EPL: 11th straight win for Antonio Conte's 'fantastic' Chelsea
Antonio Conte celebrates his side's club record-equaling 11th straight EPL win after beating Crystal Palace at Selhust Park.
Chelsea's impressive winning run continued in the English Premier League Saturday as a 1-0 victory at Crystal Palace made it 11 straight to stretch its lead at the top of the standings to nine points.
Since a stuttering start to the campaign under new manager Antonio Conte, the west London side has been in rampant form, with striker Diego Costa grabbing
his 13th goal of the season to clinch the three points at Selhurst Park.
The Spanish star jumped to head Cesar Azpilicueta's cross past Wayne Hennessey in the 43rd minute.
Chelsea might have increased its advantage in the second half against a struggling Palace side which was suffering its second home defeat in a week, beaten 2-1 by Manchester United Wednesday.
Diego Costa heads home the winning goal for Chelsea late in the first half.
The only negative for Conte and his team were bookings picked up by the prolific Costa and midfield dynamo N'Golo Kante which will rule them out of the home game against Bournemouth on Boxing Day.
Arsenal, which plays fourth-placed Manchester City Sunday, and Liverpool, taking on Everton in the Merseyside derby Monday, can cut into Chelsea's lead with their game in hand.
Chelsea was equaling its own club record 11th successive EPL victory, but will need a further three more wins to match the all-time best set by Arsenal in 2002.
Another milestone reached for the Blues was a 500th EPL win, the third best.
"It's my first season in England and to win 14 games out of 17 is fantastic," said former Juventus manager Conte.
In other games Saturday, the highlight was a stirring fightback by champion Leicester at Stoke City.
Trailing 2-0 at halftime with star striker Jamie Vardy sent off, the Foxes were stung into action as substitutes Leonardo Ulloa and Daniel Amartey scored with late headed goals to secure a point for Claudio Ranieri's men.
England striker Vardy went for a two-footed challenge on Mame Diouf with Bojan Krkic from the spot and Joe Allen putting Stoke ahead with the man advantage.
Jamie Vardy of Leicester City is shown a red card by referee Craig Pawson during its match at Stoke City.
Ranieri had to be pulled away from referee Craig Pawson as he protested that decision at halftime, but was delighted by his team's stirring fightback. "It was a fantastic performance, thank you to my players," he told BBC Sport.
Middlesbrough and West Ham pulled themselves clear of the relegation fight with 3-0 and 1-0 home wins over Swansea and Hull respectively, who are both in the bottom three.
Sunderland is also in the drop zone, but a 1-0 home win over Watford was encouraging.
In the late game, Manchester United won its third straight EPL game as Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored in each half in the 2-0 win at West Bromwich Albion, helping his side edge still nearer the top four.
Real Madrid more positive but Barcelona need Clasico win, says Guillem Balague
Guillem Balague reviews the weekend's action and looks towards El Clasico in his latest column
In his latest column, Guillem Balague compares the recent form of Real Madrid and Barcelona ahead of Saturday's El Clasico and answers your Twitter questions.
The two giants of Spanish football meet for the first derby this weekend, but have had differing fortunes in recent weeks that could have an impact on the game.
The Sky Sports expert also looks at the performance of Real Sociedad - who held Barcelona to a 1-1 draw - and takes your questions on El Clasico, Luis Enrique and Malaga's Javier Ontiveros.
Real Madrid always manage much better with the psychological side of things. They only need to have good results - they don't need to have good football - to make them feel strong and that is exactly what they have at the moment.
There is less obsession in Madrid about playing well, it is all about winning, but Barcelona need to play well to win and they haven't been playing fantastically well recently.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice to seal a 2-1 win for Real Madrid against Sporting Gijon to move seven points clear at the top of La Liga
It is not a miracle what Zinedine Zidane is doing. And it is not that complex. They main things I see him doing is having everyone switched on even though at times they lack intensity but when the second-string players like Lucas Vazquez, Nacho and Mateo Kovacic play, they don't let their team down.
He's also managed to convince the front players to defend a bit more, which includes Cristiano Ronaldo. He has also been convinced to be mostly a number nine, which he is accepting more than ever, coinciding with having peaked physically.
