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The Blues' manager admitted they were awful in the first half at the Emirates. Frank Lampard was happy with how Chelsea beat Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday. The Blues' manager admitted they were awful in the first half when Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored the opener, but he was delighted they had the 'spirit and desire' to turn the game around as late goals from Jorginho and Tammy Abraham handed the west London club a 2-1 win in the London derby. "We were so awful for 30 minutes; slow, lethargic, nervous, the opposite of against Tottenham," he told BBC Sport. "We gave Arsenal everything they wanted. "We made the change early, felt it had to be done. In the second half, we dominated. "After 10 minutes or so, it was clear that Arsenal had seen us play against Tottenham and made us into a back five instead of a back three. "They were on top and there was a lack of balance to our team. The sub gave us another man in midfield and gave us more urgency. "From my point of view, you can accept a missed pass but you can't accept lethargy in a London derby. The players were told that [at half-time] and they delivered. "The second half was nothing to do with tactics, it was all to do with spirit and desire." He added: "I still haven't bounced back from Boxing Day mentally. In our next home games, we'll do everything we can to turn the corner. "We're still in fourth and want more, and the home games have been different so we have to focus on them when they come around."

Leno's error led to Jorginho scoring the equalising goal for Chelsea - who were a goal down due to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's strike in the 13th minute. Mikel Arteta has promised to motivate Bernd Leno after the goalkeeper's error in Arsenal's 2-1 loss to Chelsea on Sunday. Leno's mistake led to Jorginho scoring the equalising goal for Chelsea - who were a goal down due to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's header in the 13th minute. The Blues eventually won the match at the Emirates stadium as Tammy Abraham scored three minutes after Leno's blunder. However, Arteta, who suffered his first defeat since taking charge of the Gunners, said his team must look forward to their clash against Manchester United on New Year's Day. "He will be down, but we have to lift him," Arteta said of Leno. "He's been brilliant for this football club. "I'm really disappointed with the result, the way we conceded and the timing. I'm pleased with lots of things, but I'm disappointed to lose. "I thought the structure was good. We need to control those situations but they are really good in transition. "We have to move on." Granit Xhaka wasn't in the starting line-up that played against Chelsea yesterday, however, Arteta explained why he decided not to pick the Switzerland international. “He [Xhaka] started to feel ill after the Bournemouth game,” the Spaniard said. “I hope he doesn’t leave in January.”

Liverpool have now won 18 and drawn one out of their 19 Premier League fixtures this season. Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp says the Premier League title race isn't over despite their 13-point lead at the top of the table. The Reds secured a 1-0 win over Wolverhampton at Anfield on Sunday, thanks to Sadio Mane's strike in the 42nd minute. Liverpool have now won 18 and drawn one out of their 19 Premier League fixtures this season, and following the match yesterday, Klopp said his side won't get carried away just yet. "I think our fans are exactly like the team is," said Klopp as BBC Sport quoted. "They are not interested in the moment. They don't want to celebrate now. They take it like it is. They dig in a game, like today, today I liked it a lot. All the fans were really in the game. This was a game where the crowd can be nervous, they weren't, so that's good. "We are a unit so we fight until somebody says 'it's enough' and 'you have enough points' or not. We will see. But it's not about belief. If we were not confident it would be really crazy but it's not about knowing, or wanting to know, that it's already done. Imagine, really, if you asked me and I sat here and said 'yeah, actually, I think it's done'. But we still play of course but I think it's done. That would be really crazy. "But, since five, six or seven weeks ago we are still asking that question constantly. And I, as a normal human being, have the same answer. Because it's not done. So discuss it if you want, ask me if you want, but don't expect a different answer."

Arsenal defender Calum Chambers is convinced their goalless draw with Everton on Saturday was a fair result. The 24-year-old made his 100th appearance for the Gunners in their Premier League tie against the Toffees at Goodison Park. This was Arsenal’s first clean sheet since their win over Bournemouth in October and following the match, Chambers said it was a game to remember. Speaking on his 100th Arsenal appearance, he said as the club’s official website reported: "It's always nice to get a clean sheet and my 100th appearance is a proud moment for me. I'm a bit disappointed we didn't get the win but there's a lot of good to take from that game. I think there's also things we can improve on but it's a good building block for us." When asked if the draw was a fair result, he replied: "Yeah I believe so. We created chances and defended well as a team as well. I'm a bit gutted we didn't come away with the win but I'll take a clean sheet." On how he feels about Mikel Arteta's appointment: "Excited. I think everyone's excited. Freddie's been really good. He's been getting his messages across. Mikel came yesterday and gave us a talk before the game so everyone's really excited to work with him."

The Dutchman knew he was not going to win before the ceremony. Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk has admitted he was disappointed he didn’t win the Ballon d'Or. The Dutch defender was hoping he would bring the Ballon d’Or to Anfield, but he finished second to Barcelona star Lionel Messi. “I was slightly disappointed,” said the 28-year-old - who moved to Anfield from Southampton in 2017. “I decided I would still go to the ceremony – and, in the end, it was a super night. “I still consider it a great achievement to be up there with the ­biggest football icons in the world. “I spoke to Messi during the ­evening. It was not the longest ­conversation because he doesn’t speak a lot of English. “But it was still enough to make me realise that the respect between us now also runs the other way.”

