Tottenham Hotspur will look to maintain their impressive defensive record when they face Hull City in the Premier League at White Hart Lane today.
The north London side, currently fifth in the table, just missed out on a Champions League place last season and are desperate for a top-four finish that would secure a place in the next edition of European club soccer’s elite tournament.
Best known for their attacking play, Spurs have kept 11 clean sheets in 14 games so far this season.
Photo: Reuters
“We defend as a team and it’s great to have clean sheets for the confidence of the defenders and the goalkeeper,” Spurs centerback Jan Vertonghen said.
“The midfield and strikers give us a lot of pressing, and we do well as a team,” the Belgium international added. “Most of the defenders are the same as last season, we’ve adapted to each other and everyone does his job, and that’s important in the Premier League.”
Sunday’s match is to see former Spurs midfielder Tom Huddlestone returning to White Hart Lane following his pre-season move to Hull.
“Tom is a fantastic player as we all know,” said Tottenham midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson, who played alongside Huddlestone at Spurs. “I saw at first-hand last season just how good he can be, his passing and vision is unbelievable, and if we allow him too much time, he will find his targets and cause us damage.”
“He and Jake Livermore have done really well for Hull, they’ve come in to their midfield and been almost ever-present, and I’m sure their performances are one of the reasons why they have made a decent start to the campaign,” he added.
Newly promoted Hull are ninth in the table, five points adrift of Spurs.
They are without first-choice goalkeeper Allan McGregor after the Scotland international suffered a thigh injury.
As a result, former Newcastle ’keeper Steve Harper is set to make his first league start for the Tigers.
Hull manager Steve Bruce was confident the 38-year-old veteran would not be overawed by the occasion.
“This is the reason we brought Steve in. He has got an abundance of Premier League experience and we are lucky that we can call upon somebody like him,” Bruce said.
Harper, a pre-season arrival, added: “If the chance comes my way, I’ll look forward to getting some games in. My last Premier League game was for Newcastle in May, so it will be great to be back involved.”
“That was part of my reason for coming here, to stay involved in the Premier League and maximize my chances of getting an opportunity in this league. Hopefully that will come along on Sunday [today],” he said.
“Injuries do come along at some stage and that gives opportunities to other people,” Harper added.
‘AWFUL PERFORMANCE’: Golden State were always chasing the game after failing to threaten from long range, making just eight of 33 three-point attempts Aaron Gordon on Monday scored 38 points as the Denver Nuggets shrugged off the absence of Nikola Jokic to halt the Golden State Warriors’ seven-game winning streak with a 114-105 victory over their Western Conference rivals. A dazzling display from Gordon inspired what was ultimately a comfortable win for Denver, who were missing regular starters Jokic and Jamal Murray from their lineup. The absentees were barely felt by Denver, who startled the Warriors early at San Francisco’s Chase Center and led for most of the game. The Warriors threatened to stage a late rally after slashing the Nuggets’ fourth-quarter lead from 15 points
Barcelona’s Ferran Torres scored twice on Sunday to help secure a late 4-2 comeback win at Atletico Madrid in a pulsating La Liga clash that took the Catalan side back to the top of the table. Barca have 60 points and a game in hand after last week’s postponement of their home game with CA Osasuna. They are level on points with Real Madrid, who won 2-1 at Villarreal on Saturday. “I am happy and proud of this team,” Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick told a news conference. “They never give up... It’s a great three points and we are happy to
Chris Wood has fired Nottingham Forest into surprise UEFA Champions League contention and now the striker wants to score the goals to help New Zealand make history at the FIFA World Cup. New Zealand are strong favorites to qualify out of the Oceania region over the next week and reach the World Cup for only the third time. At the country’s two previous appearances at the finals, in 1982 and 2010, they have failed to win a match in six attempts. With Wood captaining the side and leading from the front, he told local media yesterday that the current squad can finally deliver
Paolo Banchero on Sunday scored 24 points as the Orlando Magic overturned a 13-point deficit to end the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 16-game unbeaten streak with a gutsy 108-103 road victory. Cleveland, the runaway Eastern Conference leaders, had looked poised to extend their franchise-record winning run after surging clear of Orlando early in the third quarter, but after a season where they have staged hefty winning comebacks of their own, the tables turned on Cleveland in the face of a furious burst of Orlando scoring. The Magic outscored Cleveland 35-23 in the third quarter, with Franz Wagner leading the charge with nine points and
RSS