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LIVERPOOL — Liverpool have been used to second best during Pep Guardiola's era at Manchester City, but a 2-0 victory over the crisis-hit champions left little doubt over who are the team to beat in this season's Premier League title race.

Goals in either half from Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah at Anfield on Sunday did not do justice to the scale of the Reds' domination as City succumbed to a sixth defeat in a seven-game winless run.

Arsenal and Chelsea are now Liverpool's closest challengers, nine points behind, with City 11 back and almost certain to finally loose their grip on the English top flight after an unprecedented four consecutive titles and six in the past seven seasons.

Guardiola reminded the Anfield crowd of that fact by raising six fingers when taunted with chants of "sacked in the morning".

The Catalan's defiance, though, could not mask the fact that City have rested on their laurels, while Liverpool have stepped up a level under Arne Slot.

Slot appeared to have the impossible job of succeeding the much-loved Jurgen Klopp.

The charismatic German brought Liverpool back to the top of English and European football. His title triumph in 2019/2020 was the club's first for 30 years and the only blot on City's dominance in recent times.

In contrast to Alex Ferguson's departure from Manchester United and Arsene Wenger's exit at Arsenal, Liverpool have turned a legendary figure leaving into a positive.

Klopp did much of the groundwork himself, rejuvenating the squad over his final 18 months in charge with the signings of Gakpo, Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai and Ryan Gravenberch.

Slot's only summer signing, Federico Chiesa, has barely featured due to injury.

But the injection of fresh blood, mixed with the experience of title winners in the prolific Salah, captain Virgil van Dijk, Andy Roberson and Trent Alexander-Arnold has proved a winning combination.

Slot has been keen to give Klopp's legacy credit, but the Dutchman deserves his due for the small details that have produced a run of 18 wins from his first 20 games in all competitions.

'A great day' 

Robertson and Alexander-Arnold's narrower positions have left Liverpool less vulnerable in transition and contributed to them having the best defensive record in the league.

Gravenberch has shone since being transformed into a holding midfielder, while Gakpo is finally delivering on his potential under his compatriot.

Slot has also managed to keep Liverpool's momentum rolling despite constant speculation over the futures of Salah, Van Dijk and Alexander-Arnold, all of whom are out of contract at the end of the season.

"City are a fantastic team, four times champions in a row and they have quality to punish any team," said Van Dijk. "So, overall, it has been a great day.

"It's game-by-game and stay calm. But games like this, when you win it like this, is always a good feeling."

It is not just the Premier League that Slot has so far bent to his will.

Liverpool are also top of the Champions League with a perfect record from five games, including a memorable 2-0 win over Real Madrid on Wednesday.

Victory over City capped a dream week, but the former Feyenoord boss was still keen to use the English and European champions as the benchmark for his side's aspirations.

"Real Madrid and Manchester City have been and are so good, with managers that have won so many trophies, so it is always nice to come out of those situations as a winner," added Slot.

"But they were able to win every single three days. We understand what we want to achieve is more than this winning once or twice, even against these big teams, if you want to win big things."

December may only be a day old, but already it is hard to see beyond Liverpool matching Manchester United's record tally for 20 English top-flight titles come May.

KILLINGTON, United States — Mikaela Shiffrin’s bid for a milestone 100th alpine World Cup victory was on hold after the US superstar crashed out of the Killington giant slalom won by Sweden’s Sara Hector on Saturday.

Shiffrin, already the owner of the most World Cup victories in history, was poised to claim a once unimaginable century after topping the first-run times.

She looked on course for the win when she crashed heavily in the second leg and Sweden’s Olympic gold medallist Hector emerged with the victory with a total of 1min 53.08sec.

Shiffrin said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that the damage was not too bad.

“Not really too much cause for concern at this point,” she said in a video from a clinic bed.

“I just can’t move. I have a pretty good abrasion,” she added, indicating an area near the front of her left hip, where, she said “something stabbed me”.

“I am so sorry to scare everybody, and it looks like all the scans so far are clear,” said Shiffrin, who added in the post that she would be “cheering from the sidelines” on Sunday.

Shiffrin, who led after the first leg, had a lead of 17-hundredths of a second over Hector when she appeared to catch an edge heading into the steep final section of the course.

She hit a gate and somersaulted into another before sliding into the catch-fencing, but gave a wave to fans as she was taken off the hill.

She was taken from the course on a sled, offering a wave to fans on her way.

Shiffrin, 29, already has 13 more World Cup wins than the most successful man, Ingemar Stenmark, and 17 more than the second woman, compatriot Lindsey Vonn.

