Football / News / Sports

 Mo Salah and Darwin Nunez hitting form against Tottenham Hotspur

Today’s encounter is a crucial one for Jurgen Klopp and Antonio Conte. Both managers are under pressure to deliver for their respective clubs but for vastly different reasons. Conte is trying to prove that Tottenham can be a major player in the Premier League title race whilst Klopp wants to get Liverpool back to winning ways and into the top four race.

With the margins for error so slim at the top of the table Conte’s Spurs cannot afford to slip up against Liverpool this afternoon. They’ve had three poor weeks in the league with consecutive defeats to Manchester United and Newcastle before Rodrigo Bentancur rescued them with a 92nd minute winner against Bournemouth last time out. Three points today is a must if Spurs want to keep the pressure on Manchester City and Arsenal.

Liverpool, meanwhile, come into the game 9th in the table and eight points away from the top four having been beaten by Nottingham Forest and Leeds in their last two league outings. However, Klopp’s men tend to step up in big games – they’re the only ones to beat City this season – and with the pressure on they could prove to be too much to handle for Spurs especially with Mo Salah and Darwin Nunez hitting form.

Follow the action as Tottenham clash with Liverpool in the Premier League:

Tottenham vs Liverpool

  • Victory puts Spurs back in third place
  • Tottenham XI: Lloris; Royal, Dier, Lenglet, Davies, Sessegnon; Bissouma, Bentancur, Hojbjerg, Perisic; Kane
  • Liverpool XI: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Fabinho, Thiago, Elliott; Salah, Firmino, Nunez

Tottenham Hotspur FC 1 – 2 Liverpool FC

Full-time: Tottenham 1-2 Liverpool

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Football / Sports

Harry Kane double seals victory over Nottingham Forest

Harry Kane was at the double for Tottenham Hotspur, who held off constant Nottingham Forest pressure to take all three points on Sunday afternoon.

Antonio Conte’s men produced a relatively poor performance in the East Midlands, with a lack of urgency seeing a spirited Forest dominate possession and carve out some presentable chances. But the hosts were simply unable to finish, and endured two key periods of looking susceptible on the break.

In both of those spells, Spurs capitalized. Dejan Kulusevski, one of Spurs’ few bright sparks, broke through the heart of the Forest backline before teeing up Kane for the early opener. With nine minutes left on the clock, the North Londoners killed the game with Richarlison’s superb outside-of-the-boot cross finding Kane in space at the back post, for the England captain to stoop down and head in.

Kane was making amends for earlier spurning a chance of a second goal, with his second-half penalty having been saved by Dean Henderson. The former Manchester United goalkeeper stepped up with a big spot-kick save for the second game here in succession.

Unlike against West Ham United, it wasn’t enough, though. It leaves Forest with four points from as many games, while Spurs rise to 10, level with reigning champions Manchester City and a couple behind leaders Arsenal.

Plenty of promise for Forest – but a focal point is needed

The transfer fee of Morgan Gibbs-White, potentially rising to £42.5m, raised plenty of eyebrows over the last fortnight – but there is no doubt he is the man for this Forest side.

The versatile attacker was brilliant against Spurs, particularly in the first half, causing problems for all three opposing centre-backs as well as Ivan Perisic. He spotted balls nobody else did, and generally looked a level above many of his teammates – which was a feat in itself, after such a strong team performance.

He dovetailed well with both Jesse Lingard and Brennan Johnson, with the trio interchanging positions throughout. They were slightly more weighted towards the right flank, almost …

Football / Sports

England suffer shock 4-0 home loss to Hungary as Nations League misery continues

England are staring at the prospect of relegation from UEFA Nations League Group A3 after suffering their worst home loss since 1928 with a 4-0 defeat to Hungary at Molineux on Tuesday.

Roland Sallai found the net in both halves to propel the visitors to their first away win against England since a famous 6-3 win at Wembley in 1953. England’s misery was compounded in the final 10 minutes as Zsolt Nagy and Daniel Gazdag scored further goals and John Stones was shown a second yellow card to make it one of the worst nights of Gareth Southgate’s reign.

England remain winless and at the bottom of their Nations League group with two points from four games, including a 1-0 defeat to Hungary in the reverse fixture earlier this month. Hungary top the group on seven points, ahead of Germany and Italy. The group winners go to the Nations League finals next June while the bottom team are relegated.

Southgate made nine changes from the team that drew with Italy at the weekend to give some fringe players a chance. But despite dominating possession, England created few chances, and the experiment backfired leading to loud boos from the home support.

“It’s not pleasant,” Southgate said. “The irony is that the pressure we’ve had and the reputational comments have come in the two Nations League campaigns, and in neither campaign have we been anywhere near able to pick our strongest teams for the games. The matches where every other England manager has been judged, we’ve had the best performances for 50 years.

“So there is a balance in my head. I’m really clear. But I totally understand the response tonight. I totally understand there’s been this narrative all week. I didn’t think that was correct after the Germany game. But tonight, I can’t dress up what’s happened tonight in any way, shape or form. But if we’re judged on the matches with our full strength players, then I think it’s a different assessment.