It is one of the misunderstandings of the things I have been saying in recent times. I have said for nearly two years he has peaked physically, but it doesn't mean he will stop scoring goals because that's what he does. He is, of course, influential in the box but not so much outside the box in the build-up.
He is a number nine. Lots of people did not accept his influence - such as assists, defensive work and link-up - is diminishing in the games, but it is now very clear to see. Still, his goals makes him perhaps the best striker in the world.
Meanwhile, in the 33 games Zidane has been in charge, he is the best coach ever in terms of points per game ahead of Miguel Munoz, Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola. They are 31 unbeaten, it is clearly not all luck, and on top of what we have mentioned, he has been dealing very well with absence of players because of injury.
This team, as we have been saying for a while, has simplified its resources. It all depends on the front three. The midfielders are runners, they don't control the games.
Graham Hunter joins Guillem Balague to discuss the 2016/17 seaoson's first El Clasico between Barcelona and Real Madrid
Andreas Iniesta is a big miss but they have players like Denis Suarez who can play a different brand of football. Ivan Rakitic can also do that but Andre Gomes is completely lost. The problem is Luis Enrique does not really believe in that style. Sergio Busquets is struggling for reasons we keep explaining. They're not playing to his strengths, they are weakening him with the way the team stretches.
There were 21 long balls from Marc-Andre ter Stegen, which seems to be an overused resource. A lot of those balls and even the ones coming from the defence were in no man's land instead of at least playing to Luis Suarez who can hold the ball.
Barcelona and Real Madrid go head-to-head in El Clasico on Saturday afternoon
Defensively, the team didn't work very well because the front three didn't defend, but the problems go beyond one game. It is just a team that will always win because with that front three, but they are getting fewer collective answers to the problems hence the difficulties they have playing away from home for instance where you need more control and you need more of a team.
Sociedad brilliant with the Barcelona style
Real Sociedad were brilliant in a Barcelona style. Eusebio Sacristan was a player from the dream team and fully believes the style he puts into practice even though at the beginning, many people were doubting if it was the right thing to do with la Real.
Highlights of the La Liga match between Real Sociedad and Barcelona at the Anoeta Stadium
It is a style based in possession, pressure and positioning which is basically the Barcelona style. He showed that it can be done even if you don't have the best players around. They had the right intensity in every single part of the pitch and in every single part of the game. They did very intelligent things with the ball in the midfield of Asier Illarramendi, David Zurutuza and Xabi Prieto.
The disallowed goal should have counted. It would have been the perfect result for Real Sociedad but Gerard Pique and Luis Enrique have said that it was miracle to actually get a point.
Who's the favourite for El Clasico? What is your prediction?
It is very brave on anybody who says who the favourite is but in that kind of game, we have seen it so often where one team looks strong but then it doesn't show it in the game.
I'm not brave enough to say who the favourite is but I can say that Real Madrid comes in with a much more positive dynamic. As I said before, they deal much better with difficulties and Barcelona struggle when they find themselves with a little bit of an identity crisis as they are now.
Real Madrid forward Gareth Bale has been ruled out for up to three months with an ankle injury and will require surgery
But it is a hump and Barcelona need it more than Real Madrid. Someone told me once that the team who needs it more tend to win so I'm going to give it to Barcelona in terms of a prediction.
How highly rated is Ontiveros in Spain after another match-winning performance for Malaga?
He was fantastic. He came on, he was sharp, he was electric and I know Juande Ramos really likes him. He is only 19 and has been at Malaga for six years. You're talking about somebody that is Juanpi gets sold, he could just fill the gap.
Do Barcelona need a coach who is tactically better than Luis Enrique? Someone like Maurico Pochettino or Thomas Tuchel?
I don't think a tactically better manager is the problem, I think the problem is that Luis Enrique believes in the Barcelona that we have seen lately, more direct, depending exclusively on the front three, and he clearly believes that it is the way forward, partly because of the players he has but partly because his way of thinking is closer to that style.
Do Barcelona need a change of manager to improve their form?
Tell me which coach wouldn't give those players the authority and the leadership. They all would but when that happens, unless you work really hard, you lose a lot of things and other stuff that make teams stronger. I don't think Luis Enrique has worked that hard to make the team more controlling or the automatisms - the things teams do without even thinking.
Tuchel doesn't fit Barcelona I don't think but Pochettino does. He has close links to Espanyol and I think if he did coach someone in Spain, it would be Real Madrid.
