Premier League

CHELSEA head coach Enzo Maresca has two games to save his job, according to Paul Merson.The Blues have endured a mixed season under their new boss.Enzo Maresca is at risk of being sacked, Paul Merson has claimedCredit: GettyMerson insists Chelsea need to qualify for the Champions LeagueCredit: Sky SportsHaving been widely considered title contenders before Christmas, Maresca and Co began dropping down the Premier League table at the turn of the year.They now sit down in seventh and face competition from Aston Villa, Bournemouth, Newcastle and Manchester City for a Champions League spot.With the top-four competition so tight, Merson believes Chelsea cannot afford to drop any more points in the coming weeks.The ex-Arsenal man has even suggested that Maresca could find himself out of the job if they don’t win the next two games.Read More in FootballOn Monday, Merson said: “If they don’t win their next two games, the manager won’t be there.”They’re playing against two of the worst teams to play in the Premier League for I don’t know how long in Southampton and Leicester.”So, if they don’t win those two games, he will do well to keep his job.”Chelsea have got to get in the Champions League. They need the Champions League to keep players like Cole Palmer as he will want to play in that competition.Most read in FootballCASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS”They will have to finish in the top five, otherwise I dread to think what’s going to happen. I just don’t see what the plan is.”All the seven-year contracts and these players are not getting any better. How many of them have been a major success?”Enzo Maresca criticises Chelsea after 3-0 defeat by Brighton Merson also put forward a theory to explain why Cole Palmer has experienced a drop-off in form.He continued: “Even Palmer has struggled now, Palmer needs Nicolas Jackson, and Jackson needs Palmer.”Without Jackson’s movement, Palmer gets suffocated out of the game. He hasn’t got any movement in front of him.”People give Jackson stick, but you can see how good he is now he’s not in the team.”Now, all of a sudden, they’ve got nothing up front, so no one’s making the runs and Palmer’s got no space. So he’s getting deeper and deeper. Jackson’s a massive miss.”Chelsea next host Southampton at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday evening before travelling to Copenhagen in the Europa Conference League next Thursday.They then return to Premier League action to face Leicester City.Chelsea player ratings vs Aston VillaBy Graham HillBLUES keeper Filip Jorgensen’s awful underarm howler saw Aston Villa come from behind to beat Chelsea 2-1 in the Prem.Enzo Fernandez’s rapid opener inside nine minutes came from Pedro Neto’s stunning breeze past Ian Maatsen.But the Blues soon fell apart after Man Utd loanee Marcus Rashford’s blistering introduction at half-time.Rashford provided two assists for fellow January signing Marco Asensio to leave Chelsea in sixth with two Prem wins from nine games in 2025.FILIP JORGENSEN – 4Horrible error for Villa’s late winner as Asensio’s shot squirmed under his body and through his gloves- ironically he had made a crucial save before that.MALO GUSTO – 6 Failed to get a decent touch on Cash’s ball – and that led to Villa’s second half equaliser. Struggled to deal with Rashford’s presence.TREVOH CHALOBAH – 3The defender suffered a huge blow as he had to come off after just six minutes clutching his ribs following a challenge from Asensio.LEVI COLWILL – 6Found himself with a new central defensive partner early in the game and looked uncertain at times.MARC CUCURELLA – 6Defending Chelsea’s left flank was not as troublesome as the right hand side, and the Spaniard looked stylish as Villa applied more pressure.REECE JAMES – 6Stepped in for the injured Noni Madueke and took the captain’s armband, had a good battle with Cash.ENZO FERNANDEZ – 6Right place, right time to open the scoring, a real threat early on, took a booking for the team, lucky to escape a second.MOISES CAICEDO – 7Provided a strong presence in midfield, spotted danger early and halted a number of Villa raids.His second-half ball should have provided Chelsea with their winner.COLE PALMER – 6Largely quiet game but wasted his chance to win the game when he collected a Caicedo through ball – but stumbled – that allowed Konsa to clear the shot PEDRO NETO – 7Great work for the opening goal when he left Maatsen standing before crossing to find Fernandez.CHRISTOPHER NKUNKU- 5Hugged the left touchline, should have been involved more, not as much of a threat as Neto, subbed with 14 minutes to go.SUBSTOSIN ADARABIOYO: (for Chalobah, 6mins) – 6Needed some time to fit in at the back after Chalobah’s injury.JADON SANCHO: (for Nkunku, 76mins) – 5Did little to affect the game after coming on for an ineffective Nkunku. More