Needing three wins to hit 100 to start the season, she bagged her 98th and 99th career titles with back-to-back slalom wins in Levi, Finland, and Gurgl, Austria.

That gave her a chance to complete her century in front of home fans in Killington, not far from where she attended Burke Mountain Academy as a youngster.

Shiffrin — who has won six slaloms at Killington but never a giant slalom — was greeted by ecstatic cheers as she crossed the finish line of the first leg atop the times by 32-hundredths of a second.

But her day ended not in celebration but in a rare “Did Not Finish” — just her 21st in 274 career starts and her first in giant slalom since January of 2018.

Shiffrin was sidelined six weeks last season after suffering a knee injury when she crashed in a downhill on the Olympia delle Tofane course in Italy, which will be used for the 2026 Olympics.

She returned to finish the season, but ruled out competing in speed events.

Hector quiets doubts 

Hector was delighted with her sixth World Cup victory after what she described as “a little period when I doubted myself”, at the start of the season.

“I had a period where I was not skiing good in training and I really had to work a lot mentally,” she said. “The last weeks I would say have been a rollercoaster.”

But she was full of sympathy for Shiffrin.

“It’s just so sad, of course, to see her crash like that. She was skiing so well. It breaks my heart.”

Croatia’s Zrinka Ljutic finished second, 54-hundredths of a second behind Hector, and Switzerland’s Camille Rast was third, 1.05 seconds back.

It was a first-ever podium finish for both and Rast, in third as Shiffrin started her second run, wasn’t expecting it.

“I was down [in the finish area], looking at Mikaela and [thinking] ‘OK, fourth place again and it’s fine in GS,” she said. “I hope she is hurt not so bad ... I hope she will be back soon.”

After Sunday’s slalom the women’s schedule is up in the air after two giant slaloms scheduled for Tremblant, Canada, next weekend were cancelled because of lack of snow.

BARCELONA — Las Palmas claimed a surprise 2-1 victory at La Liga leaders Barcelona on Saturday, spoiling the hosts' 125th anniversary celebrations.

Sandro Ramirez sent the visitors ahead early in the second half and although Raphinha hammered home an equaliser, Fabio Silva struck to claim three points and take his team up to 14th.

Barcelona still lead champions Real Madrid by four points but Los Blancos, who host Getafe on Sunday, have played two fewer games than Hansi Flick's team.

The Catalans have now gone three league games without a victory, after a run of 11 wins in 12 prior in the top flight.

"We had a bad game, we have to look at what we're doing badly to try and improve and win games," Raphinha told Movistar.

"We lowered the level we were playing at and that is making games hard for us. We have to keep working and improve...

"I don't care about my goal, I care about winning, we didn't win and I'm not satisfied with the game."

Barcelona wore white shorts as part of their anniversary celebrations, as they used to back at the start of their history.

They held a gala in the city on Friday night to mark the occasion, having been founded on November 29, 1899, but came undone on Saturday afternoon.

The Catalans were able to name teenage starlet Lamine Yamal on the bench after recovering from an ankle problem.

Former Barcelona goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen made a solid save to deny Fermin Lopez in the opening stages, with Las Palmas showing enterprise on the counter-attack.

Barca defender Alejandro Balde was forced off with concussion in the first half after a clash with Sandro, to be replaced by Gerard Martin.

Las Palmas came close when Alberto Moleiro teed up Javi Munoz, who drilled wide, while Jules Kounde lashed an effort over at the other end.

Raphinha came closest to breaking the deadlock in the first half, scoring from an offside position, after Cillessen denied Pedri, and hitting the crossbar after being played through by Gavi.

Flick threw on Yamal at the break for Pablo Torre, hoping the winger would give Barca the advantage after an even first half.

'Giving their all'

Las Palmas took a surprise lead early in the second half when Kirian Rodriguez played in Ramirez, who drilled home from the edge of the box.

Raphinha hit back quickly for Barcelona with a thumping long-range effort, but Las Palmas were soon ahead again.

Silva ran onto Munoz's probing long ball and fired past Inaki Pena to restore the Canary Islanders' advantage with his fifth goal in eight league matches.

Cillessen saved well to deny Yamal as Barca sought a leveller and Viti made a brave block to thwart Pedri.

Las Palmas survived eight minutes of stoppage time, with Dutch stopper Cillessen again saving from Yamal and two defenders desperately scrambling to block a late Robert Lewandowski chance to lock in the visitors' victory.

"It was a very important win, we worked hard for it, Barca put you under a lot of pressure," midfielder Moleiro told Movistar after Las Palmas sealed their first away win at Barcelona since 1971.