“So I’ve got to accept the next period …

Football / Sports

Harry Kane late penalty rescues England draw at Germany in Nations League clash

Harry Kane scored a late penalty to help England secure a vital 1-1 draw at Germany in the UEFA Nations League on Tuesday.

Jonas Hofmann put the Germans ahead after 50 minutes but the visitors were awarded a penalty in the final five minutes.

After a long VAR check, Nico Schlotterbeck was adjudged to have brought down Kane in the area and Kane equalized from the spot to claim his 50th international goal.

The result means that England came away with one point from their opening two Nations League games after defeat to Hungary on the weekend.

After suffering a first defeat by Hungary for 60 years on Saturday in their opening League A, Group Three fixture, England fielded an experienced lineup in a noisy Allianz Arena but were second best for much of the clash.

Borussia Monchengladbach midfielder Hofmann had the ball in the England net early on as Germany dominated but an offside flag cut short his celebrations.

He was not to be denied though and he beat Jordan Pickford with a powerful, slightly-deflected shot from the edge of the penalty area five minutes after the interval.

Despite a rather labored performance, England had their chances with Bukayo Saka inches away in first-half stoppage time and Mason Mount and Kane both denied by Germany keeper Manuel Neuer as England sought a leveler.

“It is really important to show the mentality, 1-0 behind we showed good character to get back into the game and get a result,” Kane, who is now three goals behind England’s all-time top scorer Wayne Rooney, said.

“We were playing against a very good Germany side. We kept going and played our best football in the last half an hour.”

It was a frustrating end to the game for Germany who have drawn both their opening matches in the group. England, who face group leaders Italy at the weekend, are bottom.

Germany were far sharper for most of the evening and thought they had gone ahead midway through the first half when Hofmann galloped clear …

Football / Sports

Tottenham appoint Conte as manager after sacking Nuno

Tottenham Hotspur have appointed Antonio Conte as their new manager until the summer of 2023, the Premier League club said on Tuesday, a day after sacking Nuno Espirito Santo.

Former Chelsea and Inter Milan boss Conte replaces Nuno, who was sacked after 17 matches in charge, with last weekend’s 3-0 home defeat by Manchester United in the league his final game with Spurs.

Conte had been out of work since terminating his contract at Inter in May, shortly after he led them to their first Serie A title in 11 years last season.

“I am extremely happy to return to coaching, and to do so at a Premier League club that has the ambition to be a protagonist (in the title race) again,” Conte said in a statement.

“I can’t wait to start working to convey to the team and the fans the passion, mentality and determination that have always distinguished me, as a player and as a coach.”

Tottenham had topped the Premier League standings in August under Nuno after winning their opening three games but are now ninth, 10 points behind leaders Chelsea after 10 matches.

Conte’s first game in charge will be Thursday’s Conference League match at home to Vitesse Arnhem.…

Football / Sports

Harry Kane trains with team-mates for first time this season after exiting isolation

Harry Kane had not trained with his Tottenham team-mates until Tuesday morning; striker was forced to isolate after returning from holiday and trained individually on Monday; 28-year-old missed Spurs’ 1-0 win against Manchester City – who are interested in signing him – on Sunday.

Kane had been staying at Spurs’ training ground hotel, The Lodge, after coming back to the UK from his holiday in the Bahamas, via Florida. The England captain was required to isolate upon his return, meaning he was unable to join his Spurs team-mates as they prepared to face Manchester City in their Premier League opener on Sunday.…

Football / Sports

England through to the finals after Controversial Penalty

Captain Harry Kane ended England’s 55-year wait for a major men’s final appearance with a dramatic extra-time winner, converting the rebound after Denmark goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel had saved his contentiously awarded penalty.

Three years on from the heartache in the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup in Moscow, and 25 years on from his infamous missed penalty in the shootout defeat to Germany at Euro 96, it was redemption for Southgate and his players, as more than 60,000 fans generated a frenzied atmosphere seldom seen at the new Wembley.

“I’m so proud of the players,” Southgate said. “It’s an incredible occasion to be a part of, the fans were incredible all night.

“For our country… I’ve not heard the new Wembley like that, ever. To be able to share that with everybody is very special.”

England’s triumph was made all the more impressive by the spirited Denmark side they had to battle so relentlessly to overcome.

Mikkel Damsgaard gave the Danes the dream start with an exquisite opener from a free-kick, as Jordan Pickford was beaten at Euro 2020 for the first time. England replied by forcing Simon Kjaer to turn the ball into his own net, but Denmark, inspired by goalkeeper Schmeichel, repelled attack after attack and forced extra-time, before Kane finally secured that long-awaited final appearance

“It was never going to be straightforward, the game the other night in Rome was, but we told the players that they would have to show resilience and come back from some setbacks, and we did that tonight,” Southgate added.

“I felt we would get over the line but knew we would have different sorts of battles. Denmark are so underrated as a team; they did cause us a lot of problems.

“When you have waited as long as we have to get through a semi-final the players – given the limited amount of international experience some of them have – have done an incredible job.

“The most pleasing thing is that we’ve given our fans and nation a fantastic night, and …