COLE PALMER is used to mopping the floor with Premier League opponents.And the Chelsea star has been so angry with recent results that he is now taking his own team-mates to the cleaners – by dominating fitness tests at Cobham.Cole Palmer has consistently featured in Chelsea’s starting line-upCredit: RexThere were fears Chelsea star Palmer could be heading towards burnoutCredit: AlamyBut Palmer still aced a fitness test and did much better than Chelsea team-matesCredit: GettyThe Blues welcome struggling Southampton to Stamford Bridge on Tuesday needing to kick-start their Prem campaign back into life with Champions League qualification a priority.That ambition has been hampered by a stinking run of form – collecting NINE points from a possible 30 in the league since December 22 to leave them in seventh.Hope is not lost just yet, especially with fifth potentially earning a Champions League spot this year.Enzo Maresca’s men remain just four points off the top three with third-placed Nottingham Forest, fourth-placed Manchester City and sixth-placed Bournemouth all losing at the weekend.Read More on ChelseaAnd Palmer, 22 – goalless since drawing 2-2 with the Cherries on January 14 – is leading the way in training, to the delight of Maresca ahead of facing the Saints.Asked if Palmer trains harder when things aren’t going well, the Italian coach explained: “Yeah absolutely. I will tell you one detail that is very important.“Every six or seven months we do a physical test. So we did one in pre-season and we did another last week and [Palmer] was the strongest one. The one that won the test.“So that’s sure that he has desire not only on the ball, but he is working hard and he’s doing fantastic. I absolutely love that.Most read in Football“Every game, we expect a goal or assist from him. Because everyone relies on Cole, people see Cole as the solution. But the solution at the end has to be always the team.”Off the back of reaching – and scoring in – the Euros final 2-1 defeat to Spain for England last summer, Palmer has started all 26 of Chelsea’s Prem games this term.Chelsea ratings vs Aston Villa: Jorgensen howler, Rashford super-subWith 2,283 Prem minutes to his name – subbed off just seven times so far – no Blues player has featured more.It is no wonder then that Palmer has suffered a slight dip in form in recent weeks, without a Prem goal in five outings and without a league assist since December 1.With the score at 1-1 away to Aston Villa on Saturday night, Palmer missed a golden opportunity to score his 15th league goal of the season before the hosts grabbed a late winner through Marco Asensio thanks to a Filip Jorgensen goalkeeping howler.It was not the Palmer we are used to watching – one who notched a Chelsea-record 26 goals and 13 assists in the Prem in 2024.Whether he could do with a rest against relegation-bound Southampton, Maresca said: “No. Cole belongs to that kind of players that in some moment they can do something different.“For sure in terms of numbers, goal and assist is a moment where he struggles but at the end he had the chances. He was there, then he missed, OK, but he was there.Southampton game plan“The problem is when you are not there. But it’s not just about Cole. We have had more chances with different players but because it’s Cole, everyone is watching. That is OK.“From now on, we have 12 games to go and no doubt that all of them are a must win for us.“Probably in this moment it’s not enough, we need to find something extra to get results. But for sure we’re going to be there.”Despite letting Asensio’s shot wriggle under his body, Jorgensen is set to start in goal once more ahead of error-strewn Robert Sanchez, with Maresca explaining: “If we need to change players every time they make a mistake, we need to change players game by game, many players. But nothing has changed.READ MORE SUN STORIES“He feels a little bit sad or upset because he recognised that it has been a mistake but he’s ok.”Centre-back Trevoh Chalobah will miss the Southampton game and will be out for another week after being forced off against Villa – another defensive blow with Benoit Badiashile and Wesley Fofana targeting a comeback next month.Chelsea player ratings vs Aston VillaBy Graham HillBLUES keeper Filip Jorgensen’s awful underarm howler saw Aston Villa come from behind to beat Chelsea 2-1 in the Prem.Enzo Fernandez’s rapid opener inside nine minutes came from Pedro Neto’s stunning breeze past Ian Maatsen.But the Blues soon fell apart after Man Utd loanee Marcus Rashford’s blistering introduction at half-time.Rashford provided two assists for fellow January signing Marco Asensio to leave Chelsea in sixth with two Prem wins from nine games in 2025.FILIP JORGENSEN – 4Horrible error for Villa’s late winner as Asensio’s shot squirmed under his body and through his gloves- ironically he had made a crucial save before that.MALO GUSTO – 6 Failed to get a decent touch on Cash’s ball – and that led to Villa’s second half equaliser. Struggled