Sky Sports

Watch Liverpool vs Tottenham: Live stream, TV channel, NOW, team news, score prediction and Premier League title permutations

Submitted by daniel on
Picture
Remote Image
Watch Liverpool vs Tottenham: Live stream, TV channel, NOW, team news, score prediction and Premier League title permutations - Sky Sports
Description

Liverpool host Tottenham on Sunday April 27, live on Sky Sports, needing just a point to win the Premier League title. Here's how Sky and non-Sky customers can watch the game...

Arne Slot's side sit 12 points clear of second-placed Arsenal and can clinch their 20th title this weekend to equal Manchester United's haul.

Tottenham are 16th in the Premier League table on 37 points after suffering an 18th league defeat of the season against Nottingham Forest last time out.

The previous league meeting between Liverpool and Tottenham was a goalfest as the Reds triumphed 6-3 on December 22.

The two sides also met in the Carabao Cup semi-finals, with Spurs winning the first leg 1-0 before Liverpool won 4-0 at Anfield in the second leg to progress.

Liverpool vs Tottenham live updates

Liverpool transfer news | Tottenham transfer news

Live football today and this week on Sky Sports

Upcoming Premier League matches live on Sky Sports

When is Liverpool vs Tottenham

Liverpool vs Tottenham in the Premier League takes place on Sunday April 27 at Anfield. Kick-off is 4.30pm UK time.

How to watch Liverpool vs Tottenham

Got Sky?

TV: Sky Customers can watch on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League from 4pm

App: Sky Customers can also watch on the Sky Sports app

Not got Sky?

Stream: Non-Sky Customers can stream the game with a NOW Day or a cancel-anytime Month pass

Online: Anyone on the move can follow live coverage of the game through our dedicated match blog

How to watch Liverpool vs Tottenham with the Sky Sports app

Sky Sports Subscribers can:

Download or open the Sky Sports app

Head to the 'Watch' section at 4pm

Tap on the Sky Sports Premier League or Sky Sports Main Event channel

Sign in with your Sky iD (*you'll only need to do this once)

*Sky iD help: How to find or create your Sky iD

What is NOW TV?

NOW is an instant streaming service offering access to all 12 Sky Sports channels, every Sky Sports+ stream, and much more.

It's an app, so customers can sign up and stream instantly across over 60 devices. It offers contract-free memberships options, so customers can cancel anytime!

You can choose between a Month or Day Membership. See the latest NOW TV membership prices.

More information about NOW can be found here.

Liverpool vs Tottenham team news

Liverpool have no new injury concerns heading into this Super Sunday showdown.

Trent Alexander-Arnold could be in contention to start after returning from injury off the bench to score the winning goal against Leicester City last Sunday.

Heung-Min Son continues to recover from a foot injury and remains unavailable for Tottenham, but Ange Postecoglou also has no new injury concerns and has the same squad to pick from that lost to Nottingham Forest on Monday.

Premier League title permutations

Liverpool are so close to the Premier League title, they can start to feel it.

Arsenal's 2-2 draw at home to Crystal Palace on Wednesday night leaves them 12 points behind Liverpool, with just four games left for the Gunners.

Liverpool have five games left and now need just a point when they host Tottenham on Sunday - live on Sky Sports - to win the Premier League title.

If Liverpool clinch the Premier League title against Spurs, they could then get a guard of honour at Stamford Bridge when they play Chelsea on May 4, live on Sky Sports.

Liverpool last won the championship back in the delayed 2019/20 Covid season when Jurgen Klopp's side amassed 99 points en route to the title, ending a 30-year wait for a top-flight title in the process.

Liverpool vs Tottenham odds and score prediction

Sky Sports' Lewis Jones...

Arne Slot has Liverpool on the brink of greatness - what a job he has done.

He's resisted trying to reinvent the wheel but has just tweaked key components here and there - all that was great about Liverpool under Jurgen Klopp still remains, but they are a more sensible football team now. Liverpool have also suffered just 37 injuries this season which is in stark contrast to rivals Arsenal, who have had almost double that. That is also a credit to the manager, who has managed his squad meticulously through the choppy waters of a Premier League season.

