Toni Kroos is yet to decide whether he will renew his contract with Real Madrid, but the midfielder remains "calm" concerning his talks with Los Blancos.

Kroos started as Madrid wrapped up a record-extending fifth Club World Cup title on Saturday, Vinicius Junior and Federico Valverde both scoring twice in a thrilling 5-3 win over Al Hilal.

While Kroos remains a key player for Madrid, appearing in 17 of their 20 games in LaLiga this term, he is yet to extend his contact at the Santiago Bernabeu, which expires at the end of the season.

Reports in December suggested Kroos would decide whether to pen a one-year extension in February, but the former Germany international is still pondering his future.

"There are different things that you have to think about if you want to continue or not," Kroos said after Saturday's win. "I'm thinking about it. 

"It won't take many more months, but there still isn't a decision.

"We are very calm and there is a relationship between the club and myself that nobody does nonsense. I am very calm." 

Kroos has featured in all five of Madrid's Club World Cup triumphs, and he says the manner in which Los Blancos qualified – winning a series of dramatic knockout ties en route to last term's Champions League success – sweetens the achievement.

"To get here you have to win the Champions League and that is what we are going to try to do again, although it is difficult," he said. "The road is very long. 

"Also, remembering how we suffered in the Champions League in the knockout games and in the final, getting here is a prize. 

"Here the rivals may not have the quality of the Champions League, but it's the game of their lives and you have to play a serious game."

To say this season isn't going according to plan for either Liverpool or Everton would be an understatement.

Liverpool have taken seven points from their six matches back since the World Cup break; Everton are on four from the same number of games.

The Reds could be as low as 11th by the time Monday's meeting between the Merseyside rivals takes place at Anfield.

Jurgen Klopp's team have looked a shadow of their former selves. Even in their poor title defence in the 2020-21 campaign, which included a 2-0 home defeat to Everton, they never seemed so unlikely to compete not only for the top honour, but Champions League qualification.

This time last year, Liverpool were in contention for an unprecedented quadruple; they would go on to triumph in the EFL Cup and FA Cup, though fell just short in the Premier League and lost 1-0 to Real Madrid in the Champions League final.

After selling Sadio Mane to Bayern Munich but bringing in Darwin Nunez and tying Mohamed Salah down to a new contract, Liverpool seemed set for another title push after beating Manchester City in the Community Shield.

Yet it has all gone downhill from there. They are out of both domestic cups and have no chance in the league, with their tally of seven defeats in the top tier closing in on their worst tally in Klopp's full seasons in charge (nine – 2020-21).

Everton, on the other hand, are mired in another relegation battle, with yet another manager in place. Sean Dyche arrived last month, following Frank Lampard's dismissal after less than a year in charge.

Dyche started in style at Goodison Park, however, guiding Everton to their first win since October by beating league leaders Arsenal 1-0.

That victory has not lifted Everton outside of the relegation zone, though it injected some optimism into the team and fanbase ahead of the short trip across Stanley Park.

The cornerstone of Everton's win over Arsenal was Dyche's midfield trio, while that area of the pitch is a clear issue for Klopp. It might just be where this match is won or lost.

Liverpool found lacking

It was easy to be impressed when Liverpool announced they had struck a deal with PSV to sign Cody Gakpo, before the January transfer window had even started.

Gakpo had starred for the Netherlands at the World Cup and was taking the Eredivisie by storm, having scored 21 goals and set up a further 25 since the start of last season up until his switch to Anfield. But he has yet to score or assist in six matches, creating only two chances across 497 minutes of action.

While Liverpool will be confident Gakpo will come good, the sensibility of signing another forward for big money when their midfield needs are so glaring could be called into question.

The Reds are reportedly keen to sign Jude Bellingham at the end of the season, and the Borussia Dortmund sensation might well be transformative. However, Liverpool needed reinforcements now, not in six months' time.