to deal with Rashford’s presence.TREVOH CHALOBAH – 3The defender suffered a huge blow as he had to come off after just six minutes clutching his ribs following a challenge from Asensio.LEVI COLWILL – 6Found himself with a new central defensive partner early in the game and looked uncertain at times.MARC CUCURELLA – 6Defending Chelsea’s left flank was not as troublesome as the right hand side, and the Spaniard looked stylish as Villa applied more pressure.REECE JAMES – 6Stepped in for the injured Noni Madueke and took the captain’s armband, had a good battle with Cash.ENZO FERNANDEZ – 6Right place, right time to open the scoring, a real threat early on, took a booking for the team, lucky to escape a second.MOISES CAICEDO – 7Provided a strong presence in midfield, spotted danger early and halted a number of Villa raids.His second-half ball should have provided Chelsea with their winner.COLE PALMER – 6Largely quiet game but wasted his chance to win the game when he collected a Caicedo through ball – but stumbled – that allowed Konsa to clear the shot PEDRO NETO – 7Great work for the opening goal when he left Maatsen standing before crossing to find Fernandez.CHRISTOPHER NKUNKU- 5Hugged the left touchline, should have been involved more, not as much of a threat as Neto, subbed with 14 minutes to go.SUBSTOSIN ADARABIOYO: (for Chalobah, 6mins) – 6Needed some time to fit in at the back after Chalobah’s injury.JADON SANCHO: (for Nkunku, 76mins) – 5Did little to affect the game after coming on for an ineffective Nkunku. More

LIVERPOOL have one hand on the Premier League title after dismantling champions Manchester City on Sunday.The Reds put in a top away performance as they left the Etihad with a 2-0 win.Mo Salah’s magic saw Liverpool cruise to victory over Man CityCredit: PAAnd there was magic all over the pitch from Arne Slot’s men.But how did Mo Salah bamboozle City with a genius back-pedal trick?And which midfielder carried out Liverpool’s team’s instructions perfectly?SunSport’s tactical expert Dean Scoggins reveals all on our brilliant Tactics Exposed show…READ MORE IN FOOTBALLMo Salah has enjoyed a stunning season so farONE MAN WENT TO MOMO SALAH is tactically brilliant. The first thing is this back-pedal thing he does. It sounds easy, but it’s the timing of it and when he does it. When Josko Gvardiol, the Man City left-back, pushes up the field, Salah waits for that to happen when he’s in a space close to Nathan Ake, the left centre-back.When he sees the ball go into a certain area, he back-pedals towards the touchline. He takes a few steps back.It means two things. He’s got the space in front to receive the ball to feet, and also Gvardiol is blindsided. He’s behind him and Ake’s stuck.Most read in FootballDoes Ake go all the way out, leaving space for other Liverpool stars to run? Or does he stay where he is and then give Salah that run?Salah’s roasted him on the outside. The other time Ake did the other option and Jones went bombing through the space, he can’t win.For Szoboszlai’s goal, Salah backs into that position and has Gvardiol with his back to him. If you see the number on the back of someone else’s shirt, you’re winning.Salah then runs into that space, then it’s all about timing. Amazing touch from the ball in the air, a little nudge on Gvardiol and then he backs in and plays it into Szboszlai who runs into the box.Salah’s clever positioning meant City struggled to pick him upHe exploited the space around Gvardiol and AkeWith the disallowed goal where Jones scored, Salah’s wide and Ryan Gravenberch plays a difficult pass.Saslah does the exact thing where he back-pedals into space, then as Gravenberch is about to play him the ball, Salah goes, “Not me, I don’t want it. Turn and play it in behind.”The City defence all come one way and it opens up that running channel for Szoboszlai. You can see those two vertical runners from midfield and in attack the two wide men dragging the defence out.You see Salah’s unbelievable tactical brain to see a situation unfold in front of him and his role in it. We’re talking Lionel Messi levels here, and that’s not an exaggeration.BLOCKERS IN THE SLOTTHIS is straight off the training ground for the first goal. Liverpool are going to take a free corner to the front post, and they’ve got a man running off the front to play the ball around the corner.What’s important here is Andy Robertson is a blocker at the front who stops Kevin De Bruyne getting the ball.There’s also three other blockers on the edge, and City are not marking Salah.Liverpool used clever blockers at set-piecesThis freed up space for Salah to make an impactLiverpool identified City sit just outside the six-yard box, so there’s a huge open space to the edge of the penalty area.Blockers stop the City players coming out, the ball is flicked round the corner, Salah is in loads of space.After the goal, it also created indecision from City so the rest of