BBC Sport pundit Leon Osman says he can see Anthony Gordon scoring more goals in the Champions League if Newcastle United continue to play him up front with Nick Woltemade in behind, after the Englishman scored four goals in his side’s 6-1 win over Qarabag in the knockout round play-offs.
MATCH REPORT: Qarabag 1-6 Newcastle United
Champions League Match of the Day pundit Guillem Balague, who attended Real Madrid’s match at Benfica on Tuesday, explains the aftermath of the alleged racist incident between Vinicius Jr and Gianluca Prestianni.
READ MORE: Vinicius: Eight years at Real Madrid, 20 cases of alleged racist abuse
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Lorenzo Hernandez, who was the football coach at Garfield for 24 years until stepping down after the 2024 season, is coming out of retirement to become head coach at Whittier High. He met with his new players Wednesday afternoon.
Hernandez helped elevate the Garfield program beyond the annual Garfield vs. Roosevelt rivalry game, with the Bulldogs becoming one of the best in the City Section year after year. He has been the school’s athletic director.
He rejoins former Garfield principal Andres Favela, who’s the principal at Whittier.
Whittier will be switching leagues in the fall, moving from the Del Rio League, in which the team has won one league game in the last three years.
Hernandez said he received approval from his family to return to coaching and sees Whittier similar to Garfield in receiving strong neighborhood support.
The chair of Kick It Out, Sanjay Bhandari, says the lack of support from Benfica and the response of their manager Jose Mourinho has “set the tone” in the racism row between the Portuguese club and Real Madrid, after Vinicius Junior alleged he had been racially abused by midfielder Gianluca Prestianni.
READ MORE: Benfica claim ‘defamation campaign’ against Prestianni
Follow the build-up, analysis and live text commentary of the first leg of football’s Champions League playoff in Lisbon.
Published On 17 Feb 202617 Feb 2026
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Slowly, LeBron James put on a pair of ice bath toe booties and dipped his left foot and then his right foot into a bucket that had been prepared for him following a Lakers game at Crypto.com Arena. His longtime personal trainer and athletic performance coach, Mike Mancias, next wrapped both of James’ knees and his back in ice.
James closed his eyes for a few seconds and leaned back in his chair as the media gathered around him for his postgame interview.
This was just another step James has taken to care for his body, a step that shows the lengths he takes in the maintenance of his 6-foot-9 frame that has helped him have an illustrious 23-year career, longer than any player before him.
“Obviously I didn’t know it would be 23 years. I didn’t know that, but I know I didn’t want to have no six- or seven-year career. I can’t become legendary in six or seven years,” James told The Times. “I always had a mission. When I knew I could play this game at a high level, like, going to Chicago and playing with MJ [Michael Jordan] and all those guys when I was a sophomore [in high school]. And then when I went up to Cleveland and played against the Cavs when I was a junior and I was like, ‘Oh … I belong. I belong.’ I knew I still had to learn and I still had to continue to get my body right, continue to learn the game and nuances.
“But I was playing against NBA guys for a long time and I was like, ‘If I get the opportunity to crack the league, if I get the opportunity to showcase what I’m able to do, the only thing that can stop me is if I don’t take care of my body. The only thing that can stop me from being the greatest or one of the greatest to ever play this game is if I do not take care of myself.’ I did take care of my body. That’s it.”
James’ dedication to self care has become legendary in the sporting world. He is known to invest moire than $1.5 million annually for a comprehensive approach to keeping his body fine-tuned.
James considers himself a biohacker: someone who uses science and technology to make their body function better and more efficiently.
He talked about using Normatec leg compression boots, hyperbaric chambers to restore oxygen, cryotherapy, red-light therapy and other cutting-edge technologies to maintain elite performances and longevity at the age of 41.
He talked about prioritizing sleep and nutrition, avoiding artificial sugars and fried foods.
When he missed the first 14 games this season because of sciatica, James cut back on drinking wine, one of his passions, in order to get his body back to full health.
“Obviously it’s gotten even more detailed as me and Mike have built a program,” James said. “It’s been 22 years of our program.”
LeBron James jokes with trainer Mike Mancias while sitting out a game with the Cavaliers in 2010 to rest for playoffs.
