Sportstar

Manchester City’s Erling Haaland became the second player to score at least 20 goals in each of his first three Premier League seasons as the champion beat Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 on Wednesday to return to the top four.

Haaland, back after missing Sunday’s 2-0 home defeat by Liverpool because of injury, turned in Jeremy Doku’s low cross in the 12th minute and it proved decisive.

The Norwegian could have added to his tally as City dominated the opening period with home keeper Guglielmo Vicario making good saves from him and Doku and Savinho putting a great chance over the crossbar.

Haaland also had a stoppage-time goal ruled out for offside after City had weathered a Tottenham siege.

City’s first-half profligacy should have cost it as the host dominated the second period with Wilson Odobert and Mathys Tel squandering glorious chances and Son Heung-min denied by City keeper Ederson after coming off the bench.

After Haaland’s late effort was disallowed, Tottenham almost snatched a point when Pape Matar Sarr headed over the crossbar.

City avoided a third defeat of the season against Tottenham and moved fourth on 47 points from 27 games.

ALSO READ | Copa del Rey semifinal: Endrick earns depleted Real narrow win at Sociedad

But it was another very mixed bag of a display by Pep Guardiola’s side who were hanging on throughout the second half after completely bossing the first.

In the end, however, the night was all about Haaland.

He was involved in the flowing City move that led to his goal, helping the ball out to Doku before popping up in front of goal to tuck an easy finish past Vicario.

The only other player to score 20-plus goals in his first three Premier League campaigns is Ruud van Nistelrooy for Manchester United from 2001-02 to 2003-04.

Tottenham fielded its second-youngest starting side in the Premier League with Son, Dejan Kulusevski and Djed Spence all starting on the bench as manager Ange Postecoglou perhaps had one eye on next week’s Europa League last-16 tie.

After three successive league victories eased the pressure on Postecoglou, Tottenham will count itself unlucky not to have caused City more pain.

It stayed 13th in the table with 33 points.

Son Heung-min slammed Tottenham’s lack of focus after Sunday’s “painful” 2-1 defeat against lowly Leicester increased the pressure on under-fire boss Ange Postecoglou.

Postecoglou’s side blew the lead given to them by Richarlison’s first-half goal as Jamie Vardy equalised before Bilal El Khannouss bagged Leicester’s winner in north London.

Tottenham is languishing in 15th place in the Premier League, just eight points clear of the relegation zone, after a sixth defeat in its last seven top-flight matches.

Postecoglou’s decision to substitute Richarlison was jeered by angry fans, who also called for Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy to quit as the atmosphere grew increasingly toxic.

Whether Postecoglou can survive much longer in a dismal second season in charge remains to be seen, but the Australian’s cause wasn’t helped by a scathing assessment of the performance from South Korea forward Son.

“It is very painful. Especially when you’re winning at half-time and conceding two goals in a short period of time. It let us down and is a very frustrating afternoon,” the Tottenham captain said.

RELATED | Leicester beats Tottenham 2-1 to move out of relegation zone; Crystal Palace loses to Brentford

“We can’t just say tiredness because we just came out of the second half. Maybe it was a little bit sloppy.

“It is just a lack of concentration and a bit of sloppiness and in the Premier League table any team can punish us.

“It was not good enough and sometimes we made the wrong decision in the final moment. It is very disappointing to not get three points and to concede goals like this.”

The prospect of Tottenham dropping into the second tier is unthinkable for fans who last saw their club play at that level in 1977-78.

Asked if Tottenham could be dragged into a relegation battle, Son said: “It is definitely not good enough. We’ve had way too many losses, but there are still a lot of games remaining and we’ll have a lot of players back.”

Welcome to Sportstar’s live coverage of the Premier League match between Everton and Tottenham Hotspur, being plated at the Goodison Park in Liverpool, England.

EVERTON STARTING XI

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR STARTING XI

Tottenham endured the humiliation of being taken to extra time by Tamworth, an opponent nearly 100 places lower in English football’s pyramid, before winning 3-0 and avoiding one of the biggest shocks in FA Cup history on Sunday.

