It is not the first time that Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville have clashed on Twitter, and it certainly will not be the last.The pair’s fiery rivalry from their Liverpool and Manchester United playing days has toned down a little since they began working together as pundits on Sky Sports.Nowadays, their Twitter spats tend to be more playful than angry, but it seems that Neville touched a nerve on Saturday.Carragher was carrying out punditry work at Vicarage Road for the early kickoff between Watford and Liverpool.The retired defender, along with Jamie Redknapp, was there to give expert analysis on the action, and he did not like what he saw from his former club.Jurgen Klopp’s side had managed to come from behind to take a 3-2 lead, but late in stoppage time, Liverpool conceded an equaliser.It was a display that Reds fans are all too familiar with having watched the team’s defensive frailties cost them points numerous times last season.With Carragher already disappointed with the performance, it was not ideal for him when Neville took to Twitter to ask for the latest score.

It seems that Neville got the reaction that he was hoping for…

Chelsea fans have certainly warmed to their summer signing Alvaro Morata, and that love is spreading after the forward was on target for Spain.

The former Real Madrid star scored twice in an 8-0 romp over Liechtenstein in Spain’s World Cup qualifier.

Morata, who has already netted two goals for Chelsea this season, found the back of the net on either side of half-time to help his nation edge closer to qualification for next summer’s tournament in Russia.

After witnessing the striker score, Chelsea supporters will be hoping that the 24-year-old carries that form with him into this Saturday’s Premier League match against Leicester City at the King Power Stadium.

Not only has Morata scored twice in the Blues’ first three top-flight outings, he has provided two assists, showing that he has more to his game than goals.

Chelsea fans flocked to Twitter to praise their leading man following his heroics for Spain.

As reported by The Sunday Express, West Ham United are lining up Napoli boss Maurizio Sarri as a potential replacement for under-fire manager Slaven Bilic.

What’s the story?

Bilic is under significant pressure at the London Stadium after a dreadful start to the English Premier League season and heading into the Hammers’ match away to Huddersfield, it seems as if his days in charge may be coming to an end.

The Express say club owners David Sullivan and David Gold have set their sights on Napoli manager Maurizio Sarri as his replacement.

The paper report that Sarri has a £7.5m buy-out clause in his contract at the Italian giants, which has two years left to run, putting him well within reach of the Irons.

A good appointment?

Sarri has become one of the most respected managers in Italy after successful spells at Empoli and Napoli in the upper reaches of Italian football, which has followed a long career working his way up from provincial, non-league sides.

He guided Empoli to Serie A after a six-year absence and kept them in the top-flight the following season despite being tipped to go right back down. That sparked Napoli to make their move for the 58-year-old, replacing Rafa Benitez.

Since then Napoli have been on the up, finishing 2nd in his first season in charge and third last term, both times qualifying for the UEFA Champions League. The Italian club shone in that competition last term, reaching the last 16 before going out to eventual winners Real Madrid.

His experience and record would make him an ambitious and impressive appointment for West Ham if they could pull it off. Is Sarri the man to help the Hammers realise their full potential?

Whichever way you look at it, Liverpool let themselves down at one end of the pitch on Sunday.

While a soft goal that saw Newcastle United’s Joselu drift between the two centre-backs before a fortunate finish off his shin cancelled out the Reds’ opener, Jurgen Klopp’s side could and probably should have scored more at St. James’ Park – they had more than twice the number of efforts at goal as the home side, but just two on target.

One of those belonged to Philippe Coutinho, whose blistering shot from outside the penalty area in the 29th minute left Robert Elliot dumbfounded and put Liverpool into a short-lived lead. The Brazil international was making just his third Premier League start of the season after a turbulent summer and only his third across all competitions as a central midfielder – a position the summer arrival of Mohamed Salah has essentially pushed him into.

Of course, we’ve seen Coutinho line up in midfield before, but after spending the last few seasons on the left wing, the ease in which he’s settled back into the engine room has been thoroughly impressive. In addition to providing the only moment of world-class quality in a tight and cagey 1-1 draw, the 29-cap playmaker weighed in with a further four shots and four created chances – the most of any Liverpool player on either front.

But more crucially considering Coutinho is now being deployed as a central rather than an attacking midfielder, albeit the most advanced in a midfield three, the 25-year-old contributed off the ball with three tackles, a tally only bettered by Jordan Henderson, and two interceptions, while completing 68 passes – showing that he can play the short game as well as launch those ranging through balls he’s become synonymous with.

Add in that sunning goal which will undoubtedly be an early contender for October’s Goal of the Month award and Coutinho produced a very complete midfield performance, one that saw him make an impact when Liverpool were both in and out of possession.

Chelsea host Manchester City on Saturday evening in what could well end up being one of the most important games of the season.