(Mark Duncan / Associated Press)
It has worked for James to the highest order, as he has become the leading scorer in NBA history with 42,975 points.
Though his streak of being voted as a starter to the All-Star team was snapped at 21 years in a row, James still extended his NBA record to 22 selections when the coaches voted him in as a reserve for the tournament that will be played Sunday at Intuit Dome.
Over his career, James said, he’s received plenty of offers to try new ways to do his physical therapy. For the most part, he has said no.
“It’s all type of … that is presented to you,” James said, smiling. “[People] are always trying to get you to do s—. But once we got the connection, it wasn’t really many people that we allowed to come and be in what we do. We had a couple of guys obviously throughout the process that helped along the way. But, nah, we knew what we wanted to do.”
When James was growing up in Akron, Ohio, and it became obvious he was athletic, he said his uncle, Curt, encouraged him to start taking care of his body immediately. His mother, Gloria, advised him to listen.
“I used to stretch before I went to bed and when I woke up, when I was like 10 or 11 years old,” James said. “My uncle Curt, my mom’s younger brother, used to make me do 100 calf raises a day and he used to make me do 50 pushups and 50 situps a day.”
James shook his head and laughed recalling those moments.
LeBron James glides past Kings forward DeMar DeRozan for a reverse dunk during a game in December.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
“He told me I had to get my calves stronger if I wanted to be great,” James said, smiling. “I never knew what that meant, whatever. But yeah, my uncle used to tell me to do that, and then a good friend of mine used to always tell me to stretch before I got in the bed and after I got out of the bed when I woke up the next morning. I don’t know, man. I’ve been doing this for a long time.”
At no time during all this did James know what that advice would mean for his future.
“No, but I had people that I trusted,” James said. “I was icing after every game my rookie year. I was 18 years old. I was icing after games when I was a high school senior, a high school junior. Like, I was lifting [weights] my senior year.”
James told a story about playing in an AAU tournament with Kendrick Perkins when he was 14 and how some players were sitting in the stands eating fast food.
“They were eating McDonald’s,” James said, smiling, “and I was eating fruits.”
Jason Kidd, the Hall of Fame point guard who’s now coach of the Dallas Mavericks, was an assistant with the Lakers when James led them to the 2020 championship, and the two were teammates on the 2008 USA Olympic team that won the gold medal in Beijing.
Kidd has watched how James is averaging 22 points on 50.2% shooting, 7.1 assists and 5.8 rebounds this season and can’t help but marvel at how he continues to be a highly effective player with so many miles on his body.
“He’s had some injuries, but he’s taken care of his body, he’s always prepared himself for the marathon,” Kidd said. “But I think it’s the mental side. I think that’s the hardest part is to wake up and say, ‘Do I need to go play against a 20-year-old or a 19-year-old?’ He’s won championships, he’s been MVP, he’s been the face of the league. He’s a billion-dollar company.
“So, it’s the mental side. Understanding that he loves competition and he loves the game of basketball. So I think for him to do it at 41 is incredible.”
When the Lakers faced Kidd’s Mavericks on Thursday night, James was back in the lab early getting his body ready about six hours before tipoff.
LeBron James talks with assistant coach Jason Kidd during a 2020 playoff game.
(Associated Press)
It didn’t matter that it was the last game before the weeklong All-Star break. In James’ eyes, if you take care of your body, it will take care of you.
“I woke up this morning, went straight downstairs, got a stretch, did a little activation, like a little small lil’ lift” of weights, James said after the game. “Then I iced after that. Then I used the Normatec to pump my legs for an hour. Then I took a nap in the hyperbaric chamber for an hour and a half. Then I got in the cold tub, again, before I came here. So, I started my process here when I got here at 1:15 and prepared for a 7 o’clock game. It’s just around the clock.”
And as it turned out, all his work led to yet another record for James.
His triple-double of 28 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds made him the oldest player to accomplish the feat, pushing him past Karl Malone, who was 40 when he did it in November 2003.
And now comes another record with the All-Star Game.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver believes teams are tanking more aggressively than in recent years and is considering many possible remedies to ensure real competition, from taking away draft picks to making wholesale changes to the draft and the lottery.