I think that might be the biggest difference between Arsenal and Liverpool this season. The injury toll may have even been the decisive factor. But that takes nothing away from what Liverpool have done - I think it's fine to say they've been deserving champions and also that Arsenal are probably the better side when everyone is fit. Both statements can be true.

For this one, it's going to be party time and Slot may go all irresponsible, tie a tie around his head, do a couple of shots and unleash a bit of Klopp-ball on Tottenham, who aren't exactly going to sit in a low block. Both teams to score and over 4.5 goals in the match is a runner at 9/4 with Sky Bet.

Source

Chris Eubank Jr inspired by father in gruelling 12-round victory over Conor Benn at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

Submitted by daniel on
Picture
Remote Image
Chris Eubank Jr inspired by father in gruelling 12-round victory over Conor Benn at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium - Sky Sports
Description

Chris Eubank Jr said his gruelling 12-round victory over Conor Benn was inspired by his father, who made a stunning surprise appearance just hours before the fight.

The Eubanks have have been estranged, and have scarcely spoken to each other in recent years, but 35 years after Eubank Sr famously battled Nigel Benn, he arrived with his son at the Tottenahm Hotspur Stadium and they made an emotional ringwalk together.

The appearance, which came without warning, was loudly cheered by the 65,000 fans in London who were treated to a new chapter in the Eubank vs Benn family rivalry, with Eubank Jr ultimately emerging as the victor via unanimous decision.

Chris Eubank beats Conor Benn in thrilling 12-round battle

Chris Eubank Jr vs Conor Benn - as it happened

Chris Eubank Jr vs Conor Benn - book the repeats

Eubank Jr won the fight 116-112 on all of the judges' scorecards and said his success drew on his dad's legacy.

"The fact our fathers did it all those years ago brings out a different spirit into you and that's what we showed here tonight," he said.

"I'm happy to have this man [Eubank Sr] back with me. He needed to be here. All this is because of what he did.

"We upheld the family name. Onwards and upwards."

Eubank Jr, who is seven years older than his opponent, was taken to hospital for precautionary checks following the fight and was badly cut in the ninth round.

His father celebrated with him in the ring after the fight and described his performance as "legendary".

"He couldn't move around the ring and so he had to stand toe-to-toe. That is legendary behaviour in the ring. Legendary.

"Conor Benn is an extraordinary fighter. He's gone pear-shaped somewhere, but an extraordinary fighter.

"I thought he would blow out in four of five rounds he was going strong right the way through the fight.

"I am so proud. That's my son. I was always going to be here."

Benn hopes for reconciliation of Eubanks

Conor Benn embraced Eubank Sr in the ring following the final bell and insisted the surprise appearance was a positive for the event.

An emotional Benn, who was consoled by his own father in the ring after the decision was announced, now hopes the duo can reconcile.

"I looked at Chris Senior, grabbed him by the neck and said 'mate, I'm so happy that you're here, I'm so happy you turned up', he said.

"Outside of everything else, all the noise and the promotion and the fight, the relationship with your dad never goes.

"That's always there. That's longstanding. I'd pick the relationship with my dad over boxing any day of the week.

"If this has brought them two together, that's worth its weight in gold."

Source

Chris Eubank Jr defeats Conor Benn in thrilling 12-round battle at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

Submitted by daniel on
Picture
Remote Image
Chris Eubank Jr defeats Conor Benn in thrilling 12-round battle at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium - Sky Sports
Description

Chris Eubank Jr delivered a grandstand finish to beat Conor Benn by unanimous decision at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Eubank took a unanimous decision, all three judges scoring 116-112 in his favour, after a tremendous 12-round, back-and-forth clash.

The sons were picking up the rivalry of their famous fathers, Chris Eubank Sr and Nigel Benn.

Chris Eubank Jr vs Conor Benn - as it happened

Chris Eubank Jr vs Conor Benn - book the repeats

McKenna upsets Smith as Eubank Senior arrives with son

Riley defeats Clarke to win British title as Billam-Smith returns

That saga took a new turn when earlier in the evening when, totally unexpectedly, Eubank Senior, without warning, arrived at the stadium alongside his son.