Four days after beating Premier League leader Liverpool 1-0 in the English League Cup semifinal, Tottenham’s team of established internationals toiled against a group of part-time football players whose main jobs included bricklaying, selling zippers and being a financial advisor.

A massive surprise was on when fifth-tier Tamworth forced extra time with the score 0-0, only for the host to concede an own-goal in the 101st minute and then strikes by Dejan Kulusevski and Brennan Johnson to disappoint the majority of the 3,700 fans inside the tiny stadium called The Lamb.

ALSO READ | Kyle Walker has asked to leave Man City, says Guardiola; English defender explores ‘options abroad’

Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou felt compelled to bring on his top players including Son Heung-min, Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke from the substitutes’ bench to eventually overpower Tamworth, which is 16th in the National League and was playing in the third round for first time since 2012.

Ninety-five places were between the teams in the league pyramid.

In previous years, Tamworth would have earned a money-spinning replay by holding Tottenham to a draw in regulation time. However, replays were scrapped from this season because of the increasingly busy calendar.

Tottenham Hotspur is a dangerous opponent and Liverpool will have to work to prevent it from enforcing its style of play when the sides meet in a League Cup semifinal first-leg clash, manager Arne Slot said on Tuesday.

Liverpool and Spurs employ aggressive and attacking brands of football, with the last match between the sides in December resulting in a thrilling 6-3 win for the Merseyside club.

With both teams having scored more than 40 goals in the Premier League, another goalfest could be on the cards.

“We expect before we go into the game is that two teams have such a clear identity and playing style. Both teams are trying to force that identity towards the other,” Slot told reporters ahead of the match at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

“Large parts of the away game two weeks ago we could show our identity. But they in large parts showed how good they are. Scoring three goals against us is a big compliment,” he added.

Slot also hinted that he would shuffle his pack for the match, adding: “If you look at all the fixtures this season, there’s so many things going into a lineup. It’s going to be a decision made about what is the best lineup for tomorrow.”

“In my opinion, the best lineup might be ones who don’t start a lot... Maybe some of those players will play tomorrow. Maybe players who have played a lot will play,” he added.

ALSO READ | League Cup 2024-25: VAR decisions to be explained aloud, trial in Arsenal vs Newcastle United semifinal

Slot added that midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai, who has been dealing with illness, was unlikely to start the semifinal tie.

The Dutch manager also once again defended Trent Alexander-Arnold, after the right-back drew some criticism from pundits for his performance in their 2-2 draw with Manchester United amid reports of a move to Real Madrid.

“I think we were all disappointed, not only Trent. We were all disappointed,” Slot said.

“Parts of our game we weren’t completely happy with. It wasn’t only Trent, there were more things we could have done better. Trent didn’t play his best game, but some others also didn’t play their best. If you play 50, 60 games in a season, one of them won’t be your best performance. Maybe we should highlight these players are playing so well despite playing two games in a week,” he added.

Alexander-Arnold is part of a trio of key players including top scorer Mohamed Salah and captain Virgil van Dijk whose contracts are nearing an end, but Slot shot down any suggestion that the uncertainty was affecting the players on the pitch.

“If everybody plays well, nobody is distracted by their ‘contract distraction’. Nine times out of 10, (results are) down to how well the other team plays,” he concluded..

English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur announced the contract extension of its captain and midfielder Heung-Min Son on Tuesday.

“We are delighted to announce that we have exercised the option to extend Heung-Min Son’s contract,” the club said in a statement. His contract is extended till 2026.

Son is the fourth-highest goalscorer in the history of the London-based team with 431 appearances and 169 goals in all competitions.

ALSO READ | Mohammedan Sporting signs Santosh Trophy star Robi Hansda on loan

In 2021/22, he enjoyed his best goalscoring season to date as he won the Premier League’s Golden Boot with his 23 goals helping Tottenham to return to the Champions League.

Captain of his nation, he has made 131 appearances for South Korea to date, finding the net 51 times and has featured for his country at the 2014, 2018, and 2022 FIFA World Cups.

Voted AFC Asian International Player of the Year on a record four occasions, he won gold at the 2018 Asian Games while he reached the Asian Cup Final with Korea in 2015.

Tottenham Hotspur handed a first-team debut to goalkeeper Brandon Austin in its Premier League 2024-25 match against Newcastle United on Saturday.

