Chelsea are seemingly starting to build some serious momentum.

On Saturday lunchtime, the Blues swatted aside Nottingham Forest 3-0 at the City Ground; Josh Acheampong breaking the deadlock, Pedro Neto firing home a free-kick and then Reece James making the points secure.

This result saw Ange Postecoglou sacked as Forest manager mere moments after full-time, ending his 39-day tenure.

Meantime, that’s now back-to-back league wins for Enzo Maresca’s team, who will take on Ajax in the Champions League on Wednesday, but the Blues boss will be concerned by his growing list of absentees.

Levi Colwill, Benoît Badiashile, Wesley Fofana, Enzo Fernández, Dário Essugo, Cole Palmer and Liam Delap all missed out due to injury, while Malo Gusto’s stoppage-time red card means he will sit out next weekend’s clash with Sunderland suspended, with João Pedro already banned for the Champions League tie.

Of course, one of these absentees is significantly more noteworthy than the others, so how should Maresca fill the void of his talisman?

The latest on Cole Palmer's injury

In his pre-match press conference on Friday, Maresca confirmed that Cole Palmer will be sidelined “for another six weeks”.

The 23-year-old has been plagued by injury issues throughout this season already, withdrawing following the warm-up at West Ham in August, before hobbling off inside 20 minutes at Old Trafford last month, not seen since.

With fierce London derbies against both Tottenham and Arsenal to come in November, as well as a Champions League clash against Barcelona, not having Palmer available for these games would be a major blow.

Minutes

3,191

2nd

Goals

15

1st

Assists

8

1st

Shots

121

1st

Shots on target

44

1st

Key passes

87

1st

Progressive passes

214

2nd

Shot-creating actions

202

1st

Goal-creating actions

15

2nd

Big chances created

24

1st

Attempted take-ons

113

1st

As the table emphasises, in the Premier League last season, Palmer ranked first for pretty much every available attacking metric; the second and third-highest goal-scorers, namely Nicolas Jackson and Noni Madueke, have both been sold.

This time round, despite only starting two matches, accumulating 235 minutes, Palmer has already scored twice, on target against Brentford and Bayern Munich, both on the road.

Maresca added, during his aforementioned press conference, that “to replace Cole is difficult, because Cole is a very important player for us, probably one of the best players in the Premier League, so to replace that kind of player is always difficult… we don’t have another player like Cole, because Cole is unique”.

Of course, he is right, no current member of the Chelsea squad is at Palmer’s level just yet, but which player could get there soon and appears best-suited to start in his absence?

Chelsea's perfect Palmer deputy

Against Nottingham Forest, Maresca deployed a starting lineup surely no one could’ve foreseen, with Gusto alongside Roméo Lavia at the base of midfield, while Andrey Santos, Pedro Neto and Alejandro Garnacho were deployed in-behind João Pedro.

He then made a triple alteration at half-time, Moisés Caicedo, Jamie Gittens and Marc Guiu all introduced, but there was still no room for Estêvão Willian, not brought on until the 78th minute, as he continues to be under-utilised.

In the previous game, the 18-year-old had announced himself to the world by scoring the injury-time winner against Liverpool at Stamford Bridge, connecting with Marc Cucurella’s low cross at the back post.

Despite his tender age, Estêvão arrived in West London with a big reputation, not least after he scored against Chelsea during the Club World Cup quarter-finals for Palmeiras in July.

Even before that, he had been touted as a future global superstar.

Respected analyst Ben Mattinson has labelled him a “future Ballon d’Or winner”, while Brazil’s all-time top-scorer Neymar believes the teenager “will be a genius”, adding that he is a “big talent that is surging in Brazilian football”.

Before joining Chelsea for a reported fee of £29m, Estêvão scored 27 goals and registered 15 assists in only 89 appearances for Palmeiras, winning the Brasileirão title in 2024.

At international level, he scored his first senior goal for Brazil during a World Cup qualifier against Chile at the Maracanã in September, before netting twice as the Seleção smashed Korea Republic 5-0 in Seoul just last week.