The estrangement between the pair had been in the public eye after Conor Benn's jibes in the build up to the fight and Eubank's own unguarded speech about that fractured relationship had stunned their final press conference.

The roar in the stadium reached a fever pitch of extraordinary intensity when Eubanks senior and junior ringwalked together.

In another echo of his father, Junior of course had to vault the top rope to land on the ring canvas, throwing a blur of punches through the air as the electric noise howled all around him.

His father followed him into the ring and embraced both Conor and Nigel Benn.

The roar of the crowd rose up yet again as the first bell tolled. Eubank came out behind his jab, his advantage in size apparent as he kept Benn at bay with his left.

But there was a moment within the opening round when Benn backed up a double jab with a flush cross, a full bodied right that Eubank had to take flush.

Benn managed to connect in the second round too. His left landed stiffly, twice jolting Eubank with a weight that he appeared to feel.

Benn was dangerous early on. He let his right burst over and it crashed into Eubank's temple and jaw.

He was taking those attacks in the third and fourth rounds. But Benn, with bustling dynamism, was getting through.

Eubank was willing to trade with him. He tagged Benn with his right uppercut and swept it through once again, bouncing Benn's head upward.

In the sixth round Eubank met him with a jab, but Benn managed to get inside and let spiteful left hooks sink in.

Eubank popped another solid jab in but his right cross just glanced off Benn.

He stepped off breathing heavy for a moment and the pace of the fight slackened for a moment.

In the seventh round Benn charged on to a huge right uppercut, a blow that drew a gasp from the crowd.

A long left propelled Benn back. Benn was leaking punches and Eubank helped himself to a three-shot combination.

As Benn cantered forward once more, Eubank greeted him with a curving right.

Grimly determined, Benn just fought his way forward, only for the Eubank cross to snag him high on the head.

In the eighth round though Benn kept himself in touch with a storm of wild punches. Benn though paused to regroup and Eubank jabbed low, before clocking him with a left hook.

But drawn into an exchange, Eubank looked to hold. His legs seemed to weaken and the crowd bellowed as the fighters leaned on to each other hurling punches with just their arms.

Eubank was cut by his right eye in the ninth round. It was a battle for him to contain Benn. Both men, at times had to pause, just to suck in air. But they still found the reserves to go again. Eubank slung wide hooks that caught Benn's jaw in the 10th round.

Defence was abandoned for a moment as they just heaved their punches into each other.

Eubank finished that round with Benn backed up on the ropes, just pouring in punches. The power in them drained away as he tired, but Benn didn't find a reply.

They stood in the centre of the ring. Their feet no longer moving, as they tried to extricate their arms from clinches and let their barrages of punches carrying on flowing.

It was sapping, draining effort and neither man, at that late stage, looked likely to shift the other. They were however taking the pain.

But Eubank hammered through that. He was unrelenting. He kept throwing and his left hook sank in with full force to buckle Benn's legs.

The uppercut hit home too and Benn's eyes were glassy as Eubank carried on his attack. Benn's instinct was to fight back and he did, a left hook striking Eubank's body hard. But Eubank delivered a grandstand finish in that last round and secured the unanimous decision win.

Fractious build up

Eubank Jr and Benn's rivalry had grown more bitter in the build up to this fight. They had originally been due to box in 2022, at a catchweight, but that bout was eventually called off when the results of Benn's failed drug tests emerged.

Only in November, when Benn's provisional suspension was lifted without appeal from the British Boxing Board of Control and UKAD, was he permitted to box in his home country.

The build up to this fight was fractious. Benn and Eubank were separated in altercations before and after the latter's previous bout. At their own announcement press conference, Eubank had cracked an egg across Benn's head, a reference to a claim form the WBC which Benn later distanced himself from that excessive consumption of eggs had led to the anti-doping violation.

Benn was moving up from welterweight for this fight at middleweight, but the deal did involve a rehydration clause preventing Eubank from being more than 10lbs over the limit on the morning of the fight.

