where he stopped and Pellegrini will know that keeping him fit will probably be the single most important factor in their bid to reclaim a title they lost to Chelsea last season.
The stats do not favour the newly promoted side. City boasts an impressive home record with 14 victories in their last 18 league games while Watford have just won 3 of their last 39 Premier League away games.
Team News
Manchester City
Pablo Zabaleta, Fernando and Gael Clichy remain sideline due to injuries. Bony could miss out as well due to a gashed leg. New signing Nicolas Otamendi could make his debut today
Watford
Quique Sanchez Flores will definitely name a very different side from the one that lost in midweek to Preston. Miguel Britos is suspended following a red card on his debut on Tuesday. Joel Ekstrand remains injured.
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