Both sides go into the game in form and on the back of midweek Champions League wins. City’s advantage of playing their European game at home could well be evened out by Chelsea’s euphoria at a last-gasp Michy Batshuayi winner away in Madrid. Both, though, look more than capable of winning the title this year.

It’s early in the season, but it still feels like this game could be one of the most meaningful of the year. Victory for either side would galvanise teams who have come in for criticism at various points so far this season. City for their defence: they might have the best defensive record in the league, but last season’s frailties haven’t left the collective memory.

And Chelsea for their summer: Antonio Conte seemed frustrated at the club’s lack of transfer activity, and the signings they did make haven’t wholly convinced just yet, but it looks like they probably will.

That makes this huge. Victory for either side would give them an edge in the title race, of course, but more importantly, it could end up derailing the other side at a point in the season where momentum is built.

Head to Head – Chelsea dominance

Recently, this has been a tight fixture, closely fought between two top sides. Only once have they seemed like pure title rivals – back in 2014/15 when Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea won the league ahead of Manuel Pellegrini’s City.

Traditionally, though, this hasn’t been a close fixture in the Premier League years. Chelsea have, unsurprisingly, had the best of it, winning 24 of the league games between the two. City have only won nine, whilst the vast majority of games at Stamford Bridge have ended in Chelsea wins.

That, of course, has changed somewhat since 2008, when City’s Abu Dhabi takeover saw them join Chelsea as part of football’s moneyed elite. Since then, the balance of power has been more even, but Chelsea have won the league twice since the lighter variety of Blues have lifted the trophy.

Unforgettable Match – Chelsea 2-4 Manchester City, 2010

Despite City’s struggles at the Bridge – where they have won just twice since the turn of the millennium – one of the seminal moments in City’s history came in west London.

Roberto Mancini’s City travelled to Chelsea in 2010 where the game was overshadowed by John Terry’s refusal to shake Wayne Bridge’s hand before the game. But it was a huge moment for City: they beat Chelsea 4-2, winning a game which won’t be remembered as the moment City announced themselves thanks to non-footballing trivia, but it certainly should go down as a big game in the club’s history. Goals from Carlos Tevez and Craig Bellamy won the game for City, and the next season they’d finish third and win the FA Cup.

Top Scorer – Frank Lampard

Given Chelsea’s dominance over City in this fixture in the Premier League era, perhaps its not surprising that it’s a Chelsea legend who comes out as top scorer.

Frank Lampard terrorised plenty of Premier League defences over the course of his career, so it should be expected that his late runs into the box caused problems for City over the years, too.

Shared Hero – Nicolas Anelka

Frank Lampard’s short stay at City doesn’t qualify him for hero status at the Manchester club, even if City fans did appreciate what he brought to the team for a season.

Instead, the shared hero both City and Chelsea fans have an affection for is Nicolas Anelka. The Frenchman played for both clubs, spending two and a half years in Manchester and scoring prolifically, managing 45 goals in all competitions, and almost single-handedly keeping City in the Premier League with goals in a struggling side.

At Chelsea, Anelka played in a much different team, but scored just as consistently. In his first full season at the club, 2008/09, he bagged 25 goals in all competitions, his best tally ever as the Blues won the FA Cup. They repeated the feat the followng season, and added the Premier League title, too with Anelka playing a vital role.

As reported by The Daily Mail, Bayern Munich star Thiago has spoken about the challenge that Celtic pose when the two sides meet in tonight’s UEFA Champions League action.

What’s the story?

After beating Anderlecht on the last matchday, Celtic travel to Germany this evening with the pressure off. Third place in the group has been seen as the priority for Brendan Rodgers’ men and that win in Belgium put them well on their way, with the match against the Germans unlikely to harm their chances whatever happens.

Expectations of a Celtic result against the Bundesliga side are low, but one star player for Bayern knows that you can never write the Hoops off.

Midfielder Thiago was at Barcelona when Neil Lennon’s Celtic team shocked the world with a 2-1 win over the Spanish giants in 2012 and the 26-year-old has warned against taking Celtic for granted when they visit the Allianz Arena.

As quoted by The Daily Mail, he said:

It shows what can happen in any game. For sure, that could happen to us again, but we will prepare well for the challenge. We will look at all aspects of the game against Celtic and we’ll be ready for them. I expect a tough game against Celtic. They are a good team and it will be like a game against an English team. For me, playing Celtic is like playing against the teams from the Premier League. They are always great games and Celtic will be difficult opponents.

While Celtic fans will no doubt get a buzz from hearing an elite player speak in pretty glowing terms about their team, the fact Bayern know exactly how dangerous they can be could work against the visitors.

No complacency

The Hoops’ best chance of picking up a result tonight is if Bayern are not at the top of their game. That’s unlikely to happen if they are as motivated for the visit of Celtic as they would be if the likes of Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea or Manchester United came calling.