Fabinho's form has been erratic, and it feels as though the 29-year-old might well have passed his peak. The Brazil international is recording his lowest per-90 totals for duels (8.5), duels won (4.2), duel success rate (48.9), forward passes (14.8), attempted passes (59.7) and tackle success percentage (52.1) since he joined in 2018. On the flip side, he is giving away 1.7 fouls per 90, his highest tally in a Liverpool shirt.

He was fortunate to escape a red card in the FA Cup defeat to Brighton and Hove Albion on January 28 and then missed last week's defeat to Wolves through illness.

Stefan Bajcetic started in Fabinho's place against Wolves and has looked bright when called on, though at 18 cannot be expected to perform consistently week in, week out.

Thiago Alcantara came to Liverpool as one of the world's best midfield maestros, but injuries have limited him to just 93 appearances and 71 starts.

Indeed, Thiago has not lived up to the form he showed at Bayern Munich, and while he creates a scoring chance every game on average, he has only directly contributed to nine goals.

To sum up his frustrations, Thiago is a doubt for Monday's match due to a hip issue.

Jordan Henderson works as hard as ever, but at the age of 32 cannot be relied on to play 90 minutes up to three times a week. Naby Keita, on the other hand, has never really lived up to his price tag.

Harvey Elliott has solidified himself as a regular, playing 1,131 top-flight minutes, and he leads the way for open-play shot-creating actions when it comes to Liverpool's midfielders (68).

Liverpool's midfield has been the bedrock of so much success, but it's in need of a revamp.

Building blocks for Dyche

Having utilised a 4-4-2 for much of his time at Burnley, Dyche sprung something of a surprise in his first match in charge of Everton by playing a three-man midfield.

Yet this was not the awkward, disorganised 4-3-3 that Lampard had attempted to force into place in his latter days as Everton boss, but rather a solid, robust 4-5-1 that, off the ball at least, morphed into the two, solid banks of four that Dyche is renowned for.

Abdoulaye Doucoure had fallen out of favour under Lampard but was back in against the Gunners for his first league start since August, and turned in one of his best Everton displays.

Only Gueye (10) won possession more times than Doucoure (nine) for Everton, while the former Watford midfielder's tally of 27 attempted passes ranked third for the Toffees. He also made two interceptions (a team high alongside James Tarkowski and Amadou Onana) and won his only attempted tackle.

No Everton outfielder created more final third entries (seven), while Doucoure also played a key role in limiting Oleksandr Zinchenko's impact. The Ukrainian had a game-leading 121 touches though created only one chance.

On the opposite side of Gueye, Onana delivered another display that hinted at his immense potential.

While Everton have floundered in recent months, Onana seems to have settled into English football. He led the team in touches (47), tackles (four) and tackles won (two), and only Dominic Calvert-Lewin (nine) won more duels for the Toffees than the Belgium international (eight).

Dyche handed Onana the responsibility to press, and he won possession twice in Arsenal's defensive third. His recoveries tally finished at eight, including a well-timed intervention that resulted in the 21-year-old teeing up a fantastic chance for Calvert-Lewin.

Everton's new manager noted in his post-game press conference that Onana still had plenty to learn, but the signs are promising.

Gueye, meanwhile, thrived in his best role in front of the defence. Too often under Lampard, the 33-year-old was losing the ball in dangerous areas, but against the Gunners he completed all 25 of his passes.

One swallow does not make a summer, of course, and Everton have a lot of work to do to drag themselves out of danger. 

Everton are likely to lack Calvert-Lewin due to injury, whereas Liverpool still have a star-studded forward line to choose from. If Klopp's men can get a foothold in the middle of the pitch, another derby win should be theirs.

Indeed, given Everton have only won one of their last 22 league visits to Anfield, Liverpool still have to be considered huge favourites.

However, if Dyche can get his midfield to perform as they did against Arsenal, then Everton might just fancy their chances of getting something.

Terrence Ross plans to sign with the Phoenix Suns after finalising his contract buyout with the Orlando Magic, according to reports.

Ross will be able to sign with a new team upon clearing waivers and becoming a free agent in the coming days, and will be eligible for any suitors' playoff roster if he agrees the buyout by March 1.

