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Disaster, however, struck at Wembley when he suffered a hamstring injury in the second half, having initially opened the scoring in the FA Cup final against Arsenal. The injury ruled him out of the Blues’ short-lived Champions League sojourn, as well as the start of the current season. However, after having returned to full fitness in recent weeks, the former Borussia Dortmund man was in line to start for Chelsea in the game against Burnley....

Barkley told to sign or be sold His 68th-minute free-kick helped seal victory as Chelsea struggled early in the second half, with their opponents pushing hard for an equaliser. The 26-year-old’s goal was his fifth of the season, with his family in attendance among the Chelsea supporters. Alonso admitted that his team-mates were teasing him because his recent attempts kept hitting the woodwork since he took over free-kick duty. “Yeah, I hit the post twice already [in previous matches]," Alonso said....

The record signing is on Antonio Conte’s bench as Michy Batshuayi is the Blues’ striker for the Premier League opener against Burnley. Meanwhile, 20-year-old Jeremie Boga is set to make his Premier League debut in Conte’s midfield for the contest. Antonio Rudiger will make his Premier League debut for the Blues and will be joined by David Luiz and Gary Cahill. Cesar Azpilicueta, Marco Alonso, N’Golo Kante, Cesc Fabrebas fill out the midfield while Willian will join Boga and Batshuayi up top....

Hazard impressed during the draw with Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday but is one of four players who started on Merseyside left out by Antonio Conte. Danny Drinkwater and Tiemoue Bakayoko both join Hazard in dropping to the bench, with Cesc Fabregas, Pedro and Willian recalled to the starting line-up Pedro 13/10 to score anytime Cesar Azpilicueta, meanwhile, is replaced by Antonio Rudiger, bringing to an end a run of 74 successive Premier League starts for the Spain international....

The last meeting between Chelsea and Barcelona came back in 2012 during the Blues’ memorable Champions League winning campaign under the then manager Roberto Di Matteo. However, both teams will be heading into the game on the back of very contrasting fortunes in their respective domestic league championships this term. Ernesto Valverde’s Blaugrana are unbeaten runaway leaders in Spain while Antonio Conte’s defending champions have had to play catch-up with the Manchester clubs for the majority of the season while competing with an outside chance in the FA Cup as well....

Benzema’s treble saw Madrid remarkably defeat Paris Saint-Germain in the previous round and he was back at his brilliant best at Stamford Bridge. The 34-year-old applied the perfect combination of power and direction to Vinicius Junior’s cross to beat Edouard Mendy in the 21st minute, before ghosting between Thiago Silva and Andreas Christensen to deftly guide Luka Modric’s centre into the corner. Kai Havertz converted Jorginho’s cross five minutes before half-time to reduce the arrears but a dreadful Mendy error within a minute of the restart left Benzema with a simple job to claim the matchball....

Kedah and Tan Cheng Hoe finally parted ways, just one day before their first leg semi-final FA Cup match against Terengganu on Sunday. According to Stadium Astro, the Red Eagles head coach departed Alor Star to join the Malaysia national team setup on that day as he had tendered his resignation one month earlier. In the meantime, Kedah will be led by assistant head coach Nidzam Adzha, including in Sunday’s match....

Head coach of Kedah, Tan Cheng Hoe praised his team and believed that playing possession football helped them with the dominant 4-1 win over Pahang. Cheng Hoe stated that their style of possession football and short-passing game rewarded them with the three points and has urged his players to be more consistent in playing that way. Speaking after the game, Cheng Hoe said: “I told my players we must played with our style, with possession football and in the end, we scored the goal....

South African all-rounder Christopher Morris was bought by the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL auctions held on Sunday for a sum of $625,000. Morris is an all-rounder in the mould of Lance Klusener, regularly clocking above 140 kph and being more than handy with the bat. He plays for the Highveld Lions in the South African domestic circuit and has played only a single international match for South Africa, in a T20I against New Zealand in December....

On Aug. 24, The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported that there’s fear Holmgren has suffered ligament damage in his right foot. On Aug. 25 the Thunder announced that the 20-year-old will miss his rookie campaign with a Lisfranc injury. The Thunder selected Holmgren with the No. 2 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft. He showcased his potential at NBA Summer League, averaging 14.0 points, 8.4 rebounds and 2.8 blocks across five games....