Complacency is a real danger in these matches for big teams and Brendan Rodgers’ team could have exploited that. Tonight is about as difficult a test as you can get in world football, against a motivated Bayern Munich, re-energised by the appoint of Jupp Heynckes.

Can Celtic capture lightning in a bottle like they did against Thiago’s Barcelona all those years ago? That’ll be the hope.

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has raised a few eyebrows with his comments of late.

The Portuguese coach took a thinly-veiled swipe at fans who have criticised Romelu Lukaku, who has failed to score in his last five outings after netting 11 in 10.

According to The Guardian, Mourinho claimed that the Belgian international should be “untouchable” because of his quality.

The former Chelsea boss has continued to question the fans by referring to the atmosphere of the Old Trafford crowd in Saturday’s 1-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur.

While previewing this evening’s Champions League match against Benfica, Mourinho wrote:

“I hope that you enjoy the game more than some of you did against Tottenham.”

As expected, the fans have had something to say about their manager’s remarks, and there have been various responses.

In terms of results, United have only had two minor setbacks, which were a goalless draw with Liverpool and 2-1 defeat to Huddersfield Town.

For most of the season they have been level with rivals Manchester City in the Premier League title race, but due to the results mentioned, the Red Devils have dropped five points off the pace.

Fans from a number of clubs around England took notice on Wednesday evening when Aitor Karanka posted a tweet suggesting that he may be close to becoming the manager of a new team.

While the tweet is fairly ambiguous, fans of Sunderland and Everton were quick to ponder whether the former Middlesbrough boss may be close to filling the current vacancies at their respective clubs.

However, another set of fans were also intrigued by the tweet. Despite having a manager at the helm, Leeds United supporters were quick to express their opinions and urged the ex-Real Madrid to join their club and replace current boss Thomas Christiansen.

Despite an impressive start to his tenure at the club, Christiansen and his side are suffering through some dreadful form and have managed just one win in their last five games, including three defeats on the bounce.

Now, with Karanka seemingly on the move, a number of Leeds fans are hoping that the Spaniard will be the man to end their horrific form of late…

According to Don Balon, Real Madrid want to sign Manchester City midfielder Kevin de Bruyne in an £89m deal.

What’s the story?

De Bruyne has been in sensational form for City in the opening months of the 2017-18 campaign – managing four goals and nine assists in 17 appearances in all competitions.

The 26-year-old is in his third season with the Citizens following a move from Wolfsburg in the summer of 2015, and his stock has never been higher.

According to Don Balon, Real Madrid have identified the Belgium international as the perfect player to boost their squad, and the Spanish and European champions are prepared to pay £89m in order to seal a deal.

Real Madrid’s problems this season have been shown by the fact that Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema have just two league goals between them, whilst Gareth Bale’s continued absence through injury has left Zinedine Zidane’s side light in the final third.

Is the move likely to occur?

As much as City would like to think that they hold all of the cards, it would be very difficult for De Bruyne to turn down Real Madrid if the Spanish giants came calling.

It is not as if De Bruyne grew up supporting City, and whilst he has a contract at the Etihad Stadium until the summer of 2021, if Real Madrid want to sign him, they will fancy their chances of making it happen.

If the Belgian helps City win the Premier League and advance deep into the Champions League this season, he might well decide to move on.

It is a very exciting time to play for City, however, and an interesting tug-of-war could take place if Real Madrid do indeed make a move at the end of the 2017-18 campaign.

One thing is for sure, De Bruyne is now one of the best playmakers in world football, and Real Madrid are in need of some fresh blood in the final third of the field.

Paul Ince has risked the wrath of West Ham United fans by claiming that their expectations are too high.

David Moyes’s recent appointment as manager was met with criticism from a large section of the Hammers’ following.

The Scotsman’s failed spells at Manchester United, Real Sociedad and Sunderland meant that his arrival was underwhelming.

Slaven Bilic was the man to be shown the door following his side’s 4-1 defeat to Liverpool prior to the international break.

As it stands, the East London outfit sit in the relegation zone of the Premier League table, one point from safety after winning just two of their 11 top-flight fixtures.

Moyes’s first game in charge will be on Sunday when the Hammers face Watford away at Vicarage Road.

Ince, who came through West Ham’s academy before joining Manchester United in his playing career, believes that the fans need a reality check.

The retired midfielder has suggested that a certain calibre of managers, including Carlo Ancelotti, are too good for West Ham.

Ince told Paddy Power:

“A lot of West Ham fans have been moaning about the appointment of David Moyes, saying he wasn’t what they wanted, that they wanted a bigger name. Why do they think West Ham would attract a big-name manager? Someone like Carlo Ancelotti would never go there.

“West Ham fans need to accept the situation that their club is in – they need saving from relegation. Moyes is a very good manager. He showed that during his time at Everton.

“In fact, West Ham being a bit more like Moyes’s Everton team would be no bad thing, whether the fans want to hear that or not.”

[ad_pod ]