Given the form of Sandro and Munir, are Barcelona regretting letting them go and getting Paco Alcacer?
Munir is currently on loan at Valencia from Barcelona
It is not about regret and actually, that will have to be decided at the end of the season, but Sandro and Munir would have the same effect or similar for Barcelona as Alcacer in the sense that their influence is so small compared to the front three that you don't get any kind of form or confidence, you start losing it because you spend so much time on the bench.
So it's not about Alcacer and Munir, it is about a team who has given itself to the front three which is normally enough to win as we have seen in recent years.
Who's the key player for Real Madrid in El Clasico?
Luka Modric could be key for Real Madrid in El Clasico, says Balague
I think there will be two: Luka Modric and Kovacic or Caseamiro, whoever plays in that position. This will be two teams that are much more comfortable with counter-attacking so if Real Madrid are able to stop that, put pressure in the right place and once they have recovered the ball, do quick transitions which Modric and Kovacic are in charge of, then it will take the game for Real Madrid.
Do you think Real Madrid are favourites for the La Liga title if they win against Barcelona this weekend?
It is absolutely too early to say, but it will obviously be important, especially with the role Zidane and Real Madrid have going 31 games unbeaten and it will give them an advantage but it is still very early.
La Liga: Luis Enrique blasts Barcelona after Real Sociedad draw; says result was a 'miracle'
Barcelona boss Luis Enrique lamented what he described as the worst display of his time in charge as the Catalan giants escaped with a 1-1 draw at Real Sociedad on Sunday.
Barca have now failed to win in their last eight visits to San Sebastian, but for once the slip-up felt like a victory as Sociedad dominated from start to finish.
"The draw is positive because we take a point from a match in which it was practically impossible to take a point," Enrique told BeIN Sports Spain
"Real Sociedad were infinitely better than us with and without the ball. They won all the battles.
"It is almost a miracle that we took a point."
Barca avoided defeat at Anoeta for the first time in five seasons, but fall six points adrift of La Liga leaders Real Madrid ahead of their meeting in El Clasico next weekend.
"As almost always happens here Real got the better of us and if someone was watching the game without seeing the colour of the shirts they would think the other team was Barca," added Enrique.
Barca failed to muster a shot on target in the first-half and didn't even make it into the Sociedad area until the 41st minute.
However, it took 53 minutes for Sociedad to go ahead when a hobbling Gerard Pique, playing with a heavily strapped ankle, failed to clear Willian Jose's weak header off the line.
Yet, just six minutes later, in Barca's only move of real quality in the 90 minutes, Neymar sprinted clear on the left and his cross was buried into the bottom corner by Lionel Messi.
"Playing like this it will be very difficult to win the league," said Pique.
However, Enrique insisted Barca's league challenge is far from over with just 13 games played and two meetings with Madrid to come.
"That performance has happened I think once in my time at Barca," added the man who has steered Barca to back-to-back La Liga titles.
"It is the first time I have the seen the team clearly inferior to the opponents.
"The positive thing is we will fight for this league until the end and we have to improve on this display without doubt because it is impossible to play worse."
Barca should at least be able to count on Pique for the Clasico with the Spanish international confident he can't shrug off the ankle injury first picked up in a 0-0 stalemate with Malaga last weekend.
"I think so," he replied when asked if he will be fit to start.
"In the first-half I felt the ankle again, but hopefully I will be ok for Saturday."
Facing Osasuna at El Sadar is never an easy task, despite a poor start to the season from the home side, they were desperate for points, and the game was far from a cakewalk for Atleti.
Jose Gimenez was rewarded for a solid midweek performance against PSV with a start this weekend, however his continued issues with making mistakes became an issue once again, conceding a 14th minute penalty.
Thankfully, Jan Oblak saved Roberto Torres’ spot kick, the fourth of his Atleti career. Josema wasn’t entirely convincing in this match, but the clean sheet was maintained, though the Uruguayan may owe his ‘keeper a few drinks for the penalty save.
Yannick Corrasco added the third in added time at the end of the match, capitalizing on a mistake by Miguel Flaño. On 68 minutes, Atleti had a huge penalty appeal waved off after a blatantly deliberate handball was not called by referee Antonio Lahoz.
