Sturridge has not scored in the Premier League since April and has only two goals - both coming against Burton Albion in the League Cup - this season. The England international’s occasional omission from Klopp’s starting lineups has led to speculation he could be sold, but on Friday Klopp gave him his wholehearted backing. Asked if Sturridge was short of confidence, the German replied: “No, I didn’t see it....
A deal is in place for the highly rated midfielder to leave the Bundesliga side and move to Anfield at the end of the season. Recent speculation has suggested the departure of the Guinea international could be accelerated, but Klopp, addressing the media ahead of Liverpool’s Premier League match away to Bournemouth on Sunday, emphatically rejected those reports. Asked if Keita could arrive this season, Klopp replied: “No. He is a player of Leipzig....
The Knicks signed the former BYU star and No. 10 overall NBA Draft pick to a 10-day contract, ESPN reported Friday. Fredette had been playing fo the Westchester Knicks in the NBA Development League, where he averaged 22.3 points, 4.8 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game. MORE: Fredette and 5 other D-Leaguers worthy of a shot The best-case scenario here is that Fredette helps an inbalanced backcourt that has not held up its end of getting the Knicks into playoff position....
Trevor Knight, Oklahoma If you’re only as good as your last game, then Knight is pretty darn good. A run-first quarterback most the season, he showed he could sling it around, too, with a 348-yard, four-TD effort against Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. We know he can run — he gained 445 yards (6.6 per carry) last season, but can he throw it consistently? If so, he could be in the Heisman mix because we expect the Sooners to be a championship-level team....
Bryant collided with Kings guard Rajon Rondo on a drive to the basket. Bryant briefly stayed in the game before being checked out on the sideline and eventually jogging to the locker room for further evaluation. The Lakers announced the 37-year-old suffered a left lower-leg contusion and would not return. MORE: Lakers have a potential ‘Showtime’ revivalist in Marcelo Huertas Bryant, who has played through broken fingers and countless sprains, played in just 35 games last season before suffering a torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder in January....
The LeBron vs. MJ debate won’t disappear with James still going strong in Year 15, but it’s hard to inject anything of substance into the discussion with all of the angles being beaten into the ground by analysts each day. If only we had someone with a few rings of his own to weigh in on the subject… Oh, here’s Kobe Bryant! Bryant makes a valid point. The tendency to point toward Jordan any time James takes a step on a basketball court can suck all of the enjoyment out of watching the games in front of us....
Kobe being sidelined for the remainder of the season doesn’t stop him from being competitive. At 4:30 a.m., the Lakers legend issued a free-throw challenge to his wife. The catch is that she has to hit it backwards, over her head. On just her fourth attempt, she banks it in. MORE: The New York City shoe collection | The KOBE X | Kobe Bryant debuts new shoes Vanessa now has a better free throw percentage than Shaquille O’Neal....
"You know how good he played last year, my gosh, nobody plays better than him," said D'Antoni of Bryant's 2012-13 season. "You never know what's behind their thinking but I'm sure that those 30 execs would get him in a second." He was referring to the poll of general managers conducted prior to each NBA season, in which James Harden received the most votes for the top spot at the shooting guard position....
Saints rain on Liverpool’s parade with strong defensive show Seamus Coleman salvaged a deserved point in the closing stages of an entertaining encounter at Goodison Park on Saturday, with Swansea having taken the lead through Gylfi Sigurdsson’s penalty. And Koeman - who oversaw Everton’s worst league defeat in seven years before the international break - acknowledged that his side must improve if it’s to maintain or build on its current position of seventh....
Reports broken by Bild in Germany suggested Bayern have selected Kovac to be the replacement for Jupp Heynckes when the veteran leaves the Bundesliga champions at the end of the season. Thomas Tuchel was reportedly in the running for the vacancy only for Bayern CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge to confirm the former Borussia Dortmund coach - strongly linked with Paris Saint-Germain - has agreed to move elsewhere. But despite Kovac seemingly being the next man in the Allianz Arena dugout, Bobic, who is the member of the club’s management board overseeing sport, says he is unaware of a deal being done for the 46-year-old Croatian....
Critical remarks on the war from oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin, the financier behind the Wagner Group, could “undermine” Putin’s image of strength, according to an ISW report published Monday night. Prigozhin, long considered to be one of Putin’s strongest allies, earlier this month praised Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov’s suggestion that a top Russian general should be sent to the frontlines of the war and forced to “wash away his shame with blood....
How could he top that in 2017? Well, it doesn’t look like he will, at least not with a league-wide honor. MORE: Ranking MLB’s top 50 young players Bryant isn’t going to take home another MVP award this season. There were a lot of players who posted more gaudy statistics, which, for most observers, made Bryant just another player who had a nice regular season. To his fans and teammates, though, it was much more than that....
Knicks forward Kristaps Porzingis and adidas have agreed on the largest who deal ever for a European player, according to The Vertical, at a value between $3 million and $6 million annually — similar to deals signed by NBA stars Blake Griffin, Paul George and Russell Westbrook. MORE: Top 15 NBA power forwards for 2016-17 Nike signed Porzingis in 2012 to a four-year deal (that expired Oct. 1) when he was just 17....
Bell made the revelation on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, revealing to guest host Chelsea Handler that during the pandemic they “were at each other’s throats” and decided to go to the same therapist separately so they “could talk s*** about each other.” The celebrity couple have been together for over a decade now and appear to be one of Hollywood’s closest items. Starting from their first meeting to now, let’s take a look back on the relationship timeline of Bell and Shepard....
“When me and Rob were together, we did not have any example to go by,” the actress recalled in the cover story. “So much was taken from us that, in trying to control one aspect, we were just like, ‘No, we will never talk about it. Never. Because it’s ours.’” The Twilight costars famously started dating after starring in the 2008 movie, with their pairing dominating headlines as they remained together during the franchise’s follow-up films....
Zidane has come under fire after Madrid’s struggles in La Liga this season, with his side sitting 17 points behind leaders and rivals Barcelona. A 3-1 win over Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie is sure to ease the pressure on the Frenchman. But Kroos dismissed any criticism of Zidane, who has led Madrid to eight trophies since taking the helm at the start of 2016....
Busch has six straight series victories dating to last season and 40 overall. The Sprint Cup driver led the final 55 laps in the 150-lap race. He also won at 1.5-mile track in 2011. MORE: Winning truck fails tech | Cup series odds for Kentucky Wallace, the winner two weeks ago at Gateway in Madison, Illinois, finished 1.844 seconds behind Busch. Ryan Blaney was third, followed by Timothy Peters, Brad Keselowski, Matt Crafton, Austin Dillon, Ron Hornaday Jr....
Defending champion Kevin Harvick finished second, while Jeff Gordon struggled throughout the race and wound up seventh in the final race of his career. Martin Truex Jr., the other title contender, finished 12th. MORE: 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup race winners | Kyle Busch deserved the championship | Jeff Gordon and emotional prerace festivities Busch led early, but the race developed into a battle for position between he and Harvick as Brad Keselowski led the race....
Mississippi is the only U.S. state whose flag includes the Confederate symbol and has come under intense pressure to remove it at a time when sport leagues and states are re-examining their relationships with the Confederate flag and its troubled history. Earlier this month, NASCAR banned the symbol from all its racetracks, while last week the NCAA, Southeastern Conference (SEC) and Conference USA ruled out hosting championship events in Mississippi until the Magnolia State changes its flag....