Eubank met that stipulation, but had been half an ounce over 160lbs at the official weigh in, a miscalculation that saw him suffer a financial penalty, reportedly in excess of £300,000.

But this victory for Eubank will be the ultimate gratification, his biggest win on the most important night of his career.

'We upheld the family name'

"I knew I was capable of that. I just needed someone to bring it out of me," Eubank said. "I didn't expect Conor to be the guy to do that. I didn't know he had that in him, I thought I would break him early.

"I underestimated him, I didn't prepare for a fight like that," Eubank continued. "The fact our fathers fought years ago brought out a different spirit and I am happy to have my father with me.

"He needed to be here. All this is because of him. We upheld the family name - onwards and upwards."

Source

Brighton vs West Ham - Live match updates

Submitted by daniel on
Picture
Remote Image
Description

Brighton 0-0 West Ham

KICK OFF!

FREE highlights at 5.15pm in THIS blog! 🚨 | ALL PL Highlights ▶️

How the teams line up...

Brighton: Verbruggen; Wieffer, Dunk, Baleba, Estupinan; Ayari, Hinshelwood; March, O'Riley, Adingra; Welbeck.

Subs: Steele, Lamptey, Gruda, Cashin, Minteh, Mitoma, Gomez, Veltman, Tasker.

West Ham: Areola; Todibo, Mavropanos, Kilman; Wan-Bissaka, Ward-Prowse, Soucek, Paqueta, Emerson; Bowen, Kudus.

Subs: Fabianksi, Cresswell, Soler, Coufal, Fullkrug, Guilherme, Ings, Rodriguez, Irving.

Here come the teams!

Brighton and West Ham emerge from the tunnel and into the sunshine - kick-off is moments away!

Stay here for live match updates.

FREE highlights at 5.15pm in THIS blog! | ALL PL Highlights ▶️

Fullkrug was right to speak out on West Ham... the data backs him up

The Radar column this week argues that Niclas Fullkrug was right to air some West Ham home truths, despite head coach Graham Potter's disapproval.

The data suggests his assessment of the 1-1 draw with Southampton, given in a candid interview after last Sunday's game, was spot-on.

Read the analysis below.

Why Bournemouth's Milos Kerkez is a transfer target for Liverpool, Man City and Real Madrid - The Radar

Sky Sports

Jones Knows: West Ham to earn away win

Sky Sports' Lewis Jones:

"Brighton are a team that are easy to play against if you are happy to let them have the ball.

"When they've enjoyed 50 per cent or more possession in a game this season, their record is abysmal. In the last 21 games, they've won just three of those matches.

"In that time, they've drawn at home with Ipswich, Leicester, Southampton, Wolves, Brentford and lost to Everton.

"I covered their game at Brentford last weekend and they were absolutely schooled by Thomas Frank tactically and in terms of application and a desire to win the duels.

"Brentford ran them ragged in transition - and Graham Potter, former Brighton manager no less, is savvy enough to produce a gameplan to beat them.

"West Ham on the double chance at 5/4 with Sky Bet is a fantastic price - as is the 4/1 for the away win."

SCORE PREDICTION: 1-2 | JONES KNOWS' BEST BET: West Ham to win (4/1 with Sky Bet)

FREE MATCH HIGHLIGHTS!

You can watch FREE match highlights right here on skysports.com from 5.15pm.

They'll be available here in the match blog as well as in our match reports, so don't move a muscle!

Watch Premier League goals and highlights free online for every match in 2024/25 season

Sky Sports

Potter: Fullkrug's comments not helpful

West Ham boss Graham Potter has told outspoken striker Niclas Fullkrug his angry post-match comments were not helpful to the club.

Germany international Fullkrug accused half of his team-mates of not listening to the head coach after they conceded a last-gasp equaliser to draw 1-1 at home to rock-bottom Southampton last weekend.

Potter admitted the 31-year-old may have had a point, but felt his opinion should have been aired behind closed doors.

“I think he wears his heart on his sleeve,” said Potter. “I would disagree with him in some things and agree with him in others.

“But he’s entitled to his opinion. As a senior player, we’ve had lots of honest conversations. And I think for me it’s better to have the conversations in private, not in public.