Austin will step into the side as both of Spurs’ first-team goalkeepers have been ruled out of the tie. First-choice goalkeeper Gugleilmo Vicario was ruled out with a long-term ankle injury, while backup Fraser Forster also missed out through illness.

The 25-year-old goalkeeper has been at Tottenham for nine years but had not featured in a competitive fixture until now. He has spent time on loan at Danish side Viborg and Orlando Pride in the USA, and has been called up to age group football for both the USA and England by virtue of his dual USA/England nationality.

He first appeared in a first-team squad as a substitute for a 1-1 draw against Watford in October 2019 and served as Spurs’ second-choice goalkeeper for the final few games of the 2023/24 season after Forster suffered an injury.

Tottenham Hotspur defender Destiny Udogie will be out for around six weeks due to a hamstring injury while some players are suffering with a bug, manager Ange Postecoglou said on Friday, adding to his long list of fitness problems.

Udogie, 22, hobbled off in the 50th minute of the North London side’s 2-2 draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers last Sunday.

Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, Wilson Odobert, Richarlison, Ben Davies, and Guglielmo Vicario are all sidelined with injuries, while midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur, who received his fifth yellow card of the season against Wolves, is suspended.

“Destiny with his hamstring looks around six weeks out,” Postecoglou told reporters ahead of Saturday’s home clash with Newcastle United.

“None of the injured lads are back yet. We’ve had a bit of an illness bug running through the camp too, so a few have missed training, but we’ll be all right.”

ALSO READ | Manchester City must ‘think’ about De Bruyne future, says Guardiola

“Richarlison and Mikey (Moore) are the two next cabs off the rank - hopefully next week at some point. Ben, Van de Ven and Romero all kind of the same time, which is the back end of January.”

Spurs are languishing in 11th place with 24 points and are looking to end their three-match winless run against fifth-placed Newcastle.

However, Spurs lack a fit central defender and, with Udogie also out for a long time, Postecoglou said Sergio Reguilon will get “more opportunities” to play in defence.

Postecoglou said Spurs need to strengthen the squad in the transfer window.

“It’s not a matter of pushing, but the club is working hard to get help for the playing group. It’s no secret we need to bolster numbers. January is not an easy month, we understand,” he said.

“At the same time, we want to make sure we do the best thing for us rather than panic and bring in people who aren’t going to be a suitable fit.”

Welcome to Sportstar’s LIVE coverage of the Boxing Day match in the Premier League between Nottingham Forest and Tottenham Hotspur on Thursday.

LIVE SCORE

NOTTINGHAM FOREST STARTING XI

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR STARTING XI

PREVIEW

On the back of a three-match winning streak, Nottingham Forest hosts Tottenham Hotspur on Boxing Day in the Premier League.

Nuno Espirito Santo’s side is enjoying football at the moment, being sat in fourth place in the points table, just behind Arsenal.

On the other hand, Ange Postecoglou’s men will be coming into this fixture after a heavy defeat to league leader Liverpool, which left them languishing in 11th place.

Catch Sportstar’s live coverage from the Premier League 2024-25 clash between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday.

LIVE UPDATES

STARTING LINEUPS

TOTTENHAM

LIVERPOOL

While Liverpool leads the Premier League table, boss Arne Slot says it is still too early in the season to evaluate its title chances.

The Reds have a two-point lead over second-placed Chelsea after 15 games and are six points ahead of Arsenal, with a game in hand over both after their match at Everton was postponed due to adverse weather conditions caused by Storm Darragh.

Liverpool travels to Tottenham on Sunday in what will be a preview of their League Cup semifinal against Spurs. Ange Postecoglou’s Spurs beat Manchester United 4-3 in its League Cup quarterfinal on Thursday, a night after Liverpool booked its berth in the semis with a 2-1 win over Southampton.

Defender Destiny Udogie and forward Timo Werner are likely to be fit for Tottenham Hotspur’s Premier League home clash against leaders Liverpool on Sunday, manager Ange Postecoglou said.

Goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario, defenders Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero, and forward Richarlison remain sidelined, while midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur is suspended until the end of December.