Across his final season and a half in the Brasileirão, the youngster scored 13 goals, registered 12 assists, created 12 big chances and completed an average of 2.3 dribbles per 90.

Of course, moving to the Premier League is a step-up, but these numbers should not be dismissed because, according to Global Football Rankings, the top division in Brazil is the ninth-strongest league in the world.

Thus, both in terms of the eye test but also the statistics, Estêvão appears to be, stylistically, the best fit to replace Palmer.

His talent certainly warrants more than the four starts from ten matches he has enjoyed to date, not starting any of the last four matches.

So, with Chelsea’s next three games against Ajax, Sunderland then Wolves in the EFL Cup, Maresca must make Estêvão a central figure in his team as he seeks to find a way to fill Palmer’s void.

Worse than Garnacho: Maresca must axe 4/10 Chelsea flop who had 55% passing

Chelsea were 3-0 winners away to Forest but this star struggled

ByJoe Nuttall Oct 18, 2025

تحدث عمرو السولية، لاعب فريق سيراميكا كليوباترا، عن مواجهة بيراميدز في بطولة كأس السوبر المصري المقامة في الإمارات.

ويلتقي فريق سيراميكا كليوباترا، نظيره بيراميدز في مباراة تحديد المركزين الثالث والرابع من بطولة كأس السوبر المصري 2025.

وكان سيراميكا كليوباترا، قد تلقى الخسارة أمام الأهلي في نصف النهائي بهدفين مقابل هدف، ليفشل في التأهل إلى النهائي، بينما بيراميدز خسر أمام الزمالك.

طالع.. 3 قنوات تنقل مباراة الأهلي والزمالك في نهائي كأس السوبر المصري

وقال عمرو السولية، عبر المؤتمر الصحفي: “نخوض اللقاء من أجل الفوز، للحصول على دفعة معنوية قبل استئناف الدوري”.

ووجه السولية، رسالة لزميله مروان عثمان، قائلًا:” أوجه التهنئة لمروان عثمان بعد اختياره في قائمة منتخب مصر”.

Chelsea legend Frank Lampard was visibly taken aback when a journalist praised him for the work he is doing at Premier League-chasing Coventry City. The former England international took over the Sky Blues just under a year ago when they were hovering above the Championship relegation zone; but now, they are top of the division. And when it was put to him what a great job he was doing, Lampard was touched.

• Lampard moving on from Chelsea failure

  When former Manchester City man Lampard was sworn in at Coventry nearly a year ago, he had a point to prove. Not only because his last managerial stint as Chelsea's caretaker manager was a disaster but his predecessor, Mark Robins, was a very popular figure at Coventry Building Society Arena, having earned them two promotions from League Two, guided them to EFL Trophy success, and led them to an FA Cup semi-final and a Championship play-off final. Now that they are top of the Championship under Lampard, talkSPORT reporter and Coventry fan Anil Kandola took the time to express his gratitude to the ex-Chelsea midfielder.

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  Lampard having 'special' impact at Coventry

  Kandola told Lampard – who nearly led Derby County to the Premier League in 2019, only to lose in the final to Aston Villa – that the impact he has had on Coventry is like nothing he has ever seen before. He also complimented him for igniting the same passion that Robins showed at the club. 

  He said: "My final point is not a question, it's more of a thank you. So obviously you won't know, but I'm actually from Coventry, so I can see probably a lot more than you do in terms of the impact it has in the pubs and the bars everywhere across this city. The impact you’ve had on this team Frank is something I’ve never seen before. The way that this crowd here, on the road and in the pubs, It’s truly special what you’ve created here. Mark Robins, he was so loved before you came in here, and there was a real hesitation, not just from you, your perspective, but just in general, can they really ignite that passion and the love for the game? And you've done that in abundance, so thank you so much for what you've done and best of luck for the rest of the season."