Since coach Diego Martinez's arrival in October when they were bottom, the minnows have improved drastically and this win helped them climb five points clear of the relegation zone.

"Everyone is giving their all, and that's the key," added Moleiro.

AMMAN — It was a good week for Jordan on both the football and basketball scenes.

Wihdat and Hussein moved to the quarterfinals of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Champions League (ACL) Two after two crucial Round 5 matches, while Jordan qualified to the FIBA Asia Cup in basketball.

Wihdat held Sepahan Isfahan 1-1 to top Group C maintaining an unbeaten run after they had earlier beat them 2-1, Tajikistan’s Istiklol 1-o twice and held UAE’s Sharjah 2-2. In other group matches, Sepahan upset Sharjah 3-1 after losing 3-1. Sharjah beat Istiklol 1-0 and 3-1 and Sepahan beat Istiklol 4-0.

For Jordan league champs Hussein, their home game against UAE’s Ahli Dubai wastough. They led 2-0 but lost 3-2 to drop to second in Group D but nevertheless qualified to the quarters.

Hussein had earlierlost 3-1to Ahli, beat Uzbekistan’s Nasaf Qarshi twice as well as Kuwait Club 2-1. In other group matches, Ahli held Kuwait 3-3 after earlier beating them 4-1, Kuwait held Nasaf 0-0 and beat them 2-1 while Nasaf upsetAhli 2-1.  

In Round 6, Wihdat will host Sharjahon December 3 and Hussein will play an away match against Kuwait on December 4.

Basketball qualifies to FIBA Asia Cup

In basketball, Jordan qualified to the 31st FIBA Asia Cup 2025 after playing Window 2 Group D matches, managing a below par 87-81 win over Palestine after beating  Iraq 73-64 to maintain an unbeaten streak after scoring two wins in window 1, with wins over Palestine 73-46 and Saudi Arabia 79-64.

It will be Jordan’s 17th time at the FIBA Asia Cup (formerly FIBA Asia Championship) with their best position finishing runner-up in 2011. The Kingdom is  2023Asian Gamessilver medalist and three-time qualifier to the World Cup, 2010, 2019 and 2023.

MIAMI — Eastern Conference leaders the Cleveland Cavaliers suffered their first home loss of the season with a surprise 135-124 defeat to the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday.

Cleveland's second loss of the season came afer a strong second half display from Atlanta with De'Andre Hunter scoring 26 points off the bench, Jalen Johnson adding 22 points and Trae Young contributing 20 with a career-high 22 assists.

Young put the game beyond the Cavs with a 39-foot three pointer to make it 129-122 with 1:43 remaining just moments after he had turned the ball over.

Johnson said Young's assists had been crucial to the victory and that he deserved more credit for his role on the team.

"He was really getting off the ball and finding everyone... a lot of people don't necessarily talk about him even though he's leading the league in assists, but they don't talk about him as the playmaker," Johnson said.

The win moves the Hawks to 8-11 on the season and Young said the team had shown what they were capable of.

"They are a really good team who have been playing well all year and I feel we have been a little inconsistent but the times that we have played well, we've played really well," he said.

Donovan Mitchell scored 30 for Cleveland and Evan Mobley put up 22 points and 12 rebounds, but the Cavs missed out on a chance to become the first team to start with an 18-1 record.

Serbian Nikola Jokic led the Denver Nuggets to a convincing 122-103 win at the Utah Jazz with 30 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists.

Denver had come back from an early 12-point deficit with a 21-4 run midway through the game turning the contest in their direction.

The Houston Rockets needed overtime to beat the 3-14 Philadelphia 76ers, with Alperen Sengun scoring 22 points and claiming 14 rebounds and seven assists.

Half of Turkish center Sengun's points came in overtime where the Rockets made sure of moving to 14-6.

"My teammates trusted me in overtime and I didn't want to fail them," Sengun said. "It was ugly but a win is a win in the NBA."

James Harden scored 43 points for the Los Angeles Clippers as they beat the struggling Washington Wizards 121-96.

Harden scored 23 of his points in the first quarter and left the game late in the third quarter with the Wizards already condemned to their 13th straight defeat.

"We have to continue to find ways to win," said Harden of the 12-8 Clippers.

"Defensively we need to do a lot better, sometimes we get a little too comfortable... we just need to continue to get better as a unit."

The Miami Heat defeated the Charlotte Hornets 98-94, with Tyler Herro scoring 27 points and Duncan Robinson draining six 3-pointers in the win.

"He's a shot-maker, he's not afraid of the moment," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of Herro.

Bam Adebayo claimed 10 rebounds and 10 assists for the Heat while LaMelo Ball had 32 points and 10 rebounds for Charlotte.