Like in the PSV game, the midfield partnership of Tiago and Gabi was revived, with Koke and Correa acting as the wingers. Despite the allegedly “permanent” move Koke made to become a central midfielder, again he found himself mostly on the wing, which makes Atleti’s midfield tougher and safer, if less creative. Koke did register an assist from the corner for Godin’s opener, but how he fits into the team long term does remain a question mark.
Atleti are still nine points off of leaders Real Madrid, but only three off of Barcelona and Sevilla in second and third, respectively. Though Real Madrid have a quite substantial lead at the top of La Liga, next weekend’s El Clasico could have big ramifications for the future of the title race in Spain, and whether or not Atleti have a chance at all to win the title.
English Premier League sells China TV rights for £564m
Deal with digital broadcaster PPTV is the league’s biggest ever outside UK Three-year contract will start in 2019, when current deal comes to an end
Premier League club West Brom were bought by a Chinese company in August as links with the country continue to grow.
The Premier League has signed its richest TV deal outside the UK, cashing in on the boom in the sport in China by signing a three-year deal worth $700m (£564m).
The contract, for three years from 2019-20, is with digital broadcaster PPTV, a division of Suning Holdings, and is understood to be worth almost 12 times the existing deal of around $60m over three years with Super Sport Media Group.
Earlier this year, Suning bought a majority stake in Italian giants Internazionale amid an ongoing boom in football investment from China. Both at home and abroad, Chinese interests have invested in the sport as part of a drive by president Xi Jinping to build a “sports economy” built around football.
In taking the unusual step of negotiating a new three-year deal during the first year of the current three-year cycle in both China and the US, the Premier League has already guaranteed $1.2bn in income for its next rights period from 2019-20 to 2021-22.
The unprecedented spending spree in China has led to the Premier League’s biggest overseas deal, topping the $500m that NBC agreed to pay to extend its contract to show the league in the US from 2019-20 to 2021-22.
It also means that the Premier League has two of the biggest markets in the world tied up until 2021-22. Under its existing deals, the Premier League already brings in an estimated £8.3bn over three seasons, including £5.5bn in domestic contracts.
The Premier League shifted strategy in China around a decade ago following an ill-fated deal with a pay TV operator that saw it lose ground to other leagues and other sports, with free to air reach being prioritised over income.
With its new deal, it will hope to balance both. It is understood to include both free to air and regional TV elements, while also allowing a large number of matches to be parcelled up into subscription packages according to PPTV’s wishes.
The news will also come as a tonic to Premier League executives in the wake of a wave of speculation over the cause of a dip in viewing figures in the UK and the US, and a reminder of its commercial pre-eminence over other leagues around the world.
PPTV, a video-streaming website, paid $270m last year for the exclusive media rights to the Spanish soccer league La Liga.
The long-term contract will also give certainty to clubs and is the latest indication that the huge growth in overseas TV income, which has gone from zero to almost £3bn over the past 24 years, has not yet hit a ceiling.
Bournemouth's Eddie Howe not yet ready to take on Arsenal job
As he so often does, Arsene Wenger faces the future on Sunday when he comes up against Bournemouth. Arsenal's fixture lists in recent years have been pockmarked by meetings with men tipped to be his successor, whether it is Owen Coyle, Roberto Martinez or Jurgen Klopp. The Emirates Stadium faithful may be grateful that such predictions about the Scot and the Spaniard never came true and, though some may yearn for the German, he is contracted to Liverpool until 2022.
So Bournemouth's Eddie Howe has, without necessarily wanting to, assumed the mantle of the next Arsenal manager. Named the Football League's manager of the decade, he is the bookmakers' favourite to replace Arsenal's veteran of the past two decades.
The 38-year-old plays a brand of passing football that could make him seem a natural fit. He offers the prospect of loyalty and longevity, two of Wenger's greatest attributes. He has identified and championed young talent such as Jordon Ibe, and displayed an ability to make his clubs money in the transfer market -- most notably Danny Ings and Matt Ritchie. He has even found a way of playing Jack Wilshere regularly (albeit while the midfielder is on loan).
Howe has been a transformative force. He inherited a club sitting 91st in English football when he first took over at Bournemouth; they now stand 10th. None of his peers have provided such exponential improvement, partly because most did not start at such lowly levels. Factor in a clean-cut image, a capacity to talk reasonably and eloquently while clearly motivating and coaching players to achieve more than they have done elsewhere and it could all put Howe in pole position.
