John Terry led tributes to former Chelsea and Newcastle United winger Christian Atsu, who was confirmed to have died in the earthquakes that hit Turkey earlier this month.
Atsu was reported to be missing in the immediate aftermath of the tremors that struck southern Turkey and northern Syria on February 6.
The former Ghana international joined Turkish Super Lig outfit Hatayspor last September and scored for the side the day before the earthquakes.
After the tremors caused the collapse of the apartment block in which Atsu was living, his club initially said he had been recovered from the rubble and hospitalised, but that was later confirmed to not be the case.
Following confirmation of Atsu's death on Saturday, Terry – who was a team-mate of Atsu's during the Ghanaian's four-year spell at Chelsea, for whom he did not make a competitive appearance – paid tribute on social media.
"RIP my friend," the former England captain wrote on Twitter, alongside an image of Atsu.
Atsu's former clubs also expressed their condolences on Saturday, with Chelsea saying his death caused "enormous sadness" and Newcastle calling him: "A talented player and a special person, he will always be fondly remembered by our players, staff and supporters."
Other former team-mates paid tribute on Instagram, with Cesc Fabregas calling his death "heart-breaking" and Michael Essien saying: "Rest well king".
Bournemouth, where Atsu spent the first half of the 2015-16 season on loan, will join Chelsea and Newcastle in paying tribute to Atsu during Saturday's Premier League games.
Players from all three clubs will wear commemorative black armbands for their respective fixtures, while Chelsea will hold a minute's applause ahead of their meeting with Southampton, and Newcastle and Liverpool will observe a minute's silence before their clash at St James' Park.
Iraola failing to trust Bournemouth’s recent ‘momentum’ and ‘confidence’
Andoni Iraola said he does not believe in “momentum” and “confidence” in the Premier League despite Bournemouth moving into the top half of the table after their win over Tottenham.
The Cherries earned an impressive victory over Spurs on Thursday, with Dean Huijsen’s first-half header the difference on the south coast to pile more misery on Ange Postecoglou.
Bournemouth have now won successive Premier League games for the first time since April, but are on the road this weekend as they take on winless Ipswich Town at Portman Road on Sunday.
Iraola’s side find themselves just a point adrift of the European places after 14 games of their campaign, but the Bournemouth boss was quick to temper expectations at this early stage.
"I don't trust too much in this momentum and confidence thing. The league is so tight. The levels are so small, from a win to a loss, so we have to reset,” Iraola said.
“We have a difficult game away at Ipswich with just two days of recovery. We cannot continue thinking of the standings or of the points, just competing every game. For me, the end of the season is too far away. We cannot look much further.
"We will have to show it [that they are better than last season]. If we finish with better than 48 points, then we will be. If not, then maybe not. We really don't know. We are having great nights this season, especially at home against difficult opposition, and we are getting the points.”
Ipswich, meanwhile, remain in search of that illusive first victory after falling to a narrow 1-0 defeat to Crystal Palace on Tuesday.
The Tractor Boys also face a difficult task this weekend against a side they have not beaten in their last six league meetings, though five of those matches have been drawn (L1).
Kieran McKenna confirmed he would be without Ben Johnson and Kalvin Phillips for the encounter, eluding that changes to his side could be made for the visit of the Cherries.
"We made some changes on Tuesday night that were necessary. It's not going to be the same XI every game,” McKenna said.
“On Tuesday you could see the challenge for a couple of our younger players having to play Saturday-Tuesday in the Premier League for the first time.
"We'd like to have one or two more available to rotate, but in general we've still got a pretty healthy squad."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Ipswich – Liam Delap
No one has been involved in more goals for Ipswich than Delap (seven) in the Premier League this season, though he has failed to register a goal involvement in his last three games.
Bournemouth – Justin Kluivert
While not being able to add to his record-breaking hat-trick against Wolves in midweek against Tottenham, Kluivert will be keen to continue his goal-scoring form away from home.
He has scored four goals in his last two Premier League games on the road, which is double the amount that he’d netted in his first 21 away from the Vitality Stadium in the competition (two).
MATCH PREDICTION: BOURNEMOUTH WIN
This will be the first ever top-flight meeting between Ipswich and Bournemouth, making it the 1,453rd fixture to be played in England’s top division.
While Bournemouth are favoured by Opta’s data-led simulations, they have won just one of their last 11 away league games against Ipswich (D3 L7), a 2-1 win under Harry Redknapp in March 1988. Their last three league visits to Portman Road have all been draws.
The Cherries have also lost two of their last three Premier League meetings with promoted sides (W1), as many as they had in their previous 15 such matches (W8 D5).
Ipswich, meanwhile, remain without a win in any of their seven Premier League home games this season (D4 L3). In their league history, only in 2018-19 have they had a longer run without a home win from the start of a campaign (10).
The Tractor Boys have kept just one clean sheet in their 14 top-flight games this season. However, having conceded 20 goals in their first nine this term (2.2 per game), they’ve now conceded just five in their last five.
