My Leagues

Countries

Chelsea show form at the right time

15/02/16

Defoe the key to Sunderland beating Manchester United

Reigning Premier League champions Chelsea’s struggles this season have been well-documented, but this time they produced a dominant performance to defeat struggling Newcastle 5-1 at Stamford Bridge.

 

Pedro scored a brace, with Diego Costa, Willian and youngster Bertrand Traore also getting on the scoresheet. The win showed that the Blues are still capable of producing big performances and play attractive football.

Blues boss Guus Hiddink could have been excused for fielding a weakened team with a crucial Champions League clash to come next week against PSG. Instead the Dutch boss named a strong team and it may just give the Blues some momentum going into the last 16 tie against the big spending French side.

It may just be a good time to face Laurent Blanc’s, as PSG’s 16 matching win run in Ligue One came to an end on Saturday with a goalless draw at the Parc De Princes against Lille.

Winning the Champions League will be Chelsea’s only realistic way of making Europe’s elite competition this season. The Blues are highly unlikely to finish in the top four of the Premier League this season, so entrance next season will depend on Hiddink’s team winning the competition.

Chelsea suffered a last 16 exit at the hands of Blanc’s team last season and will be looking for revenge for that exit. The Blues will certainly now head into the clash in better spirits after that drubbing of Newcastle.

Chelsea will now be full of confidence and fancy their chances of making the last eight of Europe’s elite competition.

Premier League

Major League Soccer Eastern Conference
OVERALL TABLE PTS GP W D L +/-
1
Inter Miami CF 34 16 10 4 2 17
2
FC Cincinnati 33 15 10 3 2 9
3
New York City FC 26 15 8 2 5 3
4
Columbus Crew 24 14 6 6 2 8
5
New York Red Bulls 23 14 6 5 3 4
6
Charlotte FC 22 15 6 4 5 1
7
Toronto FC 22 15 7 1 7 0
8
Philadelphia Union 18 14 4 6 4 4
9
DC United 18 15 4 6 5 -4
10
Nashville SC 16 14 3 7 4 -3
11
Orlando City SC 16 14 4 4 6 -7
12
Atlanta United 13 14 3 4 7 0
13
Montreal Impact 13 14 3 4 7 -14
14
Chicago Fire 11 15 2 5 8 -13
15
New England Revolution 7 13 2 1 10 -17
Major League Soccer Western Conference
OVERALL TABLE PTS GP W D L +/-
1
Real Salt Lake 29 15 8 5 2 13
2
Minnesota United 25 13 7 4 2 7
3
Los Angeles Galaxy 25 15 6 7 2 5
4
Los Angeles FC 24 14 7 3 4 6
5
Austin FC 23 15 6 5 4 2
6
Colorado Rapids 22 15 6 4 5 1
7
Vancouver Whitecaps 19 14 5 4 5 3
8
Houston Dynamo 18 14 5 3 6 -2
9
Seattle Sounders 17 15 4 5 6 0
10
Portland Timbers 16 15 4 4 7 -2
11
Saint Louis City 16 14 3 7 4 -2
12
FC Dallas 13 13 3 4 6 -4
13
Sporting Kansas City 11 14 2 5 7 -4
14
San Jose Earthquakes 11 15 3 2 10 -11

Top trends