Silver immediately addressed the hottest topic in NBA circles Saturday in his annual address during All-Star Weekend at Intuit Dome, making it clear the NBA will do almost anything to make sure its teams earnestly compete.
Last Thursday, the league issued a $500,000 fine to the Utah Jazz and a $100,000 penalty to the Indiana Pacers for sitting healthy players, believing their apparent tanking actions compromised the league’s competitive integrity.
“Are we seeing behavior that is worse this year than we’ve seen in recent memory? Yes, is my view,” Silver said. “Which was what led to those those fines, and not just those fines, but to my statement that we’re going to be looking more closely at the totality of all the circumstances this season in terms of teams’ behavior, and very intentionally wanted teams to be on notice.”
Silver knows strong words and six-figure fines might not be nearly enough to compel struggling teams to commit to real competition instead of improving their odds in what’s expected to be one of the deepest drafts in recent history — and that’s why the NBA is looking at stronger solutions.
“The league is 80 years old, it’s time to take a fresh look at this and to see whether that’s an antiquated way of going about doing it,” Silver said of draft process. “Ultimately, we need a system to fairly distribute players. It’s in the players’ interest as well as the teams’ that you have a level of parity around the league. There’s only so many jobs and so many cities, but we’ve got to look at some fresh thinking here. I mean, what we’re doing, what we’re seeing right now, is not working.”
The NBA’s competition committee is reexamining the structure of the draft lottery for ways to minimize the upside of tanking, Silver said. The commissioner also acknowledged the fines could be followed by the revocation of draft picks from tanking teams.
“There is talk about every possible remedy now to stop this behavior,” Silver said.
Yet Silver also acknowledged the essential dilemma at the heart of this problem, one that has bedeviled the league since the 1960s: A team’s draft position is significantly tied to its chances of building a winner.
“It’s so clear that the incentives are misaligned,” Silver said. “My caveat is, and this is where teams are in a difficult place … that the worst place to be, for example, is a middle-of-the-road team. Either be great or be bad, because then [being bad] will help you with the draft. In many cases, you have fans of those teams, it’s not what they want to pay for, to see poor performance on the floor, but they’re actually rooting for their teams, in some cases, to be bad to improve their draft chances.”
But Silver intends to remind every team that tanking is a betrayal of its relationship with fans, both in their home cities and around the world.
In other topics covered by Silver on Saturday:
The NBA still expects to make decisions on expansion this year, starting with more discussions at the Board of Governors meeting next month. The league won’t vote on expansion then, but Silver expects to know whether the league will move on to talk with potential owners.
Silver acknowledged Seattle and Las Vegas are the obvious candidates for expansion and said the league wants to make a decision soon: “I don’t want to tease cities or mislead anyone.”
Silver said he has been told the Clippers have been cooperative with the external investigation into their possible circumvention of the salary cap through a suspicious endorsement deal for Kawhi Leonard with a now-bankrupt company.
Silver firmly stated that the investigation and its findings were not purposely delayed while the Clippers host All-Star weekend. Wachtell Lipton, the Manhattan law firm conducting the investigation, has no deadline to produce its findings.
The NBA is “paying an enormous amount of attention” to the rise of prediction markets, particularly after Milwaukee superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo sparked concern with his investment in Kalshi. Silver didn’t find fault with Antetokounmpo — whose shares are a “minuscule” position, according to Silver — but acknowledged the looming specter of the gambling industry without suggesting a solution.
“It concerns me in the totality of all this betting that we need a better handle, no pun intended, on all the different activity that’s happening out there,” Silver said.
Silver also acknowledged the overwhelming size of this task, given that roughly 80 countries allow betting on the NBA while billions more are wagered illegally.
The NBA’s desire to open a European league in partnership with FIBA remains strong, and it still would love to start in October 2027, but Silver acknowledged many hurdles remain.
The league still is working with the players union to determine whether active players will be allowed to invest in NBA Europe franchises — something that would be welcomed by many top players, including Antetokounmpo.
