Chelsea

There was but one major global international soccer tournament in 2021. For some reason, the coach who inspired an underdog victory in that competition wasn’t deemed worthy by FIFA to even be a finalist for the organization’s FIFA Best Coach of 2021 award. Not that we’re the least bit surprised; we’ve long learned to expect the worst from FIFA.

A ridiculous Tottenham own goal helped Chelsea to a 2-0 victory in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semifinal. Ben Davies is the unlucky fellow credited for the own goal. There wasn’t much he could do after his fellow defender Japhet Tanganga headed the ball directly into Davies before nestling into the Tottenham net.

Tottenham Own Goal vs. Chelsea

A crazy own goal.

Tottenham fans, look away now ‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/Ix6I7wqfxj

Liverpool raced to a 2-0 lead after 26 minutes at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, only to watch Mateo Kovačić and Christian Pulisic bring Chelsea level before halftime in a match that finished 2-2 and gave Manchester City a 10-point lead at the top of the Premier League.   

Such has been City's relentless pace that both Chelsea and Liverpool entered knowing that a draw was as good as a defeat, and the Reds had to navigate the match without Jürgen Klopp on the sideline because of COIVD-19. 

LONDON - Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku was left out of the squad to face Liverpool at home on Sunday after saying he was dissatisfied with his role at Stamford Bridge.

The 28-year-old, who signed from Inter Milan in the close season for a club-record $132 million, told Sky Italy recently that he was unhappy with manager Thomas Tuchel's system. Lukaku also said he would like to return to Italy at some point in his career.

Asked about the Belgian international's comments ahead of the Liverpool game, Tuchel said they were "not helpful."

Romelu Lukaku came off the bench to lead Chelsea to a much-needed 3-1 victory at Aston Villa with midfielder Jorginho scoring two penalties in the Premier League on Sunday.

Lukaku has not started a league game since picking up an injury in October and missed the last two games after testing positive for COVID-19. But the Belgian transformed his team's display after coming on at halftime at Villa Park, providing a constant threat, putting his side ahead and then earning the late penalty that secured the three points for Thomas Tuchel's side.

RABAT — Hakim Ziyech was the notable absentee as Morocco coach Vahid Halilhodzic on Thursday named his squad for next month's Africa Cup of Nations finals in Cameroon.

The Chelsea winger had a fallout with the coach earlier this year and was overlooked for the six World Cup qualifiers played between September and November, making his omission no shock although the Dutch-born Ziyech is seen as Morocco's key player.

Christian Pulisic is in a bit of a form slump heading into the holidays with only one goal in his last 11 appearances. An inconsistent number of starts can be attributed to the poor form with only four of those 11 appearances being starts. Another issue comes in the form of a question. What position does Pulisic play?