Chelsea are looking to once again flex their financial muscle by reportedly making a move for Manchester United star Dean Henderson.
Henderson has impressed in the Premier League on loan at Sheffield United this season, and is widely being tipped as the future England No.1.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has confirmed that Henderson will at some point be first choice at United, but he may have to wait his turn with David de Gea currently in possession of the jersey.
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And Chelsea have smelt an opportunity to lure Henderson away from Old Trafford, according to The Sun.
Frank Lampard is seemingly on the look out for a new goalkeeper as Kepa Arrizabalaga has so far failed to adapt to life in the Premier League – we suggest he’s among six players facing a nine-game audition for their futures.
Andre Onana, Nick Pope and Fraser Forster have all been linked with a move to Stamford Bridge, and Henderson appears to have been added to that list, with Chelsea readying a serious bid.
Henderson knows that he is likely be loaned out again if he commits to a new United deal, whereas Chelsea offer a genuine chance of first team football.
Virgil van Dijk has fired a Premier League warning shot that champions-elect Liverpool can get better.
The imperious Holland centre back is itching to drag Liverpool across the line to their first top-flight title since 1990 – but insisted Jurgen Klopp’s men still have plenty more thirst for trophies.
The league resumption will allow the Reds to round off a remarkable domestic campaign, and Van Dijk believes sealing the title can help Liverpool reach yet greater heights next term.
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“With two wins, we will be champions; but it doesn’t stop there,” Van Dijk told the Mail on Sunday. “We want to keep going, we want to take it into next season as well because that will start pretty quickly after the last game of this season.
“The manager spoke to us as well and said that what we do in these last nine games will set the tone for next season as well.
“We have not won the title yet. We have not won anything yet. But the aim is to start next season in the same fashion.
“We can be a team that can keep progressing. We have players who can progress and make big steps in their development. Winning the league would be a big experience that could take them to the next level.”
Liverpool are gearing up for their return to league action with a Sunday night trip to Goodison Park for the small matter of a Merseyside derby.
While the closed-doors nature of the league’s return continues to provide eerie backdrops, Van Dijk and company already have eyes on the ultimate prizes in both the short and long term.
And the 28-year-old insisted Liverpool will go all-out for multiple Premier League crowns now that their first is finally again within touching distance.
“If we win the title this season, we will try to retain it,” said Van Dijk. “That’s what we are aiming for but everyone knows how difficult it is to retain the title, especially in England and we are not there this season yet.
“We tried to retain our Champions League title and it wasn’t possible. It’s very difficult.
‘We will try to focus on the nine games we have left but we hope to set the pace for the rest of next season with the title behind our name and defend the title as well.”
Arsenal chucked away a valuable three points as Brighton came from a goal down to beat them 2-1 with the Gunners slipping further off the Champions League places. It was a ‘new normal’ at the Amex Stadium but the same old Arsenal.
Following the heavy defeat to Manchester City in midweek, where they failed to muster a shot on target in 90 minutes, Mikel Arteta lined up without the banned David Luiz after his woeful performance. That display was blamed solely on the Brazilian – who came out and apologised – but there were no excuses here.
Arsenal flew out the blocks early on as they tried to set the tone for their second match back following the resumption of the Premier League. Bukayo Saka – who was brilliant throughout – came the closest for the Gunners in the opening stages, hitting the cross bar after only eight minutes before Alexandre Lacazette had his shot inside the box blocked by the sliding Lewis Dunk.
Lacazette had the Gunners’ other two best chances of the first-half, firstly forcing a save from Mat Ryan with a diving header before he misjudged a Saka cross and failed to connect with the ball in the area. Lacazette was afforded a start by Arteta after failing to start any of the Gunners’ last three Premier League matches.
For the most part, Arsenal looked the most likely to score but it took a wonderful second-half effort from Nicolas Pepe to break the deadlock. The Ivorian picked up the ball just inside the area, manipulated the ball onto his left foot before lofting a lovely curled effort over Mat Ryan and into the net. ‘Why not Pepe?’ asked Will Ford in midweek after their defeat at City. Despite the fabulous goal, Pepe’s other contributions were still lacking and his place in the team could still be under threat.
Gary Neville was “stunned” midweek by the Gunners’ decision to fly up to Manchester only hours before their match against the Citizens. And their coach trip over to Brighton looked like it could pay dividends with Arteta’s side looking slick going forward and playing at a good tempo for the majority of the match. But just as you think they have a produced a solid away display, you remember: Arsenal can’t defend. Rob Holding’s attempted clearance during a scramble in the area resulted in the ball bouncing off Lewis Dunk as Brighton equalised. Then just before the end, disaster struck.
To be fair to Neal Maupay and Arsenal, Brighton’s winner was a lovely bit of build-up play, finished off with a lovely flick over the goalkeeper by the Frenchman. Maupay certainly failed to endear himself to the Arsenal players, especially Matteo Guendouzi, as there were scuffles at full time with the Gunners clearly unhappy about his challenge on Bernd Leno, who was stretchered off midway through the first half. After the match, Maupay stoked the flames further, he said: “The Arsenal players need to learn humility and they got what they deserved.”