It is undeniable that he has done a superb job at Bournemouth and hard to imagine that anyone else would have done better in the same circumstances. Yet the reality is that it is Bournemouth, a small club who often escape scrutiny, that can hide the problems in his candidacy.
When underdogs excel, it tends to be when the odds are stacked against them financially. Not Bournemouth, whose spending has been bigger than is often acknowledged. They were fined £7.6 million for breaching the Football League's Financial Fair Play rules during their 2014-15 promotion season, when they posted a loss of £38.3m. Their wage bill amounted to 235 percent of their turnover. It was scarcely a case of Wengernomics -- of living within their means in shareholder-pleasing fashion.
Then consider their transfer business. Some of it, undeniably, is brilliant. Harry Arter was a £4,000 signing from non-league Woking who has become an accomplished Premier League midfielder. The defiantly unglamorous Steve Cook cost £150,000 and has proved he is worth his place in the world's most glamorous league. Simon Francis was a League One stalwart who now captains a Premier League club. Andrew Surman came for an undisclosed fee and ran most miles in the top flight last season. Callum Wilson's pricetag may have only been £3m but he powered Bournemouth to promotion with 23 goals and has made a mark at the higher level.
But amid the bargain hunting are examples of strange signings and waste. Howe was unfortunate that Tyrone Mings, an £8m buy in 2015, was struck down by injury. Yet with Charlie Daniels proving a revelation at left-back, it was strange to spend a further £6m on Brad Smith -- who has not played a minute of Premier League football. The £7m acquisition Lewis Cook has only played 81 minutes, the £5.4m Lys Moussett only 14. They are 19 and 20 respectively, so their time could come, but £7m went on Lewis Grabban, who has scored one goal in 21 games since returning to the Vitality Stadium, while £10 million Benik Afobe has done better, but only to the tune of four in 25.
The experienced duo of Glenn Murray and Lee Tomlin came last summer for a combined £7.5m, much of which will never be recouped, and mustered only four goals between them. The second-string side that lost to Preston in the EFL Cup cost around £50m. Perhaps it is not quite the fairytale it seems. Perhaps Howe's record is sufficiently mixed to say he can be both canny buyer and spendthrift.
If Bournemouth sometimes pay over the odds, it is because they invariably buy from the British market. That may not serve as a qualification to manage Arsenal's more cosmopolitan squad. Howe would be utterly untried at a key part of the job. Apart from former club record buy Tokelo Rantie, who made a negligible impact after costing around £2.5m, he has rarely scouted abroad.
Perhaps more significantly, there is a glass ceiling for teams who are overwhelmingly English: it used to be around fifth place. Now it may be nearer 10th. Given the shortage of high-class locals and the numbers of them owned by the elite clubs, it is hard to get higher without at least half the side being comprised of foreign talent these days.
Howe has fielded up to nine English players in his starting XI this season. The appeal of such a move stretches beyond traditionalists and the more parochial. He has shown players from the lower leagues can perform in the Premier League in the right environment, yet ultimately that is not a qualification to take over at the Emirates Stadium as much as a reason for the FA to pursue him in the future.
Howe would be an imperfect fit as Arsenal manager and a much better one for England. There are more reasons to anoint him Gareth Southgate's eventual replacement than Wenger's.
Tottenham face acid test of Premier League title credentials at Chelsea
Every team with aspirations of success faces a pivotal period when those ambitions are given the sternest test. Mauricio Pochettino will know that his Tottenham Hotspur players now stand on the verge of the fortnight which could make or break their season and may even affect the long-term destiny of the club itself.
Unbeaten in the Premier League so far this term, Spurs travel to Stamford Bridge on Saturday aiming to claim three points away to Chelsea for the first time since February 1990.
Last season's trip to west London, when Tottenham's title hopes died on May 2 last season as they surrendered a two-goal first-half lead to draw 2-2, offers a glimpse into the psychological battle that Pochettino's team must overcome this weekend before they can even focus on beating Chelsea on the pitch.
But the trip to Chelsea is only the first staging post of three games -- assuming they make easy work of bottom club Swansea at White Hart Lane on Dec. 3 -- which culminate in the Dec. 11 encounter with Manchester United at Old Trafford.
