Sarri: Hazard can score 40 this season
Eden Hazard is being tipped to win the Premier League golden boot, following his hat trick in Chelsea’s 4-1 victory over Cardiff on Saturday.
The triple means the Belgian playmaker has scored five goals in five matches - and Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri believes his star man can score 40 during the 2018-19 campaign.
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Sarri told Sky Sports: “We have spoken and I told him he can score 40 goals. He has to improve some things, but he can do it.”
Chelsea are top of the Premier League on goal difference, ahead of Liverpool. Both sides have a 100% winning record from their opening five league matches.
Crisis not over yet for West Ham
Next weekend will see Chelsea travel to London rivals West Ham, who have broken their losing run with a 3-1 win over Everton.
Manuel Pellegrini’s side had lost their first four matches, but two goals from Andriy Yarmolenko and another from Marko Arnautovic sealed a vital victory at Goodison Park on Sunday.
The BBC’s Leon Osman says that the crisis for the Hammers, who spent £100m during the summer transfer window, is “not over yet - but they have a system that works”.
“The result West Ham got at Goodison Park was huge, and the level of the performance they produced to get it will have given them massive encouragement,” said Osman. “My only worry if I was in their dressing room would be to make sure that their players maintain it.”
Kane and Spurs need to raise their game
Harry Kane’s fitness was a major talking point last week ahead of Tottenham’s home clash against unbeaten Liverpool.
Kane is “struggling”, says The Guardian’s David Hytner - but the striker’s form is not the only worry for a “limp” Spurs side that were lucky to only lose 2-1 at Wembley on Saturday.
“The problems were technical - throughout the line-up - and it is difficult to ignore the feeling that something is not right at Spurs,” said Hytner. “Next up for them is the Champions League opener at Internazionale on Tuesday. Kane is not the only one who needs to raise his game at San Siro.”
Pep unhappy with City stars
Premier League champions Manchester City secured a “routine” 3-0 win against Fulham on Saturday, but boss Pep Guardiola was not happy with his side’s display, Metro reports.
Despite dominating with goals from Leroy Sane, David Silva and Raheem Sterling, City were wasteful and missed a number of chances.
The side will play Lyon in the Champions League this week, and Guardiola wants to see a big improvement. He said: “So one guy has the ball and they miss the ball and an extra simple pass, an extra touch, an extra touch and after miss the pass, that is why I am still angry. I am upset with my players and they know that.
“We spoke about that many times, about goals or assists or dribbling. [A mistake] doesn’t matter, but control the ball and pass the ball simple. If they miss that - and there was many of that - that’s why [in training] I am going to show them we can improve.”
Burnley bottom after fourth successive defeat
Burnley are still without a Premier League win and are bottom of the table with just one point from their opening five matches.
After losing 1-0 at Wolves yesterday, Burnley boss Sean Dyche admitted his struggling side are in a “bit of a fog”. He told the BBC: “Attacking wise, we were nowhere near enough. We are in a bit of a fog at the moment. Collectively we need to get out of it. You have to work to change it, so that’s the key.
“But we have been down this road before and we've managed, along with the players, to pull out of the fog.”
Premier League results and fixtures
This weekend’s results
- Tottenham Hotspur 1 Liverpool 2
- AFC Bournemouth 4 Leicester City 2
- Chelsea 4 Cardiff City 1
- Huddersfield Town 0 Crystal Palace 1
- Manchester City 3 Fulham 0
- Newcastle United 1 Arsenal 2
- Watford 1 Manchester United 2
- Wolverhampton Wanderers 1 Burnley 0
- Everton 1 West Ham United 3
Tonight’s fixture
- Southampton vs. Brighton & Hove Albion (8pm, live on Sky Sports)
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