“Then as a group we move forward. That’s how it is. You need to be honest.

“You need to be able to say what you think. That’s for sure. And then you have to think about the team as well.

“We have a responsibility to the team and the club. And from my perspective, sometimes I could be honest about how I really feel.

“But I don’t think it’s helpful to the players. I don’t think it’s helpful to the club. So, we all have to be aware of our responsibilities as well.”

Last time out: Brentford 4-2 Brighton

Hurzeler doesn't want 'happy-clappy' culture

Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler says he has no problem with Danny Welbeck’s public criticism of his team-mates and is determined to avoid a “happy-clappy” atmosphere at the club.

Welbeck was highly critical of the players’ performance following a 4-2 loss at Brentford which extended the Seagulls winless run to six games and further dented their ambitions of securing European football.

“We need to play far more collectively. Fight for each other more,” Welbeck, who scored his 10th goal of the season at the Gtech Community Stadium said.

“It was evident that we weren’t doing that.”

Asked about Welbeck’s comments ahead of Saturday’s visit of West Ham, Hurzeler said he was happy for his players to be “honest” with each other.

“Danny Welbeck, we all know he’s a leader on the pitch and beside the pitch,” Hurzeler said.

“He’s someone who’s here for a long time, who scores a lot of goals, who gives a great effort for this club so we can be sure he wants the best for this club and the best for his team-mates.

“What I always demand is for a culture where not everything is happy-clappy.

“We demand a culture where we can be honest with each other, where we can share our thoughts, where we can give each other critical feedback.

“If you only are positive and only clap the shoulders of your team-mates then I’m sure no-one gets better from that. So that’s the main thing that I demand here in this club and in this environment.

“Of course it should be a positive environment but it also should be a very demanding environment, a demanding culture, because like this you improve as a team and as individuals.”

Last time out: West Ham 1-1 Southampton

Book Eubank Jr vs Benn now!

Chris Eubank vs Conor Bennwill be live on Saturday April 26 on Sky Sports Box Office.

Book now to watch on TV or online

Potter determined to help West Ham heal from 'hangover'

Graham Potter believes West Ham are suffering with a hangover stretching back to when David Moyes was in charge.

The Hammers were booed off last weekend after conceding a last-minute equaliser to draw 1-1 at home to rock-bottom Southampton.

They currently lie a lowly 17th in the Premier League having collected just 13 points from 13 matches since Potter took over from the sacked Julen Lopetegui in January.

Moyes memorably guided West Ham to the Europa Conference League title in 2023, but his final season became a slog with the Hammers eventually finishing ninth.

Lopetegui took over in the summer but failed to lift the mood - the Spaniard managed 23 points from his 20 matches in charge - and Potter says his players are still bearing the scars of some heavy defeats.

"In the 40 games before I arrived the club conceded 80-something goals in the Premier League, and scored 50. That's a minus-30 goal difference," said Potter, who takes his side to former club Brighton on Saturday.

"So if you're a West Ham fan and that's what you've seen for a period of time, then of course you're going to be upset. You're going to be frustrated. I'm the same.

"It's a long period of results, 6-0, 5-0, 4-0, those type of results can create a feeling, whether you try and push it away or not, it's still there because that's the recent history.

"If you add another layer to that, if that's a team from the Championship, it's still a tough season but it's a team from the Championship.

"But if you're West Ham and you recently won a trophy and you normally go for Europe, then you can imagine the pressure that's coming on to the group.

"That's what we have to deal with, we have to find a way together to get through it and we will because I see the character of the players, I see the quality, I see what they're trying to do every day."

Expected formations...

March makes first start of season for Brighton

Solly March makes his first start of the season for Brighton as Fabian Hurzeler makes three changes from their 4-2 defeat at Brentford.

March, who has been plagued by injury, comes in for Yankuba Minteh while Joao Pedro drops out due to suspension after his straight red card.

Simon Adingra and Yasin Adingra come in and Jan Paul van Hecke is absent after sustaining a head injury last weekend.

Kaoru Mitoma remains among the substitutes after coming off the bench to score last weekend.