“If there’s an opportunity that comes across my desk to be an owner in sports, I would consider it 100%,” the Greek star said Saturday. “In the real NBA, I don’t know if I have that type of money … but I love basketball, and anywhere that I can be involved with it, I would love it.”
Bradford have been through much since their last try in Super League, Manese Manuokafoa scoring in a win over London Broncos in September 2014 with liquidation and reconstruction from the rubble.
But it was like they had never been away in the first exchanges, pushing back last year’s Super League seventh placed side and scoring the first try through Waqa Blake, as the Fijian international burst through flimsy defence on six minutes.
The excellent Pryce produced a moment of magic to break through defensive lines and grubber kick as he was bring tackled for Joe Batchelor to level things up 10 minutes later but back came Bradford through ex-Hull FC back Connor Wynne.
Harvey Barron responded once again for the hosts who went 12-10 up with the help of Pryce’s unerring boot before Davy Litten broke through some weak tackles on the left wing to make it 18-10 at half time.
If John Cartwright’s side were hoping the Bulls would run out of steam in the second period they were swiftly disabused just six minutes into the second half, Rowan Milnes added the extras to give the visitors the lead.
Milnes added two converted penalty goals, the second of which came after a high tackle from Aidan Sezer on Joe Mellor on 61 minutes, which put Bradford into a slim 20-18 lead.
Eight minutes later, a penalty for Hull in front of the sticks was taken without hesitation, as Pryce levelled once again with 10 minutes to go.
Bradford had great field position from a goal-line dropout after a drop goal attempt from Milnes was charged down but a knock-on as they were rebuilding their attack took the wind from their sails.
Hull charged up the other end and, with three left on the clock, grabbed a point themselves; a pass back to Sezer shifted cleverly back again to Pryce and his kick sailed over from 30 metres out.
A lead of 21-20 with one minute to play looked fair but Cust added gloss to the scoreline in the final seconds.
League A
Group A1: France, Italy, Belgium, Turkey
Group A2: Germany, Netherlands, Serbia, Greece
Group A3: Spain, Croatia, England, Czech Republic
Group A4: Portugal, Denmark, Norway, Wales
League B
Group B1: Scotland, Switzerland, Slovenia, North Macedonia
Group B2: Hungary, Ukraine, Georgia, Northern Ireland
Group B3: Israel, Austria, Republic of Ireland, Kosovo
Group B4: Poland, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Romania, Sweden
League C
Group C1: Albania, Finland, Belarus, San Marino
Group C2: Montenegro, Armenia, Cyprus, Gibraltar/Latvia*
Group C3: Kazakhstan, Slovakia, Faroe Islands, Moldova
Group C4: Iceland, Bulgaria, Estonia, Luxembourg/Malta*
League D
Group D1: Gibraltar/Latvia, Luxembourg/Malta, Andorra
Group D2: Lithuania, Azerbaijan, Liechtenstein
*Gibraltar and Latvia, and Luxembourg and Malta, will contest play-offs in March to determine who will play in Leagues C and D.
Jones says he developed various symptoms after being regularly concussed during training and matches.
Speaking to BBC Sport from Malaysia, where he and his family now live, he said: “I noticed that if I was doing simple tasks, like making my children a bottle of water, trying to pour it and trying to steady my hand, putting a card in the card machine, putting the keys in the door, I just couldn’t stop my shaking,” he said.
“And that’s when things progressively started to get worse; headaches, brain fog, neck pain, eye pain… I’m sensitive to light and to noise, anxiety, depression.
“The scariest thing I find is being unable to regulate my emotions. That terrifies me. I cope with it by just taking myself away. It’s been at the detriment sometimes of our marriage and me being a father and to my friends… I very much isolate myself.
“I would never let my children play, and that’s a really sad thing.”
Jones’ wife Olivia told BBC Sport that the changes in her husband’s personality were “very gradual at first” but became “impossible to ignore”.
“He went from being confident, energetic, and present to being withdrawn, irritable, forgetful – and he just seemed to be constantly in pain,” she said.
“And he often complained about suffering with headaches, brain fog, and anxiety, and it became quite scary for me.”
Major League Baseball is making streaming options available for fans to watch in-market games of 20 teams, including the Dodgers, Los Angeles Angels, San Francisco Giants and San Diego Padres — a significant shift to respond to the fast-changing TV landscape.
