Sport news in brief
Joshua ‘nailed on’ to fight Whyte- Franklin winner
Eddie Hearn has said Anthony Joshua’s next opponent is likely to be the winner of the bout between Dillian Whyte and Jermaine Franklin later this month.
Following a second straight decision loss to Oleksandr Usyk, Anthony Joshua was surprisingly offered a shot at Tyson Fury’s WBC heavyweight title, but negotiations fell through and left “AJ” without an opponent for the coming months.
Hearn, who promotes Joshua and Whyte, recently suggested that the latter was the “frontrunner” to take on Joshua next, but the Matchroom chief has now clarified that Franklin will likely be AJ’s next opponent if the American can overcome Whyte on 26 November.
Speaking ahead of that bout, which takes place at London’s Wembley Arena, Hearn told iFL TV: “It’s all about the main event: Dillian Whyte returning to the ring against Jermaine Franklin. [Franklin has] a chance to change his life; if Jermaine Franklin beats Dillian Whyte, he’s pretty much nailed on to fight Anthony Joshua and make millions and millions of dollars.”
Liverpool to play Real Madrid in Champions League last 16
Liverpool will face Real Madrid in the Champions League last 16, in a repeat of last season’s final. Real Madrid beat Liverpool 1-0 in Paris in June to win their 14th title, as Vinicius Junior’s winner ended Jurgen Klopp’s hopes of lifting the Champions League for the second time as manager.
Tottenham will play Italian champions AC Milan in their first Champions League knockout match in three seasons, Chelsea were paired with Borussia Dortmund, while Manchester City also drew German opposition in RB Leipzig.
Elsewhere, Paris Saint-Germain must face Bayern Munich and in-form Napoli were handed a tie against Europa League winners Eintracht Frankfurt. Inter Milan take on Porto as the other Portuguese side in the draw, Benfica, play Club Brugge.
Manchester Utd draw Barcelona in Europa play-off
Manchester United will face Barcelona in a blockbuster Europa League play-off tie that will see Cristiano Ronaldo return to the Nou Camp to face his old rivals.
Erik ten Hag’s side finished second in their Europa League group, narrowly missing out on top spot to Real Sociedad despite a 1-0 win in Spain on the final matchday - meaning
United would have to face one of the teams who dropped out from the Champions League group stages.
The Europa League play-offs will be held over two legs, with matches played on 16 and 23 February. United will travel to the Nou Camp for the first leg.
Young ‘not too fussed’ about World Cup try-scorer race
New wing star Dom Young says he will not be distracted by the race to become the World Cup’s leading try-scorer as England close in on a second successive final appearance.
England maintained their impressive run in the competition with a 46-6 quarter-final win over Papua New Guinea in Wigan at the weekend and will now play Samoa at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium on Saturday for a place in the final.
Young, who has become a try-scoring sensation in the NRL with Newcastle Knights, topped the World Cup chart after the pool stages on eight tries after scoring four against Greece but was overtaken at the weekend by Australia’s speed merchant Josh Addo-Carr.
“I don’t keep an eye on it too much,” Young said. “Obviously it’s nice to score tries and I guess it would be nice to catch him up. But I’m not too fussed about it. As long as the team is doing well, that’s the main focus.” PA
Sainz has ‘reinvented himself’ to keep pace with Leclerc
Carlos Sainz admits he’s had to “reinvent himself” as a driver this season in order to challenge Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc.
The Spaniard is 53 points behind Leclerc with two races to go but has raced at the front of the pack for the first time in his career, in a Ferrari car capable of race wins after a change of the regulations this season. While Sainz has grasped his first pole position and Grand Prix victory at Silverstone in July, recent
failures to finish in Japan and the US have seen the 28-year-old drop below Lewis Hamilton to sixth in the drivers’ standings.
Leclerc out-qualified Sainz in the first eight races of the season and the Spaniard says he simply could not accept being slower than his team-mate for that period of time. “It has been an extremely challenging season for me,” Sainz told the BBC. “I found a lot of setbacks at the beginning of the year with this new car, with the new regulations, that didn’t adapt to my driving style.”
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