Chelsea will be without Nicolas Anelka, Michael Essien and Deco for the Christmas program, the Premier League leaders said on Wednesday.
With Didier Drogba also about to depart for Africa Cup of Nations duty, Chelsea’s squad is suddenly at full stretch and coach Carlo Ancelotti said it was a chance for some of the fringe players to make their mark.
“Anelka has a small muscle problem, but he is not ready to play these games,” Ancelotti told Chelsea’s Web site. “We have some problems because we have to play without Anelka, Essien and Deco in these games.”
Chelsea face Birmingham City away tomorrow and Fulham at home on Monday, hoping to consolidate their four-point lead at the top of the league.
Drogba will play at Birmingham where he will be partnered up front by former Manchester City youngster Dean Sturridge, but that could be his final appearance before joining up with his Ivory Coast colleagues.
“Sturridge has a good opportunity to show his quality,” Ancelotti said. “He played against West Ham very well in the second half and against Birmingham can play from the beginning. I have a lot of confidence in my strikers, not only Drogba, not only Salomon Kalou, not only Anelka, also Sturridge and [Fabio] Borini. Against Fulham, maybe, we have only Sturridge and Borini, but in January we have Anelka.”
Ancelotti is aware that Chelsea are not firing on all cylinders, having won just once in their last six matches, and stressed the importance of the Christmas fixtures against two of the country’s in-form teams.
“It’s very important,” he said. “We are in a very good position, we are four points top, it’s not our best moment because we didn’t play well the last games, but for this we have to stay concentrated and focused to try to win. We play against very strong teams, Birmingham arrived from five consecutive victories and one draw. They are difficult to play, they are very strong and work hard for 90 minutes with a lot of pressure. It is a difficult game for us.”
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was