The Angels on Tuesday announced its arrangement with the league to make its games more widely available. The club said the option — Angels.TV — would be available for purchase for $99.99 for the full season or $19.99 per month through the MLB app.
“We are excited to partner with Major League Baseball to bring Angels games to their streaming platform,” Angels President John Carpino said in a statement. “Our priority is making it as easy as possible for fans to watch Angels Baseball and MLB’s industry-leading app provides another great option to stay connected to the team.”
The league separately announced the move, which provides options for fans of other teams, through its MLB app. In-market games for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Baltimore Orioles, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Guardians, Colorado Rockies, Kansas City Royals, Miami Marlins, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, Seattle Mariners, Tampa Bay Rays and Washington Nationals will be provided through the app.
Games will still be available to traditional pay-TV subscribers.
Spectrum, owned by cable giant Charter Communications, which distributes the Dodgers’ SportsNet LA had previously made available Dodger games as a streaming option through a separate app.
On Tuesday, ESPN announced that it would become the new streaming home of MLB.TV, bringing out-of-market live games to the ESPN App and ESPN.com.
“With MLB.TV now available through ESPN, we’re taking a significant step forward in reinforcing ESPN as the home of the MLB regular season while deepening the value proposition of the ESPN Unlimited plan – giving fans even more flexibility in how and where they watch all season long,” Rosalyn Durant, Executive Vice President, ESPN Programming & Acquisitions, said in a statement.
The move comes as traditional regional sports networks struggle amid the exodus of pay-TV customers. Regional sports networks once were viewed as cash cows for teams and TV programming companies that owned them but, in recent years, at least one regional sports network owner has filed for bankruptcy. That pompted the MLB to step in to fill the gap.
The league said it also was taking over the television production of games for 14 teams, including the Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks.
England’s men survived a fightback from Spain to secure a 4-2 win in Valencia and move level on points with leaders the Netherlands in the FIH Hockey Pro League table.
England went ahead after only three minutes through Jacob Payton before Sam Ward doubled their lead via a drag from a penalty corner.
A Jose Basterra brace either side of half-time pulled Spain level, before Stuart Rushmere edged England back in front.
Spain had a chance to equalise with two minutes to go but could not take advantage of a penalty corner, before England raced up the field on the counter to seal victory through Ward’s second goal.
England remain second in the table on goal difference behind the Netherlands, with both sides having secured 15 points from eight matches.
England’s women bounced back from defeat by the Netherlands on Monday with a 2-0 win against China.
Grace Balsdon put England ahead by dragging in from a penalty corner, before goalkeeper Miriam Pritchard kept out a flurry of attempts in the third quarter.
China piled on the pressure in the final quarter in search of an equaliser, but it was England who found the net again, this time via a Tessa Howard deflected strike.
The victory sees England remain fifth in the table on seven points.
In the eyes of Lakers coach JJ Redick, every team his group faces is a test. Still, many wondered if the Lakers’ litmus test would come from facing the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday night.
Even with All-Star and league most valuable player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander out with a strained abdominal, the Thunder are still a problem for most of the league. And the Lakers had to play OKC with their own MVP candidate, Luka Doncic, sitting out for the second straight game with a left hamstring strain.
In the end, the Thunder had seven players score in double figures and pulled out a 119-110 win over the Lakers at Crypto.com Arena.
The Lakers (32-19) had six players score in double figures, but it wasn’t enough.
LeBron James had 22 points, 10 assists and six rebounds, Marcus Smart had 19 points, Austin Reaves 16 off the bench, Jake LaRavia 14 and Rui Hachimura and Jaxon Hayes both had 12 points.
Reaves gave the Lakers a 99-98 lead on a drive to the basket in the fourth quarter.
But the Thunder just kept coming back, taking a 109-101 lead by outscoring the Lakers 11-2.
The Lakers, too, kept fighting back, getting to within 113-110 on a Hachimura basket.
But Jalen Williams, who had 23 points in his return to the lineup, kept scoring for the Thunder, making a field goal, two free throws with 35.9 seconds left and two more with 20.9 seconds left that sealed the game.