Four days prior to the clash with Jose Mourinho's team, Spurs must negotiate a Champions League game which now means nothing against CSKA Moscow at Wembley, fully aware that the only result which works in their favour against the Russians would be a defeat that would ensure they avoid having to honour Europa League commitments in the second half of the season.
Win or draw, and Spurs must then prepare for the unwanted burden of Thursday night football, just as their pursuit of the Premier League title will be entering its most crucial phase.
Europe has become a major problem for Spurs in the wake of their Champions League elimination at the hands of Monaco in midweek.
Juggling Premier League and Champions League commitments has, predictably, drained Tottenham's resources and perhaps played a central factor in their inability to turn any of their six league draws into victories.
Despite remaining unbeaten, six draws from 12 games is why Spurs go into their clash with Chelsea lying outside the top four. They are already having to play catch-up, so the distraction of the Europa League is hardly going to help in that regard. But it is likely going to be a problem they are simply going to have to deal with.
Yet how they fare against Chelsea and United will tell us how Spurs are likely to proceed for the remainder of the season, with or without the Europa League. Quite simply, it is time for Tottenham and Pochettino to live up to the hype and deliver when it matters.
Any failure to do so will leave them as also-rans in the title race and set up a potentially destructive summer in 2017, with a clutch of young players such as Harry Kane, Dele Alli and Eric Dier who may wonder whether their ambitions can be satisfied at a club unable, or unwilling, to pay the same astronomical wages as domestic rivals -- particularly Manchester City and Manchester United, who stand alone in their ability to outspend the rest.
If they come through the trips to Chelsea and United with six points, Spurs will find themselves justifiably billed as title contenders, but do they have it in them to win at Stamford Bridge and Old Trafford?
Michael Steele
The answer is yes, of course. On their day, as Spurs displayed when defeating Man City 2-0 at White Hart Lane in early October, they produce arguably the most effective football in the Premier League.
On that day, Spurs out pressed, out ran and out-scored a previously unbeaten City, but they have won just once in nine games in all competitions since then -- a dramatic injury-time win against West Ham -- and have proved unable to build on a result that had many billing the club as title favourites.
Injury-enforced absences suffered by the likes of Kane and Toby Alderweireld have not helped, but Tottenham's loss of form without two of their key players points to a lack of depth in Pochettino's squad, with struggling Dutch forward Vincent Janssen exposing a failure to recruit properly over the summer.
The game against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge is now an acid test of their credentials.
The negative history there is one thing, but Antonio Conte's team are beginning to blow teams away at Stamford Bridge -- they have hit 12 without reply in their last three home outings, against Leicester, United and Everton -- and will be confident of doing the same against a Spurs stide still licking their wounds from the Champions League humiliation in midweek.
Failure at Chelsea will cast Tottenham adrift in the title race and leave them fighting a battle to finish in the top four, which is why the trip to United would then become so important.
Currently lying fifth, Spurs are just one place, and five points, above Mourinho's spluttering United.
Win at Old Trafford and Spurs would pull clear of United, consigning them and Mourinho into a five-month slog for an unwanted Europa League spot. But lose and they would energise a powerful rival -- one which would also dearly love to prise Kane away from White Hart Lane -- and leave growing question marks over the prospects of Pochettino's squad realising their potential at the club.
It just needs a couple of victories at Chelsea and United to banish the storm clouds currently gathering over White Hart Lane; the next few games will be crucial.
Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal lead Premier League support for Rainbow Laces 2016 campaign
Premiership Rugby, English Football League and the Rug by Football Union are also involved in the scheme to raise awareness in both professional and amateur sport
Mancester United, Liverpool and Arsenal head a Premier League contingent to join Premiership Rugby, Football Association, English Football League, Rugby Football Union and sports clubs around Britain in taking part in the Rainbow Laces takeover this weekend.
The campaign aims to show support for lesbian, gay, bi and trans players and fans.
Rainbow Laces-themed activities will take place
21-27 November across both professional and grass roots sports clubs.
The Premier League have been actively involved and will prominently feature the campaign at all games this weekend.
Perimeter advertising and a giant Premier League Rainbow Laces flag to open games are amongst the additional acts of support.
Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool FC, and Hull City are all involved
Players across the country in the Premier League will wear the rainbow-coloured shoe laces to tackle LGBT discrimination
In addition to Premier League Clubs, teams from the Championship, League One and League Two, English Football League, Premiership Rugby and Welsh Rugby will also be involved.
Numerous players will don the Rainbow Laces during training and games, while the Wembley Arch will also be lit up in rainbow colours on Saturday 26 November.
The initiative follows Stonewall research that shows 72 per cent
football fans have heard homophobic abuse at grounds around the country.
The research, conducted by ICM, also demonstrated that the majority of fans would welcome fans from the LGBT community. Moreover, 63 per cent said more should be done to integrate the LGBT community into sport.
A film has been released to demonstrate the effects of homophobic, biphobic and transphobic language, including Team GB canoeing champion Matt Lister, Sophie Cook, club photographer for AFC Bournemouth, and former England and Team GB women’s football captain Casey Stoney.
Premier League Executive Chairman, Richard Scudamore, said: "The Premier League is all about exciting, passionate and unpredictable football that is for everyone, everywhere.
"The Rainbow Laces campaign complements the work clubs are doing to promote inclusion and diversity in their stadiums, and across all levels of the sport.
"Our support for the campaign, and the decision to become members of Team Pride, is further recognition that the LGBT community is a vital and integral part of our community."
English Premier League: Jose Mourinho wants more time at Manchester United
Mourinho has admitted that he needs more time to build a team that can dominate English Premier League.
English Premier League: Jose Mourinho wants more time at Manchester United
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has admitted that he needs more time to build a team that can emulate the dominance in English football that former manager Alex Ferguson achieved during his time at the club.
Mourinho took over from former manager Louis van Gaal last May and has seen mixed results with the former English Premier League (EPL) champions so far.
The team has generally struggled to create goals with veteran Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic the main threat in their forwardline. The defense not exactly covered themselves in glory either.
Of the 12 EPL goals that they have played so far this season, Manchester United have managed only 17 goals and have conceded 14. They currently lie at the sixth place in the EPL table with 19 points, nine behind current league leaders Chelsea.
Mourinho, however, pointed out that Ferguson took four years to win his first major trophy in English football and insisted that it may take time for his managerial skills to have an impact at the club.
Ferguson spent 26 years at Manchester United, during which he won 38 trophies, including 13 EPL titles, five FA Cups and two Champions League titles.
“The best manager in the history of the Premier League needed a few years to build such a successful period. If the best needed that time, means that the others also need that time,” Mourinho was quoted as saying by the Independent on Wednesday.
The former Chelsea and Inter Milan manager admitted that he is finding the going tough at Old Trafford, but insisted that he was prapared for the pressure of managing a big club.
“The job is as difficult as I was expecting. I was not expecting the job was easy. I said that I wanted to try to win the EPL but at the same time I thought that was a risky approach with my words,” Mourinho said.
“My words were not defensive with the risk. I knew it was going to be very difficult.”
The 53-year-old, who has won the EPL twice with Chelsea, asserted that he wants to stay at Manchester United beyond his current three-year contract, but admitted that he will have to earn it by delivering results.
“I am in the beginning of my contract. I am in the beginning of the process. Let’s go step by step,” he said.
“If you ask me would I like to be successful in these three years, would I like to stay here for more time than these three years, then yes.”
(With agency inputs)
Liverpool are best team I've played against, says Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg
Liverpool were held to a goalless draw at Southampton
Southampton midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg says Liverpool are the best team he has ever played against.
The Denmark international has played some of the giants of the Bundesliga and some of the Premier League big boys - but he reckons Jurgen Klopp's men are a class apart.
Southampton held on for a 0-0 draw at St Mary's - Liverpool dominated the match but did not manage to breach Fraser Forster's goal.
"I played in Germany against Bayern Munich and Dortmund, I played against Manchester City in the Champions League, but I must say this is maybe the best team I have ever played against," Hojbjerg told the Saints website.
Southampton 0-0 Liverpool
"It's not only that they move the ball quickly. They also have fast players, and with the ball they are very good one against one.
Rain covers the glasses of Liverpool's German manager Jurgen Klopp as he applauds the fans
"It's unbelievable how they move, how they stand, how they work together - it's like a symphony."
