Latest news with #titleDefence
Daily Mail
04-08-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mail
David Warner is 5/2 to score the most runs for the London Spirit - as his side battle Oval Invincibles in The Hundred opener Tuesday
Two-time reigning champions Oval Invincibles get their title defence underway on Tuesday - as they go head-to-head with the London Spirit in a blockbuster London derby at Lord's. The Invincibles are odds-on favourites with Sky Bet to kickstart their 2025 campaign with a victory - with Tom Moody's side priced at 8/13. Conversely, the Spirit are 5/4 underdogs to upset the applecart at the Home of Cricket. In addition to the head-to-head odds - let's take a look at the Top Runscorer market for this contest. David Warner is the best-backed to score the most runs for the London Spirit - with the all-time great Australian batsman priced at 5/2. Meanwhile, Will Jacks is the shortest-priced for the Invincibles at 9/4 to score the most runs for his side. Sky Bet odds for London Spirit vs Oval Invincibles: Oval Invincibles 8/13 London Spirit 5/4 Sky Bet favourites in Top Runscorer market for London Spirit vs Oval Invincibles: David Warner to score the most runs for the London Spirit 5/2 Will Jacks to score the most runs for the Oval Invincibles 9/4
Yahoo
17-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
England reach Euro 2025 semis after shootout win over Sweden
England roared into the semi-finals of Women's Euro 2025 on Thursday after coming back from two goals down and then beating Sweden 3-2 on penalties to continue their title defence. Smilla Holmberg blasted over from the spot in an eventful shootout in Zurich after the match finished 2-2 after extra time thanks to Lucy Bronze and Michelle Agyemang's quick-fire strikes just as England looked to be limping out of the tournament. The reigning European champions were staring at elimination with 11 minutes remaining in normal time after Kosovare Asllani, who opened the scoring with her 50th international goal in the second minute, and Stina Blackstenius shot Sweden into a two-goal lead at half-time. But Sarina Wiegman's team will face Italy, who are in the last four for the first time since 1997, in the last four in Geneva on Tuesday after a sensational comeback. Defeat ended Sweden's bid for a first major honour since winning the first official Euros back in 1984, Peter Gerhardsson's team falling in the most painful of fashions. England scored 10 goals in their final two Group D matches to reach the last eight but showed none of that attacking flair in the early stages at the Letzigrund Stadium. Sweden were on the front foot from the off and somehow it was no surprise when Asllani drilled home her opener after just one minute and 46 seconds, the attacking midfielder being completely free to collect Blackstenius' lay-off and score. Jess Carter's loose pass led to that goal and moments later goalkeeper Hannah Hampton almost gifted Blackstenius her third goal of the tournament after miscontrolling the ball and allowing the Arsenal striker to bear down on an open goal before Leah Williamson slid in to cut out the danger. Lauren Hemp's pot shot was brilliantly tipped onto the bar by Jennifer Falk but that was a rare bright spot in a dismal opening half for England, who were deservedly two behind at the break. Blackstenius showed how lethal she can be in the 25th minute when she raced in behind a dozing English defence, collected Julia Zigiotti Olme's pass, held off Carter and slotted home. England were brighter after the restart and Hemp should have halved the deficit when she failed to direct Lauren James' cross on target. And Bronze gave England hope by heading home Chloe Kelly's searching cross in the 79th minute before Agyemang reacted quickest to a loose ball and prodded England level. Extra time passed without much incident and that left the shootout in which a parade of poor penalties, nine of which were missed, ended with Holmberg ballooning her effort way over and ending her team's year-long unbeaten run. td/mw
Yahoo
17-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Premier League fixtures out on Wednesday morning
