Chelsea Beat Arsenal & City To Turkish Prodigy

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Chelsea, have beaten Premier League rivals Arsenal and Manchester City to the signature of Turkish starlet Abdulkadir Kayali at MKE Ankaragucu, according to sources in Turkey.

The Gunners along with City are understood to have made offers to bring 17-year-old Kayali to the Premiership, but the midfielder has chosen to continue his football education at Stamford Bridge under the guidance of former Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari. Rather, than the Eastlands or Emirates Stadium, where both Mark Hughes and Arsene Wenger were keen to attract the Turkish Under-17 International.

It is understood that a fee of £1.5million has been agreed between Ankaragucu and Chelsea and that Kayali has signed a five-year deal at the West London club, with the youngster due to join the Blues next month when he turns 18.

Man City v Arsenal Premiership Preview: Schmeichel In For Hart For City – Fabregas Suspended & Walcott Injured For Gunners

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Manchester City play, Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal in the Premier League at the Eastlands Stadium on Saturday.

Mark Hughes will be hoping his City side can capitalise on Arsenal’s up and down form this season in the Premiership. However, the Blues have also been inconsistent and go into this clash with the Gunners with only a point from their last four games in the Premier League after halting a run of three straight defeats last weekend in the 2-2 draw with Hull City at the KC Stadium. This slide in form sees City in 12th place in the table, but only a point off the relegation zone.

Gunners boss Wenger will be looking for his young Arsenal side to bounce straight back after losing 2-0 to Aston Villa at the Emirates Stadium last week after beating European Champions Manchester United the week before. However, Arsenal are still 4th
points if they are to close the nine-point gap on Chelsea and Liverpool at the top of the table.

City are unable to call on Martin Petrov (knee), Valeri Bojinov (calf), Michael Johnson (groin) or Daniel Sturridge (ankle) for the visit of the Gunners. Kasper Schmeichel is set to replace Joe Hart in goal for the Blues, with Hart ruled out for a month with an ankle injury.

Arsenal will be without long-term injury Tomas Rosicky (hamstring) along with defender Bacary Sagna (ankle). While Wenger will also be ruing the loss of Theo Walcott, who will be out for three months after dislocating his shoulder on International duty with England.

Wenger has also revealed that Kolo Toure is a major doubt and that he is yet to assess the fitness of Emmanuel Adebayor and Carlos Vela after the midweek International’s.

Wenger told Arsenal TV Online: “Kolo Toure is a major doubt. He got an injury on his calf with Ivory Coast. But apart from him and Adebayor, who flies in tonight and I have not spoken to, everybody is OK.

“I will need everybody on board. We only get back Carlos Vela tomorrow morning, maybe the afternoon. So when he lands we will have to transfer him to Manchester.”

Spanish International Cesc Fabregas is suspended, but Wenger has Robin van Persie back from suspension, with Emmanuel Eboue expected to shake off a knne injury in time for the trip to the Eastlands.

Manchester City: (from) Schmeichel, Richards, Onuoha, Zabaleta, Ireland, Wright-Phillips, Robinho, Elano, Vassell, Jo, Garrido, Mills, Fernandes, Calcedo, Hamann, Dunne, Evans, Castillo, Ben Haim, Benjani, Etuhu, Kompany, Logan, Glauber

Arsenal: (from) Almunia, Diaby, Toure, Nasri, Gallas, van Persie, Vela, Denilson, Ramsey, Song, Silvestre, Wilshere, Djourou, Fabianski, Clichy, Mannone, Adebayor, Bendtner, Eboue, Bischoff, Coquelin, Fonte, Gibbs, Hoyte, Lansbury, Merida, Randall, Simpson

Man City v Spurs Premiership Preview: Will The Redknapp Factor Tip The Balance At The Eastlands?

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Mark Hughes’ Manchester City play, Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League at the Eastlands Stadium on Sunday.

City under Hughes and the ADUG are still like City under Eriksson and Shinawatra, with the Eastlands faithful unsure of which side of the Blues they will see on any given day. With Man City going into this clash with a galvanised Tottenham on the back of two successive league defeats to Bolton Wanderers and Newcastle United 2-0, but winning in the UEFA Cup on Thursday. Hughes’ side have looked capable of beating anyone on their day and the new boss will eventually get the balance right in the Blue half of Manchester.

Since the arrival of Harry Redknapp as manager at White Hart Lane from Southampton, Spurs are unbeaten, with the North London club beating Bolton Wanderers and Liverpool and drawing with Arsenal in the Premier League. With Tottenham looking like a completely different side to the team which collected 2 points from their first 8 games in the Premiership under Juande Ramos. Spurs like City also go into this clash on the back of a win in Europe, with Tottenham drubbing Dinamo Zagreb 4-0 in the UEFA Cup on Thursday. However, the North London club still find themselves at the bottom of the table, but under the leadership of Redknapp are not expected to stay there for long.

Hughes is unable to call on Martin Petrov (knee), Michael Johnson (groin) or long-term absentee Valeri Bojinov (calf), but strikers Darius Vassell and Benjani are in contention, with Benjani scoring on his comeback on Thursday in the UEFA Cup.

Redknapp will have to decide whether to put Russian International Roman Pavlyuchenko back in the Spurs starting eleven, who was cup-tied for the match with Zagreb. With Darren Bent finally finding his goal-scoring touch for Tottenham this season after his hat-trick against Zagreb took his tally to nine in all competitions this campaign.

Captain Ledley King should start along with Vedran Corluka, who like Pavlyuchenko was cup-tied in Europe and is set to face his former club. Midfielder Jermaine Jenas could shake off an ankle injury in time, while Gilberto is also a doubt for the trip to the Eastlands. Giovanni is definitely out after picking up an ankle injury on Monday, but Michael Dawson is available again after suspension.

Manchester City: (from) Hart, Dunne, Richards, Zabaleta, Garrido, Hamann, Kompany, Ireland, Elano, Jo, Robinho, Wright-Phillips, Ball, Schmeichel, Mills, Fernandes, Calcedo, Evans, Castillo, Ben Haim, Etuhu, Sturridge, Logan, Glauber, Benjani, Vassell

Tottenham Hotspur: (from) Gomes, Bale, Gunter, Woodgate, Corluka, King, Hutton, Assou-Ekotto, Jenas, Zokora, Huddlestone, Bentley, Modric, Pavlyuchenko, Cesar, Bent, Campbell, Taarabt, Stalteri, Ghaly, Rocha, Lennon, Prince-Boateng, O’Hara, Dawson