English Premier League: Chelsea braced for reunion with Suarez

Blues to take on Liverpool at home with only one point separating the two.

LONDON:

Liverpool striker Luis Suarez will come up against Chelsea on Sunday for the first time since being banned for biting the London club’s defender Branislav Ivanovic last season.

The incident, in a 2-2 draw at Anfield in April, saw Suarez widely castigated, and came at a time when Liverpool were drifting towards a fourth consecutive placing outside the league’s top five.

Now, however, they are in the thick of the title race and despite losing 2-1 at Manchester City on Thursday, they visit Stamford Bridge only a point behind Jose Mourinho’s side.



Suarez, meanwhile, is in the best form of his Liverpool career, having scored 19 times in the 13 games. In stark contrast, Chelsea’s three strikers – Fernando Torres, Samuel Eto’o and Demba Ba – have scored only five goals between them.

Mourinho has admitted that he would prefer not to have to expose his team to the threat posed by Suarez.

“Maybe Suarez got a little injury,” joked Mourinho. “I’m not asking for a big injury, a little injury to stop him playing for four days.

“He didn’t start the season due to suspension, but after that the numbers are fantastic,” said Mourinho.

“When he came back, it was a big plus. But let’s be fair: Liverpool did very well without him when he was suspended.”

Liverpool impressed in the game at the Etihad Stadium, and manager Brendan Rodgers is now looking forward to the challenge of tackling Chelsea.

“For us it couldn’t be any tougher,” said Rodgers. “We’re playing against the two teams who arguably have the two best squads in the league.”

Wenger confident after Arsenal silence critics

Arsene Wenger has challenged Arsenal to keep the critics off their backs by winning at Newcastle to end the year as Premier League leaders.

Though the Gunners still haven’t won a trophy since 2005, 2013 will nevertheless go down as one of their more successful years in recent memory.

Yet they have still come in for heavy criticism at times this season, with the defeat at Manchester City sparking renewed claims that Arsenal do not have the mental toughness to win the league.

But Wenger believes that Arsenal finally possess the ingredients to go on and win the title for the first time since 2004.

“We have a good game now on Sunday at Newcastle, who are in full confidence as well, so that will be another test,” he said. “The team wants to do well and the character is great.”

Meanwhile, Tim Sherwood will continue his crash-course introduction to management as he attempts to ensure Tottenham avoid another home disappointment when Stoke visit White Hart Lane.

Sherwood admits chairman Daniel Levy has taken a chance in appointing but is convinced he will rise to the challenge.

“It’s a gamble because I’ve never done it before,” he said. “But there are a lot of good managers who had never done it before and become a success.” 

Published in The Express Tribune, December 29^th, 2013.

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