Miami's star Jimmy Butler left the game in the third quarter with a tight back and did not return.

The Hornets were closing in on the lead but Herro made a 29-foot 3-pointer and then grabbed Ball's attempted pass to Brandon Miller for the crucial turnover.

Led by Anthony Davis with 19 points and 14 rebounds, the Los Angeles Lakers ended the San Antonio Spurs four-game winning streak with a 119-101 victory.

LeBron James helped with 16 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds while France's Victor Wembanyama top scored for the Spurs with 20 points and 10 rebounds.

Despite being without injured Slovenian star Luka Doncic, the Dallas Mavericks had a comfortable 129-114 win over the New York Knicks with Kyrie Irving scoring 23 points.

Dennis Schroder top scored with 29 points as the Brooklyn Nets defeated the Phoenix Suns 127-117. Kevin Durant put up 30 points and 8 rebounds for the Arizona team.

BERLIN — Heidenheim host Premier League giants Chelsea in the UEFA Conference League on Thursday, the latest milestone in the German club’s rapid rise from fifth division to European football.

Even just a few seasons ago, few Germans would have known much about the club from the 50,000-strong town of Heidenheim an der Brenz, located in southern Germany between Munich and Stuttgart.

Two-time Champions League winners Chelsea are a symbol not only of Premier League largesse, but of modern football.

Since taking over in May 2022, Chelsea’s American owners are estimated to have spent more than 1 billion euros ($1.05 billion) on transfers alone.

The magnitude of the unlikely journey is not lost on Heidenheim coach Frank Schmidt, who has been with the club all the way from the non-professional ranks.

In an interview with AFP, he said the idea of welcoming Chelsea to Heidenheim’s 15,000-seat Voith Arena on Thursday would have been “unthinkable” just a few months ago.

“But in the end, that is now the case,” he said. “We’ve earned this through our strong debut season in the Bundesliga.”

“It will be a special evening that our club and our fans deserve.”

Schmidt’s story is so intertwined with that of Heidenheim, it is inseparable.

With Heidenheim in the fifth division of German football, Schmidt became coach just after retiring from the club as a player in 2007, agreeing to do so for a two-week period only.

Since then, he has driven the club up the German football pyramid until a first-ever promotion to the top flight before the 2023-24 season.

In the time Schmidt has been in charge at Heidenheim, German giants Bayern Munich have gone through 12 different coaches, while winning 13 Bundesliga titles and two Champions Leagues.

In September 2023, on his 16th anniversary at the club, he became the longest serving coach in Bundesliga history and celebrated with a 4-2 win over Werder Bremen, Heidenheim’s debut top-flight victory.

Upon their arrival in the Bundesliga, they were widely tipped for a swift relegation. Schmidt not only kept them up but piloted them to eighth spot and a Europa Conference League placing.

One of the many highlights of their first top-flight season was coming from two goals down to beat Bayern 3-2 at home in April.

With plenty taking notice of Heidenheim’s sharp rise, the club’s next challenge was to rebuild after several key players were picked off in the summer.

Winger Jan-Niklas Beste, who last season became the club’s first player called up for Germany, moved to Benfica.

Tim Kleindienst, who has since made his Germany debut and has two goals in four games, left for Borussia Moenchengladbach.

“It was clear we could not replace these players one-on-one, because they were key players for us. You can see that with Tim Kleindienst, who is now a German international and has played for Germany from the start in the past few games.”

Without the money to bring in big name stars, Heidenheim brought in a mix of experienced lower division players and young talents.

One such talent is Bayern loanee Paul Wanner, who has five goals and two assists in all competitions this season.

Still just 18, Wanner has shown so much promise he is already subject to a tug-of-war between Germany and Austria.

While acknowledging the ebbs and flows that come with playing while still a teenager, Schmidt recognises Wanner’s quality.

“If his development continues like this and he stays injury free, he can go all the way to the top.”

‘Clear underdogs’

Heidenheim started the Bundesliga season on fire and were top of the table after two rounds, before falling back to earth and now sit 15th.

In the Conference League however, they are one of six teams, including Chelsea, to have won three from three.

“Chelsea are the absolute favourites and anything other than winning the Conference League would be a huge surprise. They have incredible individual quality and potential [and are] third in the Premier League.”

Despite being “clear underdogs”, Schmidt said his team can pull off a huge surprise of their own.

“We have to fight back with a strong mentality to have a chance.”

SAN FRANCISCO — Boston's Kristaps Porzingis and Ja Morant of Memphis made triumphant and long-awaited NBA returns from injuries on Tuesday, while Kyrie Irving scored 32 points to spark a Dallas victory at Atlanta.