Fullkrug benched after criticising team-mates

West Ham boss Graham Potter has dropped Niclas Fullkrug to the bench after the striker criticised his team-mates following last weekend's 1-1 draw with Southampton.

Fullkrug accused half of his team-mates of not listening to the head coach after they conceded a last-gasp equaliser.

Potter said this week that the Germany international's comments hadn't been helpful and should only be aired in private.

Tomas Soucek comes into midfield while Aaron Wan-Bissaka returns at right-back for Vladimir Coufal.

Konstantinos Mavropanos starts at centre-back with Carlos Soler dropping out.

West Ham team news

West Ham: Areola; Todibo, Mavropanos, Kilman; Wan-Bissaka, Ward-Prowse, Soucek, Paqueta, Emerson; Bowen, Kudus.

Subs: Fabianksi, Cresswell, Soler, Coufal, Fullkrug, Guilherme, Ings, Rodriguez, Irving.

Twitter This content is provided by Twitter, which may be using cookies and other technologies. To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies. You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enable Twitter cookies or to allow those cookies just once. You can change your settings at any time via the Privacy Options. Unfortunately we have been unable to verify if you have consented to Twitter cookies. To view this content you can use the button below to allow Twitter cookies for this session only.

Brighton team news

Brighton: Verbruggen; Wieffer, Dunk, Baleba, Estupinan; Ayari, Hinshelwood; March, O'Riley, Adingra; Welbeck.

Subs: Steele, Lamptey, Gruda, Cashin, Minteh, Mitoma, Gomez, Veltman, Tasker.

Twitter This content is provided by Twitter, which may be using cookies and other technologies. To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies. You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enable Twitter cookies or to allow those cookies just once. You can change your settings at any time via the Privacy Options. Unfortunately we have been unable to verify if you have consented to Twitter cookies. To view this content you can use the button below to allow Twitter cookies for this session only.

Team news incoming!

Not long now!

This is your two-minute warning! Team news will be landing here at 1.45pm.

Stay tuned!

Brighton without Van Hecke

Brighton will be without the services of Jan Paul van Hecke against West Ham after he was carried off on a stretcher following a clash of heads at Brenford.

The defender should be able to return next week.

“I think everyone saw the foul so it was a tough one,” boss Fabian Hurzeler said. “We have to be careful with his health.

“We can’t risk playing him this weekend but I am sure that we follow all the protocols and then he will be back next week.”

Source

Chris Eubank Jr vs Conor Benn: 'This is the first mega-fight in boxing history where you have two bad guys'

Submitted by daniel on
Picture
Remote Image
Chris Eubank Jr vs Conor Benn: 'This is the first mega-fight in boxing history where you have two bad guys' - Sky Sports
Description

Neither Chris Eubank Jr nor Conor Benn know how they will be received by the crowd when they fight at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium on Saturday night.

Tens of thousands of people booing your name would be hard enough to take anyway, let alone when you carry one of the most famous surnames in British boxing.

The sons of great rivals Chris Eubank Sr and Nigel Benn fight in a Ring Magazine event, live on Sky Sports Box Office.

Eubank Jr vs Benn fight time, ringwalks and undercard

How to book and ways to watch

Book Eubank Jr vs Benn to watch on TV

Book Eubank Jr vs Benn to watch online

They have their own demons to face in the fight, they have their own points to prove against each other and to themselves.

They'll wonder too how they will be judged.

"This is the first mega-fight in boxing history where you have two bad guys," Eubank told Sky Sports.

"You have the potential for both fighters in a super-fight being booed into the ring. It's never happened before. It's probably going to happen on April 26.

"It doesn't bother me. I relish it and enjoy it," he added. "It used to confuse and upset me. Now I dream about it. Now I feed off of that energy, I've learned to use it to my benefit. I've accepted my fate."

Yet even hardened prizefighters find it hard to resist a basic human sentiment. They want to be loved too.

"There's been so many times in my career where I thought I was going to be the good guy; the one that was getting the support and getting cheered. It never happened," Eubank said.