Liverpool’s set-pieces were very dangerous.City fell for it hook, line and sinker. A bit lucky with the deflection, but you earn your luck.SZO-BOSSING ITSZOBOSLAI was the best player on the pitch other than Salah. He’s the player who carries out the manager’s duties for him.The midfielder breaks from a third-man run. The ball gets played back into Salah’s feet.He pops it back to Trent Alexander-Arnold and they know the ball’s going over the top.Szoboszlai runs into that space for the trick. He’s offside and Ake’s left in there. The focus is on Szoboszlai.Szoboszlai tricked City’s defence with his runsThe ace made sure he was not offside, allowing Salah to sneak in behindThis is like a decoy runner in order for Salah to get in, a ghost run.Then the offside player joins in again. He’s in an offside position, but he’s not offside because he’s not touching the ball, he’s not impacting the play.But what he’s doing is impacting a defender’s ability to defend Salah. He goes into that space, Gvardiol turns his back and Ake comes across.They all think it’s offside and slow down, but as the ball’s in the air, Salah then runs.Salah’s onside and takes the ball, Szoboszlai peels off, gets into the space and Salah gives him the ball — goal.It’s a new phase of play, Salah’s not offside, City all drop off. There’s a big space in front and Jones also blocks Khusanov. Just brilliant.IT’S 4-4-2 AGAINOLD school stuff. A big reason Liverpool are top is Arne Slot can adapt his formation to play against whatever he’s facing.This was 4-4-2 out of possession, so no striker. Salah on the right, Diaz on the left.But with no striker they played Jones and Szboszlai as vertical runners, the two up front.Liverpool’s versatility saw them switch to a 4-4-2 shapeThey remained solid despite players changing positionsGravenberch and Mac Allister could then separate with Jones and Szoboszlai coming into the two.And it meant the attacking players then were the wingers. So four defensive players keeping it compact in the middle, with Diaz and Salah the outballs.It was lovely from Slot, Liverpool were so comfy out of possession and were actually more dangerous because they move out of their positions and then go. VAN DIJK STOPS CITY ATTACKYOU could see Van Dijk and Slot communicating early on.They know what they’re doing. There was a message from the bench, and it was as simple as: Virgil, you go.Phil Foden was kept far away from Liverpool’s goal by Virgil van DijkVan Dijk doesn’t normally do that. He marshals that back line and stays in it. But this time he was told to go out and engage Phil Foden.He was told: Don’t be frightened to go out and do it. Konate is going to cover the space for Omar Marmoush to run in behind.READ MORE SUN STORIESIt evolved into Mac Allister dropping into pockets that Foden was picking up, so Van Dijk’s coming one way and Mac Allister’s blocking the space.In the second half they even sacrificed Salah going forward for some defending as well. It was the perfect away performance. More

MARC CUCURELLA has revealed he watches the same classic film with his family TWICE a day, EVERY day.The Chelsea star, 26, has cemented himself as a key man under Enzo Maresca this season following a £62million move from Brighton in 2022.Marc Cucurella has revealed his favourite filmCredit: ReutersThe ace named a surprise flick that he watches with his young familyCredit: Instagram @cucurella3Cucurella has played 29 times for the Blues since leading Spain to Euros glory last summer.And he is determined to help Chelsea get back on track for a top four finish after a disastrous run of form.Off the pitch, Cucurella is just as committed to the cause, playing the role of doting dad and partner.The ex-Barcelona and Brighton man has been with girlfriend Claudio Rodriguez since 2018.READ MORE IN FOOTBALLThey met when Cucurella was still at the Nou Camp.And she moved with him to the UK when he joined Brighton in 2021.They share three children together in Mateo, Rio and Claudia.But looking after his young family means Cucurella has been left with a limited options of movies to watch.Most read in FootballBEST FREE BETS AND BETTING SIGN UP OFFERSAnd one classic film for kids gets played regularly in his household as a result.Speaking to TNT Sports, Cucurella revealed that his favourite film is none other than Disney epic The Lion King.Rapper Central Cee is lost for words when Chelsea’s Marc Cucurella serenades him The original Lion King came out in 1994, with its remake released in 2019Credit: RexThe original movie was released in 1994, four years before Cucurella was born, and follows lion Simba as he avenges his father’s death at the hands of his uncle Scar.And with his young children loving the movie too, Cucurella admits that The Lion King gets played several times a day in his house.The ace said: “(My favourite film?) The Lion King.“I watch it maybe twice each day, so I want to choose this one.” More