Sunderland and the North East in general have some of the most passionate fans in the country, week upon week both Sunderland and Newcastle produce great home support and fill out their stadiums. When you consider that they both have capacities of near 50,000 that is an incredible following. But certainly within the last few years they have struggled to generate any foothold in the Premier League.
David de Gea's move was billed as the biggest transfer of the summer between two of the game’s biggest clubs in Manchester United and Real Madrid. The last transfer between these two clubs was the £80 million transfer of Cristiano Ronaldo.
It will come as no surprise to even the greenest of soccer fans that, while money can’t buy you love, it can certainly buy you a solid full-back or a game-changing winger with quicksilver in his heels and an eye for goal. And a lot of money (£5.13bn or $7.91bn to be precise), spread across the Premier League’s 20 clubs, can buy a lot of quality players – and, in turn, a bigger and better Premier League TV deal – or so conventional logic would have us believe.
Chelsea travel to St James’ Park this weekend to face second-from-bottom Newcastle United, and will do so without suspended striker Diego Costa. Heading into this fixture last season, Chelsea were flying high at the top of the table, unbeaten in the league after 14 fixtures.
When a football fan thinks of London, images of Chelsea blue or insanely tight Arsenal jerseys might be the first things that jump to mind. And while those two clubs along with Tottenham, West Ham and Crystal Palace command most of the attention throughout London, nine other teams from England’s top four leagues play throughout the capital.
Anyone who witnessed the pantomime that was Chelsea vs. Arsenal will have seen Diego Costa doing his very best impression of Tony Montana, albeit without the machine guns and enormous pile of cocaine. Of NBC’s circa 10 minute highlight reel, roughly five were dedicated to Costa’s shenanigans, first against Laurent Koscielny and then Gabriel.
Major League Soccer take notice – Chelsea’s John Terry may be set to transfer from Stamford Bridge at the end of this season.
Last season Terry was regarded by many as one of the top defenders in the Premier League. Despite his age and history of injuries, the captain has experienced a renaissance during Jose Mourinho’s second stint at Chelsea manager, leading the west London club to the league cup and Premier League double.
Ever wondered who the top scorers in EPL history are? We've collected the top 25 scorers, how many goals they scored and the teams they played for in the EPL.
1. Alan Shearer: 260 goals (Newcastle, Blackburn Rovers and Southampton)
2. Andy Cole: 188 goals (Arsenal, Fulham, Newcastle, Manchester United, Blackburn Rovers, Manchester City, Portsmouth, Sunderland, Nottingham Forest)
3. Wayne Rooney: 187 goals (Everton, Manchester United)
4. Frank Lampard: 176 goals (West Ham, Chelsea, Manchester City)
5. Thierry Henry 175 goals (Arsenal)
It's no surprise that Sir Alex Ferguson has a special place in his heart for Ronaldo. After all, the legendary Manchester United skipper brought Cristiano Ronaldo up through the ranks at United and, some would argue, cultivated him in his youth to become the world class player he is today. Ferguson has even gone so far as to say that Ronaldo is, in a nutshell, a better player and asset to a team than Messi.
This Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off in the Barclays Premier League sees BFFs 4 EVA Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger square off at Stamford Bridge for the 15th time as Arsenal travel to Chelsea. Wenger has only bested his Portuguese adversary once in 14 previous attempts, and never in a Premier League tie. Yet while the Gunners come into the tie sitting fully 13 places higher than Chelsea, they also follow a very underwhelming Champions League performance against Dinamo Zagreb, a tie which they lost 2-1.