Porzingis had 16 points, hitting 5-of-6 from inside 3-point range, with six rebounds, two blocks and two assists in 23 minutes for the reigning champion Celtics in a 126-94 home rout of the Los Angeles Clippers.

"Good to go and looking forward to many, many great wins," Porzingis said.

Latvian center Porzingis had been sidelined for five months following left ankle surgery last June after being injured in the NBA Finals.

"It has been killing me inside not to be able to be out there," said Porzingis. "But it was worth the wait to come back now and finally be with my guys.

"It has been maybe a couple weeks I've been nearing the finish line of starting to play and as I was ramping up I was getting more and more antsy to be out there finally. And here it is."

Asked about his ankle, Porzingis said, "It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I did have a couple flat tires on some lobs but I was still able to finish it and I'm happy with the game, happy with the win and with each game I'm only going to find my rhythm more and more."

Jayson Tatum and reserve Payton Pritchard each scored 20 points to lead the Celtics while Derrick White had 19 and Jaylen Brown added 17.

"No matter who is in or out on this team, we're an unbelievably built team," Porzingis said. "It's like nothing, whoever is out, we can still win any game."

Ivica Zubac led the Clippers with 23 points and 10 rebounds while James Harden had 19 points, eight rebounds and nine assists.

At Memphis, Morant was back to his fast-breaking, slam-dunking top form to spark the Grizzlies over Portland 123-98.

Morant scored 20 of his 22 points in the first half and added 11 assists while Jaren Jackson Jr. had 21 points for Memphis.

Morant has missed the past eight games for the Grizzlies after suffering a hip injury in a fall against the Los Angeles Lakers on November 6.

In Atlanta, Irving scored 22 of his 32 points in the second half to lead the Dallas Mavericks over the host Hawks 129-119.

Jaden Hardy added 23 points while Naji Marshall and Spencer Dinwiddie each added 22 for the Mavs. Jalen Johnson scored 28 to lead Atlanta, which has lost three in a row.

Ivey wins for Detroit 

Detroit's Jaden Ivey scored the last of his team-high 25 points on a floater at the final buzzer to give the Pistons a 102-100 victory over visiting Toronto.

Tyrese Haliburton scored 34 points and passed off 13 assists to lead the host Indiana Pacers over New Orleans 114-110.

Germany's Franz Wagner scored 21 points to lead the Orlando Magic to a 95-84 victory at Charlotte despite LaMelo Ball's game-high 44 points for the Hornets.

AMMAN —  Wihdat and Hussein hope to keep their momentum when they play upcoming Round 5 matches of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Champions League Two.

Wihdat top Group C ahead of their away match against Sepahan Isfahan whom they beat 2-1 earlier. During their unbeaten run they beat Tajikistan’s Istiklol 1-o twice, held UAE’s Sharjah 2-2. In other group matches, Sepahan upset Sharjah 3-1 after losing 3-1. Sharjah beat Istiklol 1-0 and Sepahan beat Istiklol 4-0.

For Jordan league champs Hussein, their home game against UAE’s Ahli Dubai is vital as they seek to maintain their Group D lead and reverse their earlier 3-1 defeat. They so far beat Uzbekistan’s Nasaf Qarshi twice as well as Kuwait Club 2-1. In other group matches, Ahli held Kuwait 3-3 after they earlier beat them 4-1, Nasaf upset Ahli 2-1 and Kuwait held Nasaf 0-0.  

Going into Round 5, Hussein will miss their star goalie Yazeed Abu Laila who injured his jaw in the Jordan-Kuwait World Cup qualifier, while Wihdat will try to make up for their defeat to Salt in the Jordan Shield Cup final.

Clubs are playing in 8 groups in the 21st edition of the competition, with the top two in each group moving to the quarters of the second tier Asian event that has replaced the AFC Cup. The top tier Asian clubs competition is now branded Asian Champions League Elite.

It is Hussein’s 1st and Wihdat’s 13th time in the competition which was won three times by Jordanian clubs. Faisali won two back-to-back titles in 2005-2006 and Shabab Urdun won once in 2007, Wihdat reached the semis in 2006, 2007 and 2011. No Jordanian clubs played in the 2022 season.

Last season, Wihdat failed to advance beyond Round 1 at the AFC Cup as Faisali were eliminated from the Champions League. In past editions, Wihdat played in the top tier Asian Champions League twice and were eliminated in the group stages in 2021 and 2022. None of the Kingdom's clubs had ever made it past the ACL preliminary round where Faisali played in 2020 and 2018,  Wihdat in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2019 and Shabab Urdun in 2014.