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Antonio Conte tells Chelsea to show more fight but prays for new signings

Beaten 3-2 at home by a magnificent Burnley in their first league match, the champions now face Tottenham next Sunday with players suspendedFor a few seconds after Sam Vokes had risen to meet Steven Defour’s cross to give Burnley an improbable 3-0 lead over the Premier League champions at Stamford Bridge, Antonio Conte stood staring into thin air with his hand resting impassively on his chin. The Chelsea manager has witnessed a lot during a decade in the dugout but watching his misfiring team succumb so meekly to a side who had recorded just one away victory last season surely must have been a new experience.After a strange summer that has seen his employers spend the best part of £130m...

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Premier League 2017-18 preview No4: Burnley

Sean Dyche’s side are preparing for a second successive season in the top flight and another attritional season of small gains is in prospectGuardian writers’ predicted position 18th (NB: this is not necessarily Paul Wilson’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)Last season’s position 16th Related: Premier League 2017-18 preview No1: Arsenal | Amy Lawrence Continue reading...

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Will the wait for an English manager to win the Premier League ever end? | Paul Wilson

After 25 Premier League years an English coach is still to lift the title and the supply of qualified foreign coaches suggests the wait may continue awhileThe Premier League has been going for 25 years and it is still no closer to being won by a team with an English manager.Actually that might not be completely true. Eddie Howe’s Bournemouth finished ninth last season and in the arid landscape of English achievement since Howard Wilkinson took Leeds United to the final old First Division title in 1992 that possibly counts as progress. There have certainly been seasons, 2015-16 being the most recent, when the top 10 positions were the exclusive province of foreign coaches. Related: Do English managers deserve more...

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Premier League: 10 things to look out for on the final day of the season

John Terry will say goodbye to Chelsea with the title, José Mourinho will pick his weakest team yet and Manchester City should tread carefully at WatfordThe best team in the league face the worst team in the league in a match that will be played in a carefree atmosphere by everyone except John Terry, whose 717th and final Chelsea appearance will end with him – together with Gary Cahill – lifting the Premier League trophy, followed by a teary-eyed farewell speech to the fans. Sunday is the end of an era for Terry, his club and their opponents Sunderland, relegated at last after 10 successive top-flight seasons. Terry’s beer-glass-emptying, disabled-bay-filling, rival-abusing, full-kit-wearing past means he gets little love from rival...

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Premier League: 10 talking points from this weekend’s action

Chelsea and Spurs face challenges of a differing kind despite their success, Paul Clement justified his appointment and Marco Silva is likely to leave HullThe Dozen: the weekend’s best Premier League photos Related: Rainbows and tears on Tottenham's last day at White Hart Lane | David Hytner Related: The Dozen: the weekend’s best Premier League photos Continue reading...

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