Thunder guard Kenrich Williams is double teamed by Luke Kennard and Jarred Vanderbilt in the first half.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Reaves provided the fans with a big-time highlight, driving down the lane and throwing down a two-handed dunk on Jaylin Williams and Aaron Wiggins to end the first quarter.
The Lakers had 20 turnovers the last time they played at Oklahoma City in a game L.A. got down by as much as 37 points before losing by 29.
So, one point of emphasis for the Lakers was taking care of the basketball and then playing a high level of basketball despite the opponent.
“For our group, it felt like it’s good to see where we’re at every single night,” Redick said.
His team spent the entire first half climbing out of a hole.
The Lakers were down by just one at the end of the first quarter, but quickly got down 52-38 early in the second quarter.
But behind a James dunk over Chet Holmgren, the Lakers got to within two points in the second, drawing cheers from the fans.
But the Lakers couldn’t keep up that momentum, going down 67-58 at the half.
Then in the third quarter, the Lakers got rolling and opened an eight-point lead behind a strong defense and good offense.
But again, the Thunder didn’t stop playing hard, coming back to open a 93-91 lead at the end of the third quarter on an Alex Caruso three-pointer.
Joe Wyatt, the third-year basketball coach at Sun Valley Poly, said goodbye to his son, JD, at the end of last season. He was one of the leading scorers in the City Section at 28.5 points per game and left for prep school at Academy of Central Florida, where he’s averaging close to 20 points.
So how did Poly end up going 12-0 this season in East Valley League play and extend its league winning streak to 28 consecutive wins without JD?
“I can actually coach a little bit,” Wyatt said.
Sun Valley Poly basketball coach Joe Wyatt.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
With seniors Kevin Lara and Angel Guerrero leading the way, Poly is seeded No. 6 in the City Section Division I playoffs and will open at home on Wednesday against defending Open Division champion Westchester. Lara had a big three last season when Poly defeated Grant 50-49 to win the City Division I title.
Wyatt had success at El Camino Real, winning a City Section Open Division title in 2014, his first season as head coach. He’s provided stability to the Parrots and knows how to adjust to personnel changes.
This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.
James Milner is one away from equalling the record for most Premier League appearances after remaining on the bench in Brighton’s defeat by Crystal Palace on Sunday.
He will match the record on Wednesday if he features in the Seagulls’ match at Aston Villa, one of his former clubs.
To mark the pending achievement we’ve created this quiz. Can you name the top 13 players by Premier League appearances?
Erling Haaland’s 93rd-minute penalty gives Manchester City a crucial comeback win over Liverpool, who end the game with 10 men as Dominik Szoboszlai is sent off in stoppage time at Anfield.
MATCH REPORT: Liverpool 1-2 Manchester City
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Follow the build-up, analysis and live text commentary of the football match as Liverpool host City for a crunch game at Anfield.
Published On 8 Feb 20268 Feb 2026
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Who: Liverpool vs Manchester City
What: English Premier League
Where: Anfield, Liverpool, UK
When: Sunday at 4:30pm (16:30 GMT)
How to follow: We’ll have all the build-up on Al Jazeera Sport from 13:30 GMT in advance of our live text commentary stream.
Liverpool host City for a match with huge ramifications for the title race and the battle to qualify for next season’s Champions League.
list of 4 itemsend of list
City trail leaders Arsenal by six points and could find themselves nine adrift by the time they kick off, with the Gunners hosting Sunderland on Saturday.
Liverpool could also be four points outside the top five, which should secure a place in the Champions League, should Manchester United and Chelsea win on Saturday.
The champions head into the weekend in sixth place on 39 points but in high spirits after a commanding 4-1 win over Newcastle United last weekend, while City dropped points against 14th-placed Tottenham Hotspur, surrendering a two-goal advantage in a 2-2 draw.
Hugo Ekitike and Florian Wirtz, two of Liverpool’s big-money summer signings, are beginning to deliver returns. Ekitike scored twice in the win over Newcastle to take his tally for the season to 15, while Wirtz has netted six times in 10 matches since ending a 22-game wait for his first Liverpool goal.
