Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta says his players
must learn to control their emotions after they reacted angrily
following an injury to goalkeeper Bernd Leno in Saturday’s 2-1 defeat by
Brighton.
Neal Maupay scored a late winner to give relegation-threatened Albion a vital three points and condemn Arsenal to their second defeat since the Premier League restart, leaving Arteta’s side languishing in 10th and 11 points off the Champions League places.
The Italian government on Thursday agreed to ease quarantine restrictions for football teams in the case of a positive coronavirus test as Serie A prepares to return to action this weekend.
Italian football federation president Gabriele Gravina
hailed the decision as “another step forward for the completion of this
sporting season”.
Chelsea manager Frank Lampard believes Timo
Werner’s decision to join the club next season is an exciting sign of
where the Blues are headed.
German international forward Werner,
who has scored 32 goals in all competitions so far this season, was
heavily linked with a move to Liverpool.
Probable Lineups
Real Madrid
Dani Carvajal is a doubt with an ankle injury for Real Madrid, which could see Eder Militao slot in at right-back if needed.
Turkey on Wednesday said it was happy to be
hosting the Champions League final in 2021 after the final was moved
from Istanbul this season because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The 2019-2020 Champions League, suspended since March because of the health crisis, will be completed in a ‘Final Eight’ format that will be held in Lisbon in August, Uefa said on Wednesday.
Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes says he
is relishing the opportunity to play alongside record-signing Paul Pogba
when they resume their Premier League campaign after a three-month
pause due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The 25-year-old Fernandes, who
joined United from Sporting Lisbon in January, has settled in quickly
at Old Trafford, with three goals and four assists in nine matches and
adding creativity to the team with Pogba out of action due to a foot
injury.
Aston Villa chief executive Christian Purslow
has urged fans not to congregate at Villa Park ahead of the Premier
League’s restart on Wednesday.
The remaining games of the 2019/20 season will be broadcast on television to deter fans from going to stadiums, with all matches to be played behind closed doors.
The Premier League makes its eagerly
anticipated return on Wednesday after 100 days in lockdown, with
Manchester City’s clash against Arsenal taking centre stage at the start
of a frenetic dash to finish the season.
Coronavirus restrictions
mean the drama will be played out with no fans in the stands but
football-starved supporters will be able to feast on 92 televised games
crammed into less than six weeks.
Real Madrid and Barcelona will have tougher
tests to come but emphatic victories on their return to action at the
weekend suggest there may not be much margin for error in what is left
of LaLiga’s title race.
Both performances erased fears that had arisen during the three-month suspension due to the coronavirus pandemic, which saw La Liga go without competitive matches for 93 days.
Madrid looked comfortable in their new home
at the Alfredo di Stefano Stadium – part of their training complex –
while Lionel Messi looked fit, with no sign of the tightness in his
thigh that was bothering him earlier this month.
Barcelona coach Quique Setien has not yet decided whether their Uruguay striker Luis Suarez is ready to return to the starting line-up when they host Leganes in La Liga on Tuesday.
Setien
started Lionel Messi, Antoine Griezmann and February recruit Martin
Braithwaite in the 4-0 win at Real Mallorca over the weekend while
Suarez, who was fit again after injury, came off the bench for a
30-minute cameo in the second half.
“I’ve not decided if Luis Suarez will start
tomorrow, I have to talk to him,” Setien told reporters in a virtual
news conference on Monday. “We have to be very cautious, it’s normal to
have muscular injuries after a long injury layoff.