Sports
Xabi Alonso is among betting favourites for the Chelsea job. But is he suitable?
Chelsea travel to Liverpool this weekend at a time when both clubs are looking closely at what the future of their leadership could look like. Former Liverpool player Xabi Alonso is a betting favourite to become the next permanent manager at both clubs.
But the focus is more sharply towards the Chelsea angle, for now. They are in ninth place in the Premier League table and whoever takes over permanently this summer will be tasked with turning around a team that has badly lost its way of late.
Chelsea have lost eight of their last 10 matches in all competitions, with Calum McFarlane taking up an interim boss role while they figure things out.
Enzo Maresca couldn’t succeed in the environment and neither could Liam Rosenior, who lasted just 107 days in the job. Could Alonso be the solution? Might he be the manager Chelsea are looking for?
At 2/1, Alonso is joint-favourite to be named Chelsea manager for the first game of the 2026-27 season, with Andoni Iraola also listed at the same price.
Marco Silva is also in contention at 6/1, while Xavi and Frank Lampard (7/1) are included in the odds list. With the end of the season in sight, Chelsea must accelerate their process of hiring a new boss.
Alonso might be the most compelling candidate and is available following his departure from Real Madrid earlier in the season. At the Bernabeu, the former midfielder struggled to win over the big personalities within the dressing room. It also did not help that Alonso inherited a squad ill-equipped to play his brand of football.
During his Bundesliga-winning time at Bayer Leverkusen, Alonso favoured an aggressive, front-foot style of play that made his team one of the most entertaining to watch anywhere in Europe.
In the season they won the title, Leverkusen won possession in the final third (6.6 per 90 minutes) more than any other Bundesliga side, highlighting Alonso’s desire to press from the front.
Chelsea, on the other hand, rank a lowly 10th for the same metric in the Premier League this season. Alonso might not have the players to play the way he wants to play as Blues boss.
Someone such as Alonso might appeal for this very reason, though. While Chelsea made some progress as a possession-oriented outfit under Maresca, they lost all sense of identity with Rosenior at the helm.
Alonso also has a good track record in developing young players, having turned Florian Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong into stars who would eventually make Leverkusen a lot of money in the transfer market.
Tactically, Alonso used a 3-4-2-1 formation at Leverkusen, hinting at the framework he could install upon taking over at Stamford Bridge.
Marc Cucurella and Malo Gusto could feasibly operate as high-and-wide wing-backs. On top of this, Chelsea’s lack of genuine quality in the wide areas might make a narrow front three a wise choice.
In central defence, though, Chelsea simply might not have the players to make Alonso’s system work without Reece James operating as a right-sided centre back. The Blues have sometimes struggled to field just two central defenders this season due to injuries.
At Madrid, Alonso demonstrated his willingness to adapt, generally using a 4-3-3. Whether that was by design or as a compromise is unclear, but Alonso might have more strings to his bow than is immediately apparent.
Alonso may yet have more than one job offer this summer. Indeed, the 44-year-old has been spoken about as a potential replacement for Arne Slot, should the Dutchman leave Liverpool this summer.
Supporters have even sung Alonso’s name during matches, unhappy at the standard of their team’s performances this season. His return to Anfield would be a popular one. At 4/11, Alonso is the firm favourite to be Liverpool’s next manager. The Spaniard might prefer taking over the Reds even after a disappointing 2025-26 campaign.
Could Alonso face or replace Arne Slot in the Premier League next season? (Ryan Crockett/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)
Chelsea and Liverpool meet at Anfield on Saturday, and the away side require someone to give them a new identity and direction. Alonso might have the strength of personality to do that, just as he did as Leverkusen manager.
At Leverkusen, Alonso also worked under a sporting director who guided the majority of the club’s activity in the transfer market. This is something BlueCo would surely view as attractive about the Spanish manager.
Alonso must be careful not to make another misstep in his managerial career. While many might be willing to write off what happened in Madrid, a second failure in quick succession would raise questions about his coaching ability.
After the struggles of Graham Potter, Mauricio Pochettino, Maresca and Rosenior at Stamford Bridge in recent times, it will be a brave man who next takes on the Chelsea job, believing they can fix them.
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County Championship: Leicestershire have eight points reinstated from 27-point deduction for poor pitch blamed on Bollywood film shoot | Cricket News
Leicestershire’s 27-point deduction for breaching pitch regulations in August’s win over Glamorgan has been reduced to 19.
The Foxes were relegated from Division One of the County Championship last week following an innings defeat by champions Warwickshire.
Leicestershire’s groundsman Callum Lewin had argued filming of an unscheduled Bollywood film – believed to be for a biopic of former India captain Sourav Ganguly – had taken place at the ground four days before the Glamorgan fixture between August 20-23, preventing the pitch from being covered for eight hours in bright sunshine and heatwave temperatures.
The Cricket Discipline Panel (CDP) upheld the charge against Leicestershire for a breach of the ECB’s Pitch Regulations.
It imposed an immediate eight-point deduction from the County Championship plus the 19 points Leicestershire earned from winning the match by 42 runs.
A further eight-point deduction was also suspended until the end of the 2027 season and a £5,000 fine.
Leicestershire confirmed last Thursday that they would appeal against the original sanction.
Following the CDP holding a further hearing last Wednesday, the sanction has been amended with Leicestershire having eight points reinstated.