On Wednesday, Liverpool find out who they will begin their Premier League title defence against [Getty Images] The 2025-26 Premier League fixtures are being released on Wednesday - and you can read them on the BBC Sport website and app as soon as they are announced. It is less than a month since Liverpool lifted the trophy on the last day of the 2024-25 campaign, and the release of the fixtures marks the beginning of the countdown to a new season. Advertisement Arne Slot's side will discover who they begin their title defence against as the Reds bid for a third league title in six years. Sunderland are back in the top flight for the first time since 2016-17 after earning promotion through the play-offs, while Championship winners Leeds return after a two-year absence. Burnley were promoted at the first time of asking and are back for a ninth season in the Premier League. When will the Premier League 2025-26 fixtures be released? All 380 fixtures will be released at 09:00 BST on Wednesday, 18 June. Fans will be able to see who their side face to start the 2025-26 Premier League season, how the festive schedule looks and who they have to contend with during a potentially crucial run-in. Advertisement You can get the latest news from your favourite Premier League team sent direct to your device. Simply choose a team from the list here. If you are using the BBC Sport app, follow your team to add them to MySport and select the bell icon to sign up for your club's notifications, including news, goals and results. When does the Premier League season start? The opening day of the 2025-26 season is Saturday, 16 August - by which time 83 days will have passed since there was last any Premier League action. In previous years, the curtain-raiser has been moved to the Friday night. Regardless of when the first match is played, no doubt hope and optimism will be in the air as supporters of all 20 clubs dream of what might be in the months to come. Advertisement The exact date and time at which individual matches are played during each weekend will be determined at regular intervals throughout the season, based on TV selections made by broadcasters. In total, the campaign will consist of 33 weekends and five midweek rounds of fixtures. It all concludes with the final round of fixtures on Sunday, 24 May 2026. Who is in the Premier League next season? After three consecutive second-place finishes, Arsenal will be among the sides hoping to dethrone Liverpool. Pep Guardiola's Manchester City will also be aiming to put themselves back in the title picture after a rare trophyless season. Advertisement Newcastle and Tottenham ended their trophy droughts in 2025 and both are back in the Champions League, as are Chelsea, and all will hope their squads are up to the challenge of competing on multiple fronts. The same goes for Europa League qualifiers Aston Villa and Crystal Palace, as well as Nottingham Forest, who are in the Conference League. A dismal campaign in 2024-25 means Manchester United have not qualified for Europe, so Ruben Amorim will hope the extra time on the training ground proves beneficial. After all three promoted sides went straight back down last year, newly promoted trio Leeds, Burnley and Sunderland will be doing all they can to avoid the same fate. Advertisement Meanwhile, Everton may be an ever-present in the top flight during the Premier League era but, after bidding farewell to Goodison Park in May, this will be their first season at the new 52,888-capacity Hill Dickinson Stadium. A season between World Cups An increasingly hectic football calendar means this season is bookended by a pair of World Cups - the inaugural 32-team Club World Cup this summer, and the more familiar international tournament in 2026. As ever, keeping players fit will be crucial for managers across the league and with nine Premier League clubs competing in Europe as well this year, for almost half of them, that will be even more tricky. Advertisement "The start date of 16 August allows for the maximum player rest time available - 83 clear days - from the end of the 2024-25 season," the Premier League said. "The season end date of 24 May 2026 ensures the Premier League season finishes ahead of the Fifa 2026 World Cup call-up period." But not all clubs will get those 83 clear days. Should Manchester City or Chelsea reach the Club World Cup final, they could be faced with playing the first game of the 2025-26 season just 34 days after ending the 2024-25 one. There should at least be some respite over Christmas and new year with the schedule ensuring no two rounds of fixtures take place within 60 hours of each other - and no matches on Christmas Eve.
BBC News
07-06-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Leinster 37-19 Glasgow Warriors: What Smith said
Glasgow Warriors head coach Franco Smith on Premier Sports: "Ultimately, we weren't good enough on the day. They started so quickly and we were chasing things from there, which is so hard."They kept the error and penalty count down while we didn't. I am really proud of our boys for our title defence this season."We had to be extraordinarily good and they would have had to be average at least and that didn't happen.""They are a quality outfit and, from the word go, I felt their urgency and they put pressure on us."But I am really proud. We had a lot of boys unavailable this week. I must look at the big picture. It was a tough task to come here and win."