His challenge on Leno certainly seemed innocuous enough but the Arsenal players will no doubt be upset another one of their team-mates looks set to spend some time in the treatment room after losing Pablo Mari and Granit Xhaka to injury on Wednesday. Rather than start trying to fight opposition players maybe the Gunners should look to blame each other for their latest two losses, which only serve to add to doubts they will qualify for Europe this season.
Fellow European chasers such as Sheffield United and Wolves would’ve held on to those points, but not Arsenal. The result leaves them eight points off fourth with eight games remaining, while even fifth place looks very tricky as they sit six points behind Manchester United.
Arsenal have a new manager in place but the same old problems exist as their soft underbelly is once again exposed. It could take longer than expected for Arteta to turn this ship around.
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Audrey Tautou et Romain Duris se donneront la réplique chez Michel Gondry dans “l’Ecume des jours”, l’adaptation du roman de Boris Vian.
Contrairement aux rumeurs circulant depuis quelques jours Audrey Tautou n’arrête pas le cinéma! Son agent vient en effet d’annoncer à l’AFP que l’actrice jouera aux côté de Romain Duris dans l’adaptation du roman de Boris Vian, L’ Ecume des jours que réalisera Michel Gondry. L’histoire de L’ Ecume des jours raconte l’histoire d’amour fou entre Colin et Chloé. Mais la jeune fille est victime d’une étrange maladie : un nénuphar pousse dans ses poumons, l’empêchant peu à peu de respirer. Le tournage débutera au mois de mars 2012. Audrey Tautou et Romain Duris se retrouveront peu de temps plus tard au casting de Casse-tête chinois (la suite de L’Auberge Espagnole et des Poupées russes) de Cédric Klapisch.
Laëtitia Forhan avec l’AFP
Formula 1 bosses are looking to use a customised contact tracking app to help keep the paddock and pit lane safe from coronavirus once the season finally gets underway next month at the Red Bull Ring.
The initiative is in addition to the new ‘code of conduct’ announced this week that lays out mandatory rules for team personnel, circuit staff and other event attendees will have to follow to avoid spreading the virus.
FIA safety director Adam Baker said such measures were key to avoiding a repeat of the situation in Melbourne in March, when the season opener was cancelled at the last minutes due to a member of the McLaren team working at Albert Park Circuit testing positive for COVID-19.
“One of the key areas in holding a successful event, and learning the hard lessons from Melbourne, is in having precise contact tracing,” Baker told the FIA’s eConference 2020 as reported by Motorsport.com.
- COVID-19 protocols will ‘challenge’ crews in the garage – Green
“[It also means] having a rapid testing capability so we can accurately determine people who may have been affected.
“Those people can then be quickly quarantined, and then they can be quickly tested, and released from quarantine if they’re found to be negative.”
Track and trace technology uses mobile phone technology such as Bluetooth to register who the owner has come into close and prolonged proximity with. If somone later tests positive for coronavirus, then everyone they’ve been in contact with can immediately be warned and told to undergo an immediate test.
Countries around the world are already using or developing track and trace systems for the general public, but Baker acknowledged that sporting events required a different level of accuracy in order to be truly effective.
“We reviewed what was available for contact tracing solutions,” he said. “And we quickly came to the conclusion that we would need to have something which was specifically designed for motorsport events.
“In particular, we wanted to have an adjustable sensitivity, which was not available in anything we had access to.
“We also wanted to have the ability to verify test results before they were entered into the system, to prevent any type of misuse or accidents,” he added.
Baker explained that it was important to avoid situations “that could cause groups to be locked in or confined into quarantine when in fact they hadn’t been in contact with anyone who was infected.
“We also needed to address concerns in regard to data protection laws, which has been done in the development of this solution,” he said, since the technology will be shared with national sporting associations around the globe to use in local competitions.
Haas F1 principal Guenther Steiner explained how the system would look from the team’s perspective.
“There will be an app, which we haven’t seen yet, so we can monitor the situation [to see] who the person infected was in contact with,” he said.
“[Protocols are] in place so that you can really see who he was in contact with the app. And if the app is not used, they need to tell us who they were in contact with and then you take [them] out.”
Steiner also described how team members working at the venue will use ‘bubbles’ to limit the risk of contagion in the event of an outbreak.
“They split it up in bubbles, everything is in bubbles!” he said. “Maybe six people have to go out of the paddock and be replaced with new people.
“We have some people standing by in the factory, are tested, who could go at any time,” he continued. “But they are prepared, they are tested. They are ready to go if needed. But we are not taking them there and having them sit in the hotel!
“If there are too many [team members testing positive] I think the protocol is that that team doesn’t participate in the race.”
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