CALVALHO OUT AGAIN WITH INJURY

Chelsea's Ricardo Carvalho may spend three weeks on the sidelines again after limping out during their 3-0 victory over Hull City. Blues boss Luiz Felipe Scolari revealed his Portuguese defender sustained a thigh injury near the end of the game will be out until November.

 

The 30-year-old had only returned to action last week following a month out with a knee problem. He could now miss up to four Premier League games, a UEFA Champions League clash with Roma, a Carling Cup date with Burnley and Portugal's friendly against Brazil on 19th November.

HULL CITY 0 - CHELSEA 3

Chelsea send Hull City back to earth with a 3-0 triumph. Hull had gone into the game at the KC Stadium trailing the Blues only on goal difference but a superb strike from Frank Lampard after just two minutes established superiority.

Hull, who had won their previous four games, battled hard but in the end were well beaten by a Chelsea side whose extra class was evident. Chelsea doubled their lead in the 50th minute through Anelka before Malouda scored from a Carvalho cross after 75 minutes.

CHELSEA 0 - LIVERPOOL 1

Liverpool ended Chelsea's remarkable unbeaten run at Stamford Bridge with a 1-0 win on Sunday. Spanish schemer Xabi Alonso grabbed the only goal of the game as the Reds opened a 3 points lead in pursuit of the Premier League title.

 

After the start, the hosts dominate much of the early possession as Liverpool adopted a more cautious approach. However, Rafa Benitez's side quickly established a foothold and took the lead on 10 minutes when Alonso's drive was deflected past a helpless Petr Cech by Portuguese full-back Jose Bosingwa.

NO ACTIONS AGAINST DROGBA

Didier Drogba escapes disciplinary action from the Football Association over comments in his autobiography saying he wished he had punched Nemanja Vidic in last season's Champions League final.

Drogba was shown the red card for slapping the Manchester United defender with 3 minutes to go, and in his book said he now wishes he had punched Vidic. However, after studying the comments the FA have decided to take no action.

CHELSEA 1 - ROMA 0

It was a game between two evenly matched sides that failed to live up to the pre-match billing during a disappointing opening period, with chances few and far between. Until a second-half winner by Chelsea captain John Terry ended Roma's stubborn resistance in the 1-0 victory at Stamford Bridge.

Terry headed home from Frank Lampard's 77th-minute corner to keep Luiz Felipe Scolari's side top of Champions League Group A. Tempers then threatened to boil over on more than one occasion before the Stamford Bridge faithful were able to celebrate a crucial success.

RONALDO & FABREGAS FOR BALLON d'OR

Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard are among 11 Premier League players shortlisted for this year's Ballon d'Or. The trio are the only England players nominated for the award alongside the likes of Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo, the clear favourite and Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas.

The France Football magazine today revealed the condensed list of 30 contenders for their European golden ball award. Spain are represented by seven players after winning Euro 2008 in the summer - Torres and Fabregas being joined by Marcos Senna, Sergio Ramos, Iker Casillas, David Villa and Xavi.

Nominees
Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Nemanja Vidic, Edwin van der Sar (all Manchester United), Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba, Michael Ballack (all Chelsea), Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres (both Liverpool), Cesc Fabregas, Emmanuel Adebayor (both Arsenal), Iker Casillas, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Rafael van der Vaart, Sergio Ramos, Pepe (all Real Madrid), Lionel Messi, Xavi, Samuel Eto'o (all Barcelona), Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid), David Villa (Valencia), Marcos Senna (Villarreal), Kaka (AC Milan), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Inter Milan), Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Franck Ribery, Luca Toni (both Bayern Munich), Andrei Arshavin (Zenit St Petersburg), Yuri Zhirkov (CSKA Moscow). Karim Benzema (Lyon)

CHELSEA 5 - MIDDLESBOROUGH 0

Luiz Felipe Scolari brushed aside Chelsea's injury problems after seeing his side destroy Middlesbrough. Scolari's unbeaten league leaders are most bookmakers' tip for the title and their stunning 5-0 demolition of Middlesbrough on Saturday will only have shortened the odds on them wresting the crown away from Manchester United. But he Brazillian insists it is too early to start billing Chelsea as Premier League title favourites.

 

Chelsea haven't lost in the league for 10 months, but the manager says he will only start to believe he can claim the title in his first season in charge if they remain in pole position as the campaign reaches its climax in May. despite the absence of the likes of Petr Cech, Didier Drogba, Michael Ballack and Ashley and Joe Cole, they emerged on the right end of a 5-0 romp with their position at the top of the Premier League further enhanced. Two goals from Salomon Kalou and others from Juliano Belletti, Frank Lampard and Florent Malouda ensured Middlesbrough were outclassed by a Chelsea side missing seven first-team regulars.