Navas and Fernandinho will make Man City more exciting.
Without Gareth Bale, Spurs won 1-0 at Crystal Palace, Soldado scoring a supercool penalty in 50.The passing was far too slow but if Sigurdsson stays as busy as this, Soldado will score plenty in open play.
Begovic and Mignolet were both superb at Anfield, where the Belgian from Sunderland is the long-overdue replacement for Reina.
Sturridge scored a tidy goal in 37, but Stoke\’s Begovic was man of the match, even though Mignolet saved a Jonathan Walters penalty in the 89th minute and then stopped a follow-up by Kenwyne Jones.
Sub Wayne Rooney did well when he came on at Swansea, where Manchester United won 4-1 with classy goals.
Tonight we\’ll see whether Manchester Citeh can challenge Chelsea for the title.
Chelsea were sensational in the first half against just-promoted Hull and I was very keen to see Mourinho\’s starting eleven.
It included Ramires and De Bruyne.
Kevin De Bruyne looks like a fabulous playmaker with a bit of the young Bergkamp about him, feeding runners with sharp passes, as if he\’d been there for years.
Oscar wants the ball, Hazard wants the ball -and KDB will keep giving it to them.
Lampard had a penalty saved and then scored with a 35-yard free-kick that looked like a Drogba.
On the replay it looked like a Cristiano.
Only saw the highlights, as we went to a barbeque.
Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Cech ; Ivanovic, Cahil , Terry, Cole ; Ramires, Lampard ; Hazard, De Bruyne (Schurrle, 69), Oscar (Van Ginkel, 84); Torres (Lukaku, 75).
Roberto Mancini\’s City had no width and didn\’t move the ball forward quickly enough.
Why? Because of the Italian\’s Serie A mindset. Because De Jong and Barry and Javi Garcia are stodgy journeymen who pass it short and square. Pelligrini was lined up long ago, so he knew what was needed.
They signed Jesus Navas, a speed-machine with a football brain. Little Navas can cross with pinpoint accuracy.
We all know that Yaya Toure won\’t scuffle backwards, so we assume that Pellegrini knew that too. Fernandinho is a formidable athlete who can cover back, pick his tackles and then sprint 60 yards.
I rated him at Shakhtar. He kept catching my eye.
Jovetic, a gifted technician making a step up from Fiorentina, will need time to adjust to the ferocity of English football before he can produce incisive work. Expect memorable flashes soon.
I gather Negredo is pretty good at playing people in.
If so, Aguero could rival Van Persie for top scorer in the Premier League.
Palace boss Ian Holloway says referees will favour the bigger clubs. Ian is right. They always do. I hate that bias and have complained about it for years.
Remember: football is about players, always will be. And big clubs have to change the menu.