"Every time I had a big win or overcame adversity, or put on a good show, came back from defeat, the very next time I was back in that ring I was getting booed again. So I gave up on that dream many, many, many years ago.

"My fight with Liam Smith where I beat him in the rematch was my kind of last hope of being accepted as somebody that everybody could get behind. The first fight I got booed into the arena, lost the first fight, booed on the way out.

"Six months on got booed back into that same arena, got in the ring against a guy everybody said I couldn't beat because I was 'finished', 'didn't have a chin' and 'I didn't want it anymore'. Dominated the fight, had a career best performance. Beat him, stopped him in 10 rounds, shook everybody's hands, it was respectful, no trash talk.

"I thought 'now surely I can get a bit of slack' and the next time I went out in public, Anthony Joshua versus Dubois, I walk into Wembley stadium, 80,000 people, the cameras are on me as I'm walking in. I look up at the screen and all the screens had my face on them as I'm walking in. And the entire stadium boos me.

"So as I'm walking to my seat, I really understood. I'm not that guy, I'm not the golden boy, the one everyone wants to win, the national treasure - I don't know what they call these guys that everyone is always supporting - but I'm not that. I can never be that. So I have no expectation or hope that I am going to get cheered into Tottenham stadium."

Conor Benn doesn't see himself as a 'bad guy'. He insists he's not an angry man.

"I'm not angry. I think that's what people have mistaken. I'm not angry. I'm intense and I'm passionate. You could say maybe I'm a little bit angry. Not with him, I'm just an intense person come fight week. I think it's always personal when someone's trying to take something away from you," Benn told Sky Sports.

"Have I ever lost my composure? Maybe early doors, not now."

Benn's public perception has been shaped by the notoriety. He was originally due to box Eubank in 2022, a bout which was called off after his drug test results emerged.

He protested his suspensions and, after two bouts in the USA in the intervening two years, in November his provisional suspension was lifted and the British Boxing Board of Control and UKAD did not appeal, freeing him to box in Britain.

"I felt like I had vindication when I won the first case, the first hearing," Benn said. "There's nothing more I can do. There's nothing more I can say. Ultimately it's a big story and people just want a story, people want something to gossip about to talk about, but ultimately it's done. Done."

"I was definitely broken," Benn said. "It's still healing.

"I've gone through the hardest fight that anyone can ever go through and that's just life in my own head."

"Everything was taken from him: his credibility, his respect, his name, all thrown away. I'm the only guy that he can make these crazy amounts of money he's going to make fighting."

It's a contest though that Eubank Jr didn't resist taking.

"This is a fight that's got too much public interest. People that have no interest in boxing want this fight to happen. It's become bigger than Conor Benn, and me. History, the story, the legacy of our fathers made this fight massive and now everything that's played out between me and Conor has made the fight explode even more," he said.

"Now it really is mainstream, which is great for boxing. I understand that this is the biggest fight of my career for sure and I'm treating it as such."

Source

Ange Postecoglou exclusive: Under-fire Tottenham boss insists storm will pass amid poor Premier League season

Submitted by daniel on
Picture
Remote Image
Ange Postecoglou exclusive: Under-fire Tottenham boss insists storm will pass amid poor Premier League season - Sky Sports
Description

Listening to Ange Postecoglou describe the noise around Tottenham Hotspur’s season can feel like living in a world of extremes.

The highs of Frankfurt and the lows of any number of recent Premier League games are just the part on the football pitch. The Spurs head coach used the word "hysteria" at one point, when describing the external voices passing comment on his side.

"Within the football department we've tried to maintain a discipline about how we behave and keep the noise on the outside away from us," he reveals.

Transfer Centre LIVE! | Tottenham news & transfers⚪

Spurs fixtures & scores | FREE highlights▶️

Got Sky? Watch Tottenham games LIVE on your phone📱

Not got Sky? Get Sky Sports or stream with no contract on NOW📺

Choose the Sky Sports push notifications you want! 🔔

"We came back from Frankfurt on a high and everyone was buzzing, then it was another disappointing game in the week [a 2-1 home defeat to Nottingham Forest] and that flips 180 degrees. From our perspective it's really important we cocoon ourselves from it."