With an off-target Charlie Austin header the best opportunity Claude Puel's men could muster on a stormy afternoon, Hojbjerg was ultimately pleased to take a share of the spoils.
Reaction from Jurgen Klopp after Liverpool's 0-0 draw with Southampton
"As always, the best is to win, but against a fantastic team like Liverpool you have to realise that a point is a fantastic result," he added.
"We should be happy with the one point, but it's not that I say this is not our level. We can come up here and we have something to say up here and we showed that today."
English Premier League: Diego Costa's Strike Puts Chelsea on Top of the Table
Diego Costa celebrates after scoring against Middlebrough in the English Premier League.
Middlesbrough: Chelsea replaced Liverpool at the top of the Premier League with a comfortable 1-0 win at Middlesbrough thanks to a first-half Diego Costa strike on Sunday.
It was the London side's sixth successive league victory without conceding a goal and put them on 28 points from 12 games, a point ahead of the Merseyside club and Manchester City.
The league's leading scorer, Costa, hit his 10th goal of the season to put them in front four minutes before the break.
'Boro, promoted last season, found it hard to make any clear opportunities against a solid Chelsea defence and remain in the bottom six, one point clear of the relegation places.
Despite starting brightly, the hosts struggled against the 3-4-3 system that has brought the west London side such success since manager Antonio Conte introduced it at the start of October following a 3-0 defeat by Arsenal.
Eden Hazard, who has rediscovered the form that made him Player of the Year in England two years' ago, prompted attacks from wide on the left and, with Victor Moses continuing to enjoy himself out on the right, Chelsea started creating chances.
Moses, up against former Manchester United defender Fabio de Silva, shot wildly high but did better in setting up Pedro, whose goalbound shot was brilliantly touched over the bar by Victor Valdes.
When Moses won another corner shortly before the interval, a clutch of 'Boro defenders failed to clear the ball and Costa reacted faster than any of them to volley home.
FINE SAVE
It took a fine save by Valdes to prevent another goal within 25 seconds of the second half. He parried Marcos Alonso's low drive and Calum Chambers scraped the loose ball to safety.
Gaston Ramirez put a rare Middlesbrough chance too high from 20 metres before Pedro was denied what would have been a stunning Chelsea goal.
Costa headed down David Luiz's perfectly flighted diagonal cross and his fellow Spanish international Pedro crashed a shot against the bar.
'Boro manager Aitor Karanka, appointed three years ago this week, tried in vain to change things with a double substitution, although Alvaro Negredo was unfortunate with a clever volley that forced Chelsea's Thibaut Courtois into his first real save of the game 12 minutes from the end.
"We knew it was going to be hard but we are in the Premier League and one mistake gets you punished," Karanka said.
Middlesbrough have now lost their last seven league and cup games against the London side without scoring and have not beaten them since 2006.
"Confidence and spirit are up and we are playing well," Chelsea defender Gary Cahill told Sky Sports.
"We are getting the results too which is the most important thing. We have carried on from where we left off at the international break.
"We are happy with today's work, but the league is not won today. It is not even Christmas yet."
Thibaut Courtois: This is what I make of Chelsea's title chances
THIBAUT COURTOIS has admitted Chelsea are contenders for the Premier League title.
Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has backed his side to be in the Premier League title race
The Blues have been in brilliant form since Antonio Conte switched to a 3-4-3 formation, winning five league games in a row without conceding a goal.
They currently sit second in the Premier League, a point behind leaders Liverpool.
Chelsea finished 10th in the Premier League last season, but Courtois thinks they are more likely to replicate their 2014/15 title-winning campaign this time around.
Thibaut Courtois has been part of Antonio Conte's tight defensive unit at Chelsea
Thibaut Courtois is currently on international duty with Belgium
But the Belgian goalkeeper warned his team-mates not to get complacent.
He told Sky Sports: "We could be title contenders but after last season we have to be careful about everything.
"We cannot relax because maybe last year we went too easy into the season because we were champions the year before.
"We have to keep the focus, ambition and hunger to win and, if we keep that, then maybe in May we can lift that trophy.
"The clean sheets are nice but, apart from Leicester and Manchester United, I didn't have too much work to do.
"That's part of the teamwork.
"If you defend well you keep clean sheets and that's what's happening."
:format(webp)/cdn2.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/52036667/625344890.0.jpeg)