Leicestershire chief executive Emma White said in a statement: “The (CDP) Panel made clear that the latest hearing and Amended Decision, which relates to the sanction alone, were not appeal proceedings.
“Our position on the charge is therefore unchanged. We continue to believe it should not have been upheld, and that we ought not to have suffered the points deduction we have. We therefore still intend to appeal, focusing upon the process and resultant evidential position upon which the Panel was caused to decide the case.
“Our recently instructed counsel, Craig Harris, and Oliver Laurence of Periculum Sport shall continue to act for the Club throughout the appeal process.
“As we are now engaged in that process, it would not be appropriate for the club to comment further at this stage. I would again ask all supporters to do the same, and to treat everyone involved, including players and staff from other counties, and those administering this process, with courtesy and respect, both at the ground and online.”
The amended decision adjusts Leicestershire’s points tally in Division One to 119, 17 behind third-from-bottom Essex.
A wholly successful appeal would lift Leicestershire out of the relegation zone and above Essex.
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Dillian Whyte was suffering from a broken foot in Moses Itauma defeat but wants to return in British battle with Johnny Fisher | Boxing News
Dillian Whyte provided a gruesome description while explaining the agonising injury that he suffered, just weeks before his last fight against Moses Itauma.
“It felt like someone had dropped a dumbbell on my foot,” revealed Whyte when asked to put into words the pain caused by the fractured foot that he sustained in training last summer.
“I was running and I felt it [my foot] and then I went to spar and I was sparring big, agile guys and someone was pressing me, I stepped back the wrong way and then it just fractured clean.
“It was terrible, but we’re used to pulling off miracles. We’re used to fighting injured.
“I made the best of the situation and had a decent camp. I felt good during fight week and really thought I would beat Moses.”
Whyte has entered the ring before with debilitating injuries. He famously fought bitter rival Anthony Joshua whilst being hampered by a badly damaged shoulder and other grim wounds have been overcome in a heavyweight career that led him to become two-time WBC interim world champion.
But the Brixton man could not shrug off the effects of his injured foot and the bone fractured again while he was limbering up in the dressing room, only hours before he was due to face Itauma in Saudi Arabia last August.
“I started warming up, jumped a little bit of rope, and then reinjured the foot. Completely fractured it again,” said Whyte.
“We had to call the doctor who was with me to examine it. He advised me not to fight and I said ‘no’. There’s no way I’m going to come all the way to Saudi and not fight last minute.
“I was confident that I would still be able to drag Moses into the later rounds and stop him as [Filip] Hrgovic recently did.”
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Dillian Whyte has welcomed a heavyweight showdown with Johnny Fisher and believes it will be ‘exciting while it lasts’
Whyte tried to conceal his damaged foot, which had been heavily strapped, but his lack of mobility was exposed by Itauma, who piled on a succession of punches before the bout was waved off in the opening round.
While Itauma celebrated his victory, Whyte remained silent about his significant injury and has been absent from the ring since that fight.
“I didn’t want to mention it, go into it, and take away from his win, because he done alright. I got clocked and he won the fight.
“I didn’t want to go on too much about it and I think people got carried away with the fact that I got beat in a round by Moses.
“I don’t think people would draw the same conclusions if they had the full facts.
“People have short memories and they like to say ‘retire because of this, retire because of that’ but what they don’t realise is we’re members of a rare generation of entertaining British heavyweight boxers that are coming to the end of our careers.
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Dillian Whyte believes that rumours the fight between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua could fall through is nothing more than mind games – and gives his prediction for the fight
“I love boxing and I’ll fight anyone. Be grateful that you have guys like me around because when we’re gone, there will be a long drought in the heavyweight division.”
Johnny Fisher called for the return of Whyte last week, insisting that there is a ‘good chance’ the fight could happen in the near future.
Whyte readily accepted the verbal challenge and was watching from ringside as Fisher battled to a majority decision victory over Michael Pirotton at the Copper Box Arena last weekend.
“Credit to Johnny Fisher, because he’s a big lump, he hasn’t had time to learn a lot, but he’s got a lot of courage, he’s got a lot of heart, he’s a big puncher and he’s brave,” said Whyte, who is open to facing Fisher in November or December this year.
“He’s a bit frantic and that, but he’s very brave and he’s a big guy who punches hard. When the fight gets tough, he keeps trying and he keeps coming back.
“You can never overlook that but let’s be honest, I will knock Johnny Fisher out, simple as that.”
Dillian Whyte’s manager Mike Ofo is hopeful that a fight against Johnny Fisher will be next
Whyte was joined by manager Michael Ofo, who says the fight has already been verbally accepted by Fisher’s team and is hopeful it can be finalised.
“The fight was agreed in principle following Fisher’s win on Saturday night with a handshake between me and Fisher’s manager Adam Morallee,” said Ofo.
“I was unsure whether Fisher and his management would take the fight, in spite of Fisher having called Dillian out, so I called Adam over and asked him. He immediately responded: ‘Absolutely. Let’s do it next!’
“It would be a huge all-British clash and a massive event for London. So, let’s stop talking and get it on!”
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Snooker News | Sky Sports
County Championship: Leicestershire have eight points reinstated from 27-point deduction for poor pitch blamed on Bollywood film shoot | Cricket News
Dillian Whyte was suffering from a broken foot in Moses Itauma defeat but wants to return in British battle with Johnny Fisher | Boxing News
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