Man Utd’s Manuel Ugarte in doubt to face Brentford after suffering knock vs Ecuador
The nature of his injury remains unclear, but it raises concerns over his availability for Saturday’s clash at Old Trafford.
Alvaro Morata’s stock may be low at the moment, but the Chelsea striker’s working hard and a video of the 25-year-old Spaniard selling a dummy twice in row en route to chalking up yet another training ground goal has gone viral.
Morata calmly takes out one defender with a dummy, feigning to shoot with his right but instead moving to his left and what’s remarkable is he repeats the same bit of skill to beat the next defender before calmly slotting past the goalkeeper.
Dropped from Julien Lopetegui’s Spain squad to face Germany (March 23) and Argentina (March 27) after being in indifferent form of late, Morata’s come under stinging criticism from all quarters.
Chelsea’s record signing after transferring from Real Madrid for a cool £60 million, Morata hit the ground running in his first season in the Premier League but niggling injuries and a prolonged lack of form have seen him labelled as an expensive flop.
The lanky forward recently opened his account for 2018 with a cool finish past Leicester City goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel in their FA Cup quarter-final fixture on the weekend and Blues fans are hopeful the former Juventus and Real Madrid man can build on that strike and fire Antonio Conte’s men to cup glory.
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Signed to replace compatriot Diego Costa at Stamford Bridge, Morata’s found the going tough as have the rest of his Chelsea teammates to be fair, and talk of the Spaniard seeking a move away from the English capital has been doing the rounds.
Quotes from interviews have appeared to suggest he’s homesick and wants to move back to Spain, something Morata and his manager Conte have repeatedly denied but it remains to be seen whether the 25-year-old will remain a Chelsea player beyond the ongoing season.
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Out of contention in the Premier League and knocked out of the UEFA Champions League by Barcelona, Chelsea are now facing the prospect of not playing in the elite continental competition next season as they trail fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur by five points with just eight games left in the current campaign.
They take on Spurs in the first game after the ongoing international break concludes and will hope to trim the gap to two points when the Lilywhites pay them a visit on April 1.
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The FA Cup remains their sole chance of lifting any silverware this season and the Blues take on Southampton in the semi-final at Wembley Stadium on April 14.
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