Sports
Klopp Relishing Title Battle With City
Jurgen Klopp is trying not to get carried away by Liverpool being in a full-on Premier League title battle with Manchester City.
The only thing is, Jurgen Klopp and staying calm do not go together well.
He let out a fury of celebratory fist pumps at Anfield after Liverpool beat Leeds 6-0 as they have now won six games on the trot and are just three points behind Premier League leaders Man City as they made the most of City losing at home to Tottenham last weekend.
Liverpool faces Man City at the Etihad in early April and many see that game as a straight battle for the Premier League trophy.
Klopp is not so sure, and is trying hard not to focus on whether or not his side is in a battle for the title.
Asked after the game if Liverpool is excited to be in the title race, this was Klopp’s response.
“I am not excited, it is normal after a night like this people get carried away and that is completely fine but Sunday is looming and we have to be 100 percent ready for this,” Klopp said, as he smiled.
“We have 10 days no with no league game and City is probably playing in that time for sure. It is how it is. We have to win our football games and if we do that we will be around and if we don’t there is no title race. But if we do it, then maybe.”
Liverpool has been here before with Manchester City.
This run-in feels very similar to the end of the 2018-19 season, when City finished on 98 points and Liverpool on 97 as the title race went down to the final day of the Premier League season.
Meanwhile, Tottenham manager Antonio Conte will assess his future at the troubled club after admitting he does not deserve his salary following Wednesday’s damaging 1-0 defeat against Burnley.
Conte’s side saw their hopes of a top four finish in the Premier League severely damaged by Ben Mee’s second-half winner at Turf Moor.
Just days after their memorable 3-2 win at champions Manchester City, Tottenham returned to the kind of lacklustre display that has marred their dismal season.
It was a fourth league defeat in five games for eighth-placed Tottenham, who are seven points adrift of the top four in the race to qualify for the Champions League.
Conte cut a forlorn figure after the latest loss in a difficult start to his first season with the north Londoners.
The Italian, who replaced the sacked Nuno Espirito Santo in November, appeared to hint he could walk away from Tottenham if there is not an improvement in their results soon.
Suggesting he wanted to talk to the Tottenham board about the team’s predicament, Conte said: “When you lose four out of five it means the club have to make an assessment, also to speak together, and to understand which is the best solution.
“In this situation the players are always the same in this club, the club change coaches, but the players are the same, but the result doesn’t change.
“This is the reality. No one deserves this type of situation, the club, me, the players, the fans, but this is the reality.
“I came here to try to improve the situation in Tottenham but maybe in this moment I’m not so good.
“I’m too honest to close my eyes. It means there will be an assessment about the club, about me.”
Conte was already unhappy with Tottenham’s decision to sell several players during the January transfer window, with only two replacements arriving.
The former Inter Milan and Chelsea boss a title winner in England and Italy, conceded Tottenham’s current form was closer to a side battling relegation.
Isaako All Stars FC of Opuoko and Khana Khana AllStars Football all in Local Government Area of Rivers State will tomorrow engage in a friendly football match at Opuoko Mini Stadium.
Chatting with Tidesports in a telephone interview yesterday the Chairman of Khana All Stars Saro Tap-le said that the encounter is not going to be an easy game in spite it is an AllStars game.
He express his side readiness for the encounter stating that the opportunity as come for them to showcase their talents.
However, the chairman explained that AllStars game is not about winning but the excitement, love, unity and friendship it creates is more important.
” Tomorrow game is not going to be an easy one despite is a AllStars game. We are going there in a full force to do what we know how to do best and to showcase our talents.
“As Chairman of Khana All Stars I believes we have an edge over the Isaako All Stars be we are training so hard for the encounter” Tap-le said.
Also speaking the Chairman of Isaako All Stars Mina Zaasi Iloori sees the match as an opportunity to build relationships.
” My brother it is an AllStars friendly game I think winning is not important but the paramount thing is the relationship we are going to create among both teams and my community at large
” We are training hard because of the encounter because I will not be in my house and somebody will rob soap in my eyes.
” As I speak with you we are just coming from back training ground to ensure all my players are fit for the match.
” I am using this medium to call on football fans to come en mass to Opuoko Mini Stadium tomorrow and enjoy the best of round leather game.
I promise the game will be an exciting display of football talents and sportsmanship”, Iloori said.
Kiadum Edookor
Thierry Henry has called for the return of the away goals rule in the aftermath of the bombastic Champions League semi-final between Inter Milan and Barcelona.
The visitors at the Estadio Olimpic Lluis Companys came within milimeters of clinching the first leg of the final-four clash after former Arsenal star Henrikh Mkhitaryan netted late in the second-half.
But the linesman was quick to raise his flag, and semi-automated offside ruled out what would have been a thrilling conclusion to the high-octane 3-3 draw.
The hosts came from behind twice to share the spoils, chasing Inter Milan from the first minute of the game after Marcus Thuram stunned the Barcelona faithful into silence with his neatly flicked goal.
Denzel Dumfries doubled Inter’s lead 20 minutes later, but it took just three more for the Blaugrana to finally get on the scoresheet courtesy of a moment of magic from teenage starlet Lamine Yamal.
Ferran Torres drew Barcelona level ahead of the break, but Lamal was forced to play catch-up again in the second-half after Dumfries scored his second.
In light of the impressive effort from Inter, Henry wondered if the team should have got more from the fixture ahead of the second-leg at the San Siro.
‘I know it’s been like that for a very time, and we have to accept it,’ Henry said of the removal of the away goals rule, ‘But off air I was talking to Jamie (Carragher), and I was like, “how can you score three goals away from home and you don’t have an advantage?”
‘Away goals for me were massive, you score three goals away and you still don’t have an advantage 0-0 at home,’ Henry shrugged.
UEFA took the decision to scrap the rule which gave goals scored away from home the ability to act as a tiebreaker in the case of level scorelines ahead of the 2021-22 season.
Current FIFA Chief of Global Football Development Arsene Wenger claimed during his time as Arsenal manager in 2015 that the away goals rule ‘encouraged the team at home not to attack’ and that ‘the weight of the away goal (was) too big today’.
Without the rules, the tie at San Siro will go to extra time and penalties to decide which teams books their spot in the Champions League final.
But based on Wednesday evening’s performance, Henry seemed to give Inter a fighting chance against the newly minted Copa del Rey champions.
The 2025 London Marathon set a new world record for the number of finishers despite hot conditions on Sunday for its 45th edition.
A total of 56,640 runners crossed the finish line at the end of the 26.2-mile route, Guinness World Records has confirmed.
The number surpassed the previous record of 55,646 set by the New York Marathon in November.
Hugh Brasher, chief executive of London Marathon Events, said he hoped the high number of finishers inspired people to apply for the 2026 race ballot.
“The London Marathon was already the most popular in terms of ballot entries, with 840,318 people applying for the 2025 race,” he said.
“It is also the world’s largest annual one-day fundraising event with more than £1.3bn raised for charity since 1981.”
The number of people applying for the ballot to enter this year’s race broke the world record of 578,304 for the 2024 edition.
Of UK applicants 49% were female, while there was a 105% increase in applications from people aged between 20-29.
Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa surged to victory in the elite women’s race in a world record for a women’s only field, while Kenya’s Sebastian Sawe triumphed in the men’s event.