Manchester City star Kevin De Bruyne is a complete midfielder, according to Pep Guardiola. The Belgian was named as the man-of-the-match - following his impressive performance - in City’s 3-1 win over Leicester City at the Etihad on Saturday.  “Kevin we don’t have doubts about," the Man City boss said as the club’s official website quoted. "We cannot expect him to win the game every three days for us. “It’s not just with the ball it’s without. He has everything. “We want to play good. We have to make a fluent attack and today we did. “The most difficult thing in football is to play simple and today we did it. Then everything comes and the quality of the players comes out. “In two seasons before we played a lot of games the way we did today. Hopefully in the future we can continue in this level.”

De Bruyne pleased with Manchester City’s mental strength. Kevin De Bruyne lauded Manchester City's mental strength after they came from behind to secure a 3-1 win over Leicester City at the Etihad. Jamie Vardy scored the opener in the 22nd minute, but the Citizens responded through Riyad Mahrez eight minutes later and Ilkay Gundogan made it 2-1 by slotting a penalty into the net after Raheem Sterling was fouled in the box. Gabriel Jesus added the third in the 69th minute with a close-range strike after De Bruyne made an unstoppable run and crossed the ball. “I think it was a really good game,” said De Bruyne as mancity.com reported. “Defensively we had a lot of energy and except one or two chances, I felt we dominated the game fully. We played really well. “I think mentally we’re very strong. Today was a really good performance and every game we’re going to do our best and play to our best level.”

Rivaldo is convinced Neymar has the ability to replace Lionel Messi when the Argentine decides to hang up his boots. Neymar has been linked with a return move back to La Liga, with Barca and Real Madrid reportedly interested in his services. "Messi won’t last forever. One day his final match will arrive and he will leave football," the Betfair ambassador said. "Now he is making the difference, scoring goals… but you have to have another player to play his actual role. "Just one player can be the substitute of Messi at Barcelona and that player is Neymar. "He was wrong leaving Barcelona, but, if he returns, he will be able to make the difference as Messi is doing now."

Jan Vertonghen was delighted with Tottenham’s late win against Wolverhampton on Sunday. The Belgian defender wrapped up the win as he headed Christian Eriksen’s corner into the net, and this was after Adam Traore’s 67th minute strike cancelled out Lucas Moura’s early opener. The victory at Molineux moved Spurs up to fifth spot in the Premier League, three points behind Chelsea, who they face on Sunday. “It was a great game and if you saw the way we celebrated... it was such a tough game at both ends of the pitch and the celebrations said it all,” said Jan said as the club official website quoted. “The gaffer said before that it was going to be an extremely tough game and a big one, Wolves were around the same position and points in the table, fifth, sixth place, pushing for fourth and everyone is feeling it’s possible to get that fourth spot. “They had a lot of pace, counter-attacks, set-pieces - they are just a very good team. At 1-1, if you have a set-piece you have to try everything to get a win, especially late in the game. “A couple of weeks ago we were 12 points down in 14th place. If you look where we’re at now, it’s a good place to be at the moment. We’ve qualified for the next round of the Champions League as well. Yes, that win meant a lot for the team.”

Lampard wasn't pleased with how his Blues performed against the Cherries on Saturday. Bournemouth beat Chelsea 1-0 at Stamford Bridge on Saturday afternoon and following the defeat Frank Lampard said they need to "move the ball quicker" and their "attacking players need to hurt" their opponents more. It was their fourth defeat in five Premier League games, and Lampard acknowledged that they need to work on a few things in training. He said as BBC Sport quoted: "We need to move the ball quicker and the attacking players have to hurt them more - behind the lines, one-v-one. It was all a bit safe from us and that's something we'll have to work on on the training ground. "I wouldn't blame it (the performance) on the busy schedule, I'd blame it on us getting it wrong." On the club's current league run: "We are fourth and that, I think, we would have taken at the start of the season because a lot of people expected less of us. "Going into the Manchester City game a few weeks ago we were looking up but now we need to show a reaction and get results. This was always going to be the case. I knew with the squad we have there would be tough moments."

Former Real star Mijatovic has urged the Spanish giants to sell Bale. The doors should be left opened for Gareth Bale if he is keen to leave Real Madrid, says Predrag Mijatovic. The former Los Blancos front-man believes both parties will benefit if the Spanish giants decide to move the Welshman on. Bale, who secured a move to Real from Premier League side Tottenham back in 2013 for a reported fee of €91million, was on the brink of joining Chinese Super League club Jiangsu Suning during the summer but the deal never materialised. "Madrid wanted to sell him over the summer but they couldn't find a solution," Mijatovic, who scored 44 goals in 117 appearances for Madrid, said on El Larguero on Cadena SER. "A decision needs to be made ... he has three years left on his contract and that complicates things. "In terms of numbers, I think Bale has already been profitable. If a player of this salary is not motivated, it is better to leave for free and take the salary off. "It may be worth it to transfer him, even if it is not the money you might think you would get for him. If it is better to let it go free than to keep it? Without any doubt, I believe."

Zidane tips Raul, who was announced as Castilla coach a few months ago, to earn promotion to the top job at Los Blancos in the future. Real Madrid head-coach Zinedine Zidane has backed former team-mate Raul to lead the Spanish giants someday in the future. The Los Blancos boss was speaking on the 25th anniversary of Raul's debut for Los Blancos when he gave his backing to the 42-year-old, who was announced as Castilla coach in June. "I played alongside him and he was an important player for this great club," Zidane said. "I'm sure he'll coach Real Madrid one day." Raul scored 323 goals in 741 appearances for Real Madrid, and won six LaLiga titles and three Champions League trophies during his time at the Santiago Bernardo.