• Coventry leading the way

  Coventry are top of the Championship with 31 points after 14 games. They hold a four-point lead over second-placed Stoke City and have lost just once this season. Lampard has got Sky Blues fans dreaming of returning to the Premier League for the first time since 2001, and it seems he believes as well. 

  He replied: "Well, thank you, and that's an amazing thing that you said there. I'm not stupid. I know we've got some results and we're in a better position now, and I realise that fans are happy with that. But when you say that personally, you talk about pubs and around the city or whatever it is, travelling to games in our bubble sometimes you miss that. You just try and strive to win every game that you possibly can. So when you say that and it feels as big as that, then I really appreciate it and I'll keep trying to keep you happy and try to do the right thing."

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  What comes next for Coventry?

  Coventry, who made it to the Championship play-offs last season before losing to eventual winners Sunderland in the semi-finals, face, arguably, their biggest test of the season when they travel to second-placed Stoke on Saturday in a top-of-the-table clash. If they can come through that unscathed, the Sky Blues may believe the promised land of the Premier League is within their grasp. If they did that, it would be a remarkable turnaround from being in League Two just seven years ago. However, there is still a very long way to go.

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O Palmeiras está sem jogar desde o dia 8 de outubro, quando foi derrotado de virada pelo Santos, por 2 a 1, na Arena Barueri. De lá para cá, os campeonatos pararam por conta da Data Fifa, período que o clube utilizou para aparar algumas arestas. Entre elas estão o reforço na blindagem ao elenco e a busca por uma solução aos vazamentos de informação denunciados por Abel Ferreira. A medida tem surtido efeito.

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+ Veja tabela e classificação do Brasileirão-2023 clicando aqui

É verdade que durante todo esse período o noticiário do clube ficou bastante movimentado, principalmente por conta dos holofotes em cima das declarações de Leila Pereira e da atividade incomum do Verdão no mercado de transferências.

+ Você quer trabalhar no seu clube do coração? Matricule-se no curso Gestor de Futebol e entenda como!

Diante da falta de resultados, da eliminação na Libertadores e do Brasileirão complicado, esse foco fora do time foi bem recebido na Academia de Futebol, que viu o “furacão” passar sem levar problemas para dentro do elenco e da comissão técnica. Os jogadores descansaram, se recuperaram, treinaram e desligaram do “mundo externo”.

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Embora muitas notícias de contratação e de temperatura do Conselho tenham vazado nesses últimos dez dias, as informações de dentro do CT foram praticamente zero. Ninguém ouviu falar da reação de Abel às falas de Leila, nem do sentimento dos jogadores pelo momento turbulento.

Funcionários, pessoas próximas do elenco e da diretoria têm se mantido fechados com receio da busca interna do clube para saber quem é o X9 denunciado por Abel Ferreira, que vazaria informações de escalações e ambiente.

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O objetivo é retomar o “todos somos um”, lema do técnico português, que parecia estar em desuso. Além de, é claro, dar paz ao elenco e à comissão técnica para voltar aos trilhos no Brasileirão e garantir a vaga direta na fase de grupos da Libertadores de 2024.

Se a tentativa do clube era blindar a Academia de Futebol nessa Data Fifa, aparentemente ela foi exitosa. Resta saber até quando e qual resultado todo esse trabalho interno terá daqui para frente nesses 12 jogos finais da temporada 2023.

Tudo sobre

Palmeiras

Coles half-century not enough for Sussex as visitors take early control with the ball