And Ipswich’s frustration has seemingly shown. They have conceded 180 fouls in their 14 Premier League games so far this season. Their rate of 12.9 fouls per game is currently the highest by a promoted side in a single campaign since Wolves in 2009-10 (13.8).
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Ipswich – 28.6%
Draw – 24.4%
Bournemouth – 46.9%
Al-Ittihad 2-1 Al-Nassr: Bergwijn nets last-gasp winner for leaders
Steven Bergwijn's last-gasp winner earned Al-Ittihad a huge victory in their quest for the Saudi Pro League title, beating Al-Nassr 2-1 at King Abdullah Sports City on Friday.
Karim Benzema had given the hosts a 55th-minute lead before Cristiano Ronaldo levelled two minutes later, but Bergwijn struck the decisive blow in second half stoppage time.
In a tepid opening 45 minutes, clear-cut chances were hard to come by, with Bergwijn and Benzema going closest for the hosts, but unable to trouble Bento.
However, Al-Ittihad got themselves in front shortly after the break when Muhannad Al Shanqiti picked out Benzema, with the Frenchman on hand to tuck the ball home.
But the hosts' joy was short-lived after Angelo saw his effort cleared off the line by Danilo Pereira, before the Brazilian laid the ball back to Ronaldo to level the scoring.
With the game looking to end all square, Al-Ittihad stole the three points at the death as Bergwijn cut inside before curling a right-footed effort into the far-left corner.
The result moved Al-Ittihad three points clear at the summit, though Al-Hilal can go level with them with a win over Al-Raed on Saturday. Al-Nassr, meanwhile, stayed in fourth.
Data Debrief: Bergwijn bursts Ronaldo's bubble
Al-Ittihad have often been second best in their encounters with Al-Nassr, but they earned an impressive victory against Ronaldo's side, though it may not have been deserved.
They managed an expected goals (xG) total of just 0.66 from their 11 shots compared to Al-Nassr's 1.2 from the same number of attempts.
Benzema also ended his goal drought against Al-Nassr, having failed to score against them in his previous game against them. The former Madrid striker ended the game with a team-high xG of 0.36, while also having more shots (seven) and touches in the opposition box (four) than any of his team-mates.
Al-Ittihad have now won their last nine league matches, their second-longest streak in the competition after 10 wins between October 2021 and February 2022, while also triumphing in their eighth-straight home match in the Pro League.
Tottenham shot themselves in the foot, says Postecoglou after Bournemouth loss
Ange Postecoglou claimed Tottenham were masters of their own downfall in their 1-0 defeat at Bournemouth in the Premier League.
Dean Huijsen headed home the only goal of the game from a corner in the 17th minute to inflict a sixth defeat of the season on Postecoglou's Spurs, who ended with an xG of only 0.58 despite having more than 65% possession.
Indeed, Bournemouth had 21 shots and saw two goals disallowed for offside, albeit Spurs also had a would-be equaliser ruled out when Son Heung-min was flagged.
But after his team followed up a disappointing home draw against Fulham with a toothless display on the south coast, Postecoglou did not hide his frustration.
"It is not good enough. We again fell into the trap of starting the game really well, we were in control, and then we conceded a really poor goal," Postecoglou told Amazon Prime, after a defeat that pushed Tottenham into 10th place with 20 points from 14 games.
"Then we kind of lost our way a little bit and allowed Bournemouth to play the game that they wanted to. We had our moments in the second half, but we could not get a goal.
"I don't know if they had more urgency, but we have this sort of propensity to shoot ourselves in the foot when we should be controlling games."
Bournemouth, meanwhile, climbed into the top half of the table with their fourth win in five matches at the Vitality Stadium.
"Bournemouth are hard to beat here and what you should not do is give them a goal that gives them the momentum they need," the Tottenham head coach said.
Spurs will next face second-placed Chelsea, who are unbeaten in their last six league games, at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday.
"They are all big games coming up. We have to get ourselves out of the space we are in at the minute where we can't get a real grip on the season," Postecoglou said.
Meanwhile, Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola was full of praise for 19-year-old Huijsen, who had made his third league start of the season in place of Marcos Senesi.
"He was very, very good defensively and he got the goal. Obviously, we can use his height in the set plays. He is confident on the ball too. He is good news for us," said the Spanish tactician.
"He needs and is demanding opportunities and I think he will get them more now. Marco [Senesi] is injured, so he will get the chance more and more. It is good for us that he has found the level."
Huijsen became Bournemouth’s youngest-ever goalscorer in the Premier League at 19 years and 235 days and the third-youngest Spaniard, after Cesc Fabregas and Stefan Bajcetic.
"Our defensive performance was most pleasing. We did not give them many chances at all. Everyone defensively was very good," Iraola said.
"Luckily we finished the job, but there were moments when we thought that if we did not kill them they would punish us," he added.
Bournemouth are next in action against Ipswich Town at Portman Road on Sunday.
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