City’s Erling Haaland, meanwhile, is experiencing an unusual lean spell with just two goals in his last 12 games. He has never scored for City at Anfield.
Liverpool are eager to showcase how far they have progressed after losing 3-0 to City in November, manager Arne Slot said on Thursday.
“I mainly remember the game we played at Etihad, and we were outplayed for large parts in the first half,” Slot told reporters.
“So, this is another moment to see where we are in the development of this team. We know the importance of a result.”
Liverpool have endured a difficult season so far, but have regained some measure of form in recent weeks.
“It’s the end phase of the season, so results matter more,” Slot said.
“We have not found the consistency for the results, but we have shown against all the [teams], that we can compete.”
Slot also explained the club’s decision to recruit four central defenders during the winter transfer window – Jeremy Jacquet, Ifeanyi Ndukwe, Mor Talla Ndiaye and Noah Adekoya – describing it as planning for life after captain and star centre-back Virgil van Dijk, who will turn 35 this year.
“Hopefully, Virgil can stay fit for multiple years, but this club is not stupid,” Slot said.
“We do know, somewhere in the upcoming years, there is life after Virgil, but that is for every position. We don’t think about short term only.”
Slot singled out the Jacquet for extra praise. The France under-21s defender was also linked with Chelsea, but will move to Anfield in July after Liverpool agreed to a big-money deal to sign him from Rennes, where he will finish the season.
“Such a big talent and another example of the model we’re using at this club,” Slot said.
“Young, very talented players, sometimes at the start of their careers or sometimes already a little bit a few years into their career, but always players that are young and can improve us in the short term but also definitely in the long term.”
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said mental strength separates elite players from the rest as his team prepares for the game against Liverpool.
“The biggest stages and the biggest games always need big personalities,” Guardiola told reporters on Friday.
“I have said many times, it’s not about the skills of the players in the top leagues. In the top clubs, the skills are there. I never know one player that is not good enough to play in the top clubs, it is how you behave.
“How you play in the latter stages of the biggest competitions is what defines you as a player. The mind of the players you have defines the big teams.”
Guardiola said that despite their travails this season, playing Liverpool at Anfield is still one of the toughest away fixtures in football.
“They remain an exceptional team,” he said. “Top-class manager and an exceptional team, no doubt.”
Guardiola insisted Haaland is the “best striker in the world” despite refusing to confirm if the misfiring City star will start Sunday’s crucial clash.
“I don’t know until tomorrow. But all I say is Erling is the best. Erling is the best striker in the world,” Guardiola told reporters.
The 55-year-old also doubled down on his comments about the “hurt” he feels for victims of conflicts in Palestine, Ukraine and Sudan after Jewish community leaders told him to “focus on football”.
“To be honest, I didn’t say anything special. I think, why should I not express how I feel just because I am a manager? So I do not agree, but I respect absolutely all opinions,” he said.
“What I said basically is how many conflicts there are right now around the globe or around the world. How many? A lot, right? I condemn all of them. All of them.”
The two clubs have faced each other on 219 occasions, with Liverpool winning 110 of those games, City winning 61, and 58 ending as draws.
While City comfortably won their home league game against Liverpool this season, their only victory away to Liverpool since 2003 came in an empty stadium during COVID restrictions in 2021.
Slot confirmed that defender Jeremie Frimpong will miss the game, but Joe Gomez could return to the squad to bolster the defensive line.
Dominik Szoboszlai is expected to continue deputising for Frimpong at right-back.
Alexander Isak, Conor Bradley and Giovanni Leoni all remain on the sidelines with long-term injuries.
Predicted lineup:
Alisson (GK); Szoboszlai, Konate, Van Dijk, Kerkez; Gravenberch, Mac Allister; Salah, Wirtz, Gakpo; Ekitike
City could be without Bernardo Silva, who has a back issue, so Nico O’Reilly could move into midfield to replace him.
Ruben Dias has returned from injury but likely lacks full match fitness and sharpness, so Abdukodir Khusanov will likely start in the centre of defence alongside new signing Marc Guehi.