Easier said than done, surely? "It's not easy because as much as I can say to the players 'block out the noise', we all live in the outside world. If I could keep them locked up in here for the next month I'd be OK. What you look at is the behaviour of the players; the way they are training, the way they are talking. For the most part they are handling it pretty well."

What does irk Postecoglou is the idea that Spurs have reached this point where they could achieve European success, without meticulously building and preparing over the course of many weeks and months. He talks to the players about 'The Stonecutter's Credo'. It is an allegory from the Danish writer and photographer Jacob Riis:

When nothing seems to help, I go and look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not that last blow that did it, but all that had gone before.

"Sometimes people look at success and look at the tail end of it and don't realise what's gone into it," Postecoglou explains.

"A lot of it is work that is unseen or seems like you are not really progressing. For us, as difficult as the season has been, a lot of it has been good for us in terms of building resilience and staying united.

"I know that for us to break through and bring a trophy we are going to need bundles of that. We just need to keep banging away at the rock and hopefully on the 101st blow we will crack it."

That final blow represents a possible Europa League Final triumph. It could either be a hugely exciting or frustrating outcome depending on whether or not the stone cracks.

"It just depends on how it pans out," Postecoglou continues. "That's the reality of football. Sometimes you don't get what you deserve. I always found that's short-term. Over the long course you will succeed. It's about getting back at the rock and doing the right things all the time, I really believe in that.

"All the success I've had in my career, none of it has been instant, none of it has been because of one thing or one answer to everything. It's about consistently - over and over again - trying to do the right things. Eventually success comes and sometimes it comes at unexpected times, it doesn't come when you think it should."

Postecoglou is in his 60th year and retains a sense of perspective that comes with the wisdom he has gained over time. He was just half that age when starting out in management at South Melbourne and admits that his younger self would not have coped with the pressures he is under today.

"No probably not, that's the reality of it. Invariably when you are younger you take things a lot more personally, you think things are very definite in terms of the outcomes. Over the course of time you realise none of that is true, everything is just a moment in time and the moments all pass.

"It's not that I never had pressure when I was younger, you always do. For all young managers the first job is really important because if you don't succeed you might not get another opportunity. The pressure is always there, it's just the noise now and the way the world has changed as well. There are so many more platforms.

"When I first started, the media used to be journalists and that was it. Now every platform you can think of has an opinion and they all have the ability to voice that opinion and it can feel really overwhelming, and the younger me would have struggled to cope with that."

If Spurs can prevail in Europe then Postecoglou's mission will arguably have been completed. He was tasked with reducing the age profile of the squad, changing the direction on the pitch and bringing success. It has been a hugely challenging campaign but one that can end with each of those boxes being ticked.

"Yes, that was the brief, that was why I came," he adds. "To change the way the club played its football, to regenerate a squad because it was coming to the end of a cycle, and to win trophies.

"I still feel like that's the motivation and they were the objectives for me coming here and that's what I'm determined to see out. I haven't tried to change the initial mission which was to play football that excites the fans, to bring some exciting young talent to the club, and hopefully succeed."

And as the noise builds ahead of Sunday's trip to Liverpool and that Europa League semi-final first leg against Bodo/Glimt on Thursday, Postecoglou will not let any of it affect his preparations for the biggest test of his Spurs career.

"Provided you stay true to yourself, your head hits the pillow at night and you're fine. In those moments if you change what you believe in, or your values, or who you are as a person, that's where you do have those sleepless nights.

"That's happened at times in my career but as you get older you realise that it's like every other storm, they all pass."

Source

Live Commentary - Liverpool vs Spurs

Submitted by daniel on
Picture
Remote Image
Live Commentary - Liverpool vs Spurs | 27.04.2025 - Sky Sports
Description

Sorry, this blog is currently unavailable. Please try again later.

Back to Home

This content is provided by , which may be using cookies and other technologies. To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies. You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enable cookies or to allow those cookies just once. You can change your settings at any time via the Privacy Options. Unfortunately we have been unable to verify if you have consented to cookies. To view this content you can use the button below to allow cookies for this session only.

Source