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay22-Jul-2025

Essex 152 for 4 trail Sussex 204 (Coles 52, Porter 4-30) by 52 runsEssex produced an opening day performance against Sussex which belied their disappointing season to date, bottom but one of the championship’s first division, with just one victory. They bundled out Sussex – third in the table – for just 204 in only 52.4 overs and at the close were powerfully placed at 152 for four.Essex’s inability to pair up their opening attack of Jamie Porter and Sam Cook has been a major factor in their poor campaign. Cook has been involved with the England set-up and Porter, on paternity leave, missed the last championship match against Yorkshire.Here, though, they were back in tandem, both hitting a length on a relentless line of third or fourth stump and Porter, with four for 30, was the star of the show. Sussex, though, knowing the Kookaburra ball gets softer, and batting easier, showed a lack of application.Essex won the toss and bowled on a grassy pitch, with a canopy of clouds also promising to assist their seamers.Sussex, who had dropped Tom Clark for the fit-again Tom Alsop, and brought in Ari Karvelas for the rested Ollie Robinson, struggled to overcome the conditions but were also guilty of some indulgent strokeplay.Porter broke through in the ninth over when Daniel Hughes, going for a lavish drive, edged to keeper Michael Pepper. And it was 31 for two in the next over when Alsop, playing forward defensively, edged Cook behind.The relatively inexperienced Khaleel Ahmed replaced Cook at the sea end but there was no let-up for Sussex. Khaleel pitched one up to Tom Haines who went for the drive. But the ball nipped off the pitch and Simon Harmer took the catch at second slip. And it was 64 for 4 in the 18th over when Dan Ibrahim attempted an expansive drive against the same bowler and was caught behind. The players took an early lunch at 69 for four when a second, heavier shower swept over the ground.The in-form James Coles and John Simpson launched a mini-revival with a stand of 56. Coles showed some of the fluency that had brought him 150 against Warwickshire in his previous championship innings. When he played Cook to backward point for a quick single he had reached his half-century from 62 balls, with seven eye-catching fours. But then he played forward to Porter and edged to first slip, and four balls later Fynn Hudson-Prentice nicked off for a duck.Yet again Simpson was required to make the most of diminishing resources. He added 49 for the seventh wicket with Jack Carson, whose five fours included a straight drive off Noah Thain that might have been the shot of the day.The introduction of fourth seamer Thain saw the first drop in the keen accuracy of the Essex attack. But he, too, was good enough to get among the wickets. Carson had made 25 when he edged to Pepper and next ball it was 169 for eight when Simpson prodded only half-forward to Harmer and was caught at slip.When Karvelas flayed to cover for one Sussex had lost three wickets for two runs but last pair Henry Crocombe and Gurinder Sandhu put on 33.When Essex batted Dean Elgar was caught at midwicket, Paul Walter, half forward, was lbw to Carson, Tom Westley was yorked by Sandhu and nightwatchman Cook was caught at leg slip. But they could still be in a very strong position by the second afternoon.

Root’s 150, Pope and Stokes’ fifties leave India playing catch-up

Vithushan Ehantharajah25-Jul-20254:14

Manjrekar: ‘Serious chance’ for Root to break Tendulkar’s record

This is the way Joe Root would have wanted to ascend to No. 2 on the Test run-scoring charts. With an immaculate 150, his 38th century, which did not just certify England’s command of this fourth Test – and, thus, the series – but took it out of India’s reach. They closed day three on 544 for 7, leading by 186 on a deteriorating surface. An innings victory for an insurmountable 3-1 lead in the series is not out of the question.At Old Trafford, a sellout crowd hung on every tuck, flick, dab and drive as England’s greatest batter confirmed, statistically, he was the second greatest of all time. Illuminated by Manchester’s generous Friday sun, Root moved past the greats Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis and Ricky Ponting to sidle up next to Sachin Tendulkar. And though Tendulkar still commands an imposing lead at the summit, England’s own little master is coming for him.It will take time. Certainly longer than it took to knock off three legends in one go. Upon moving to 31, Root snuck past Dravid (13,288) and Jacques Kallis (13,289), bumping the latter off the podium to join Tendulkar and Ponting. And, four minutes before the end of the second session, he walked down to open the face for a single down to third to move to 120, knocking Ponting (13,378) down a peg. The legendary Australian sung Root’s praises on Sky Sports upon being usurped.

The moment Ricky Ponting called Joe Root eclipsing his Test match runs tally in the Old Trafford commentary box! pic.twitter.com/u4NPNsD8m1

— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) July 25, 2025