Both teams took care of business in the Round of 64, meaning we got to see a head-to-head clash between two top prospects in the 2022 NBA Draft class – Gonzaga’s Chet Holmgren versus Memphis’ Jalen Duren. In my 2022 NBA Mock Draft leading into the NCAA Tournament, I had Holmgren going No. 1 overall with Duren falling a few slots behind him at No. 7. While the two big men play the same position, they couldn’t be more opposite in terms of stature and playstyle....

The visitors, meanwhile, head into the game on a three-game unbeaten run and will be looking to resume their charge for the title. Chicago Fire’s horrid run of results continued last Sunday when they fell to a 2-0 defeat at the hands of CF Montreal. In a one-sided affair at the Saputo Stadium, Romell Quioto struck on the hour mark before Carlos Teran scored an own goal 20 minutes later to widen the margin....

The Mexico forward, who is a goal away from becoming the country’s all-time leading scorer in international play, tweeted a message of unity on Sunday. Mexico has had a difficult start to 2017, with thousands taking to the streets to protest a rise in gasoline prices and new U.S. President Donald Trump signing an executive order to begin construction on a wall on the southern border. “Mexico in my heart....

Get West Ham’s EPL title odds Mexico’s all-time leading scorer was presented at West Ham after joining the London side from Bayer Leverkusen but still isn’t sure which number he’ll sport with the Hammers. It does appear, though, that his days wearing his traditional No. 14 may be over. “I’ve got a little bit of an idea, but I can’t say yet. They’re going to announce it when they have a bit of an idea what the rest of the club’s movements are like,” he told Fox Sports....

The flowers, leaves, and stems of chickweed have long been used to make oral decoctions, extracts, and teas. Today, chickweed is more commonly used in topical ointment form to treat a variety of skin conditions. The consumption of chickweed, while common in some cultures, is typically avoided due to the risk of side effects. Chickweed is recognized by its hairy stems, oval leaves, and small, daisy-like blossoms with five crenelated petals....

The Kansas City Chiefs long snapper is expected to play against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in honor of his father, the Kansas City Star reported. MORE: Chiefs-Buccaneers stats that pop Michael Winchester, 52, an employee of Southwest Airlines, was killed Tuesday in the shooting at Oklahoma City’s Will Rogers Airport. He was outside in an airport parking lot when the gunman opened fire around 1 p.m. local time and appeared to have been shot near the bottom of a ramp leading from the airport’s departure area....

Oh yeah, now it comes to mind. He keeps providing evidence of being the two words he hates: “game manager.” MORE: Ranking NFL playoff quarterbacks by their postseason resumes | Chiefs dominant in shutout win over Texans How can you blame us when the Chiefs’ defense just forced five turnovers and pitched a dominant 30-0 shutout in Saturday’s AFC wild-card victory in Houston? Or when the Chiefs offense rushed for 141 yards?...

Morata’s absence has hurt Chelsea in recent weeks, with the Spain international aiming to recover from a back injury in time for the Champions League games versus Barcelona next week. Though Morata has not scored in his last six appearances for Chelsea, Flo thinks the former Real Madrid forward is being judged too harshly and that he will make the same impact he did earlier in the season upon his return....

Chelsea winger Eden Hazard has been knighted by Belgium for his World Cup heroics. The government of Wallonia, the French-speaking southern half of Belgium, granted him the role of Commander of the Walloon Order of Merit. His honour is equivalent to a UK knighthood in terms of prestige. In case you didn’t know… Hazard led Belgium to a best-ever World Cup finish, scoring three goals and creating two more in the tournament....

The Frenchman has been favoured of late after hitting a productive run of form. He has netted three times in as many appearances over recent weeks – including a memorable solo effort in a 2-0 FA Cup semi-final win over Southampton last time out. Elsewhere, Antonio Conte brings Tiemoue Bakayoko back into his starting XI amid what has been a testing debut campaign for the former Monaco midfielder in the Premier League....