If you thought the days of the Ballon d'Or generating headlines were over after Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo's era of dominance came to an end, then think again. After one of the most closely-fought races for a number of years, Rodri came out on top in 2024, beating Vinicius Jr into second place as Real Madrid dramatically boycotted the ceremony in Paris in protest at their star player missing out.

Enzo Maresca has revealed Cole Palmer was substituted in Chelsea's 2-1 defeat against Manchester United on Saturday due to a recurrence of the groin injury which has plagued his season. The 23-year-old had to be replaced just 20 minutes into the Blues' loss at Old Trafford, raising questions over whether the same issue which saw the forward miss his side's Premier League clashes with West Ham and Fulham had flared up.

Last week, Ruben Amorim suffered the ignominy of Manchester City fans chanting his name ironically. But last night, his Manchester United players proved that they believe in his project and are ready to fight for him. Facing Chelsea was probably not what the coach wanted in his next outing after the chastening derby defeat but his side made a flying start and eventually earned a 2-1 win.

Chelsea couldn't recover from their goalkeeper's costly early red card as they suffered their first Premier League defeat of the season. The Blues shipped two goals after the Spaniard was dismissed, courtesy of Bruno Fernandes and Casemiro, who was also sent off, and despite Trevoh Chalobah scoring late on, they succumbed to a 2-1 loss, with Cole Palmer having gone off injured.

Chelsea have been rocked by Cole Palmer's injury as the England star had to be subbed against Manchester United within 20 minutes after appearing to aggravate his groin problem. The forward was replaced by Andrey Santos as Enzo Maresca also hooked Pedro Neto and Estevao Willian in a brave tactical tweak.