Predicted lineup:
Donnarumma (GK); Nunes, Khusanov, Guehi, Ait-Nouri; Rodri, O’Reilly; Semenyo, Foden, Cherki; Haaland
The Arsenal triple up feels obvious and owning at least two of their defensive assets is essential right now.
The Gunners host Sunderland and then have a double gameweek of Brentford and Wolves next week.
Very few, if any, of their attackers will get 270 minutes over the three games and those that own the injured Bukayo Saka should make the switch to 90-minute man Declan Rice without hesitation.
Triple Arsenal defence is also an option with Gabriel, Jurrien Timber and goalkeeper David Raya a high risk, high reward play.
Elsewhere, midfielder Enzo Fernandez has four goals, one assist in his past six league games and has become Chelsea‘s most reliable asset.
His busy schedule shouldn’t put you off buying him in a week when boss Liam Rosenior has praised his athleticism, leadership and recovery time. A visit to Wolves followed by home games against Leeds and Burnley puts Chelsea top of the fixture ticker over the next three.
“People joke that I only did it because he didn’t do his homework,” says former Premier League referee Jon Moss about the time he sent off James Milner.
Twenty-four years after making his debut, Milner, 40, will equal the record for most Premier League appearances if he features for Brighton against Crystal Palace on Sunday.
A stellar career spanning more than two decades, six top-flight clubs, 652 Premier League appearances, 61 England caps, three Premier League titles, two FA Cups and one Champions League triumph has also delivered some unexpected moments.
Like the time Milner – known as ‘Millie’, external by those close to him – was sent off by Moss, his former teacher at Westbrook Lane Primary School in Horsforth, Leeds, while playing for Liverpool against Crystal Palace in 2019.
“He said I couldn’t wait to get my card out,” laughs Moss about dismissing his former pupil after switching careers.
“People say I’m the only teacher to send off one of his pupils in a Premier League game. We can both laugh about it now.”
Milner is set to go level with Gareth Barry, who played 653 times, at the top of the all-time Premier League appearance list some 8,491 days after making his debut for hometown club Leeds United soon after leaving school in 2002.
“I think that will be a special thing for him but he is focused on top of that on the ambitions from the club as well. He wants to be always successful like he was his whole life,” said Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler.
“He is a driver of this winning mentality and I think it’s very important to have these kind of players in the squad.
“They know how to win, they know what it needs to win, how you need to prepare a game, how you react in bad phases like on bad runs we have at the moment.”
Alan Shearer, who played with Milner at Newcastle, describes him as a model professional and a “manager’s dream”.
“You would do well if you had him in your squad because you knew exactly what you were going to get,” adds former England captain Shearer.
This is the story about a young lad from Leeds who evolved to set standards for hard work, professionalism and longevity – and earn respect from fans all over the world.
Premier League Darts is played across 16 initial weeks in the league stage with quarter-finals, semi-finals and a final each night.
Each of the eight players is guaranteed to face the other seven in the quarter-finals in weeks one to seven and 9-15, with week eight and week 16 fixtures done off the table. It means we will get fourth v fifth in Sheffield on the final league-stage night, with the play-off spots potentially on the line.
Players earn two points per quarter-final win, an additional point if they win their semi-final and five for winning the night.
The top four players after the group stage progress to the play-off night at London’s O2 Arena on 23 May, with first facing fourth and second against third in a best-of-19-leg match. The final, which is the best of 21 legs, follows.
If players are level on points after the 16 weeks then places are decided by nights won and then matches won.
Brandon Granger, a 5-foot-10 junior guard at St. Bernard, has burst onto the scene with much to celebrate.
He’s averaging 25 points a game and led St. Bernard (17-11) to the Del Rey League championship earlier this week with an 80-65 win over St. Paul in which he scored 28 points.
Jordan Ballard, a transfer from Westchester, has also played a big role for the Vikings, who won the league title in the second year as head coach of alumnus Bernard McCrumby, who came from Gardena Serra.
The league is always competitive. St. Monica finished second, St. Anthony third, St. Pius X-St. Matthias fourth and St. Paul fifth.
McCrumby took over the program with the promise to renew the Vikings’ success. St. Bernard will find out its spot in the Southern Section playoffs when pairings are released on Saturday at noon.
This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.