The Dallas Mavericks were reported as frontrunners to acquire Ross on Saturday, but the championship-chasing Suns are now in pole position, according to an ESPN report.

The Suns acquired Kevin Durant, as well as T.J. Warren, in a huge trade with the Brooklyn Nets earlier this week, sending Cameron Johnson, Mikal Bridges and Jae Crowder the other way alongside four first-round picks and a 2028 pick swap.

Ross' addition would provide cover for Durant in Phoenix after the Suns lost Johnson and Bridges to the Nets.

The 32-year-old is in the final season of his four-year, $54 million contract in Orlando, with his 22.5 minutes and eight points per game his fewest in a single campaign since his rookie year in 2012-13.

The Suns are fifth in the Western Conference following Friday's 117-104 win at the Indiana Pacers, in which Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton had 21 and 22 points respectively.

Luka Doncic had fun linking up with Kyrie Irving for the first time in spite of the Dallas Mavericks going down 133-128 in overtime at the Sacramento Kings.

In his third game since being traded from the Brooklyn Nets, Irving scored 28 points with seven rebounds and seven assists, but it was not enough to beat the Kings at Golden 1 Center again, as the Mavs did on Friday.

Doncic did not play in that game, but he returned on Saturday for the second of a double-header against Sacramento, and linked up well with Irving as he finished with 27 points, nine rebounds and five assists.

"Amazing, only our first game together, but I think it's so fun to play with this guy," the Slovenian said about lining up with Irving. "He's an amazing basketball player and I think it's going to be really fun and today, first game, it was really fun, too."

Mavs coach Jason Kidd was equally enthused by his new star partnership despite the loss, saying: "I thought it was good. It was just natural. Nothing forced.

"It's going to make us that much better. They did an incredible job."

De'Aaron Fox managed to outshine Doncic and Irving in Sacramento, scoring 36 points for the hosts, 26 of which came in the fourth quarter and overtime, while Domantas Sabonis and Terence Davis also put up 22 points each, with the former recording 14 rebounds for a league-leading 44th double-double of the season.

Kings coach Mike Brown was understandably pleased with his team's work, saying: "Heck of a job by our guys. Defensively, we did a pretty good job in both second halves.

"We had a lot of great individual performances."

Islam Makhachev was able to see off the challenge of Alexander Volkanovski in the latter's home country as the Russian secured a unanimous decision to retain the lightweight title at UFC 284.

In front of an excitable crowd in Perth, Australia, both men put on a fine show in the main event as they also fought for the title of pound-for-pound best in the world.

Despite the unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 49-46), it was an undeniably close fight, with Volkanovski getting some early shots in and denying the champion some takedowns.

After initially showing caution, Makhachev soon came to the party and eventually completed four of nine takedown attempts, and somewhat surprisingly bested his opponent in terms of total and significant strike percentage, though Volkanovski's volume was predictably higher.

"You like or you don't like, I am [the] best fighter in the world right now," Makhachev said after the win, much to the crowd's displeasure.

"I show why I'm No. 1. They have to improve more."

The Australian delighted his many fans in attendance with a late surge, but Makhachev had already done enough, particularly in the fourth round when he spent the vast majority of it on his opponent's back.

"He didn't respect my wrestling, grappling," Volkanovski said. "Maybe I didn't respect his striking enough, either. He landed some shots. Fair play to both of us."

In the co-main event, Yair Rodriguez submitted Josh Emmett in the second round to claim the interim featherweight championship with a dominant performance.

In his first ever UFC win by submission, Rodriguez – who also landed around three times as many total and significant strikes – was able to get Emmett in a triangle choke to tap the American out at four minutes and 19 seconds in round two.

James Harden said he left the Brooklyn Nets "for a reason" after he and Joel Embiid starred in the Philadelphia 76ers' win over his former team, describing his time in Brooklyn as "frustrating".

Harden scored 29 points with six rebounds and six assists on his first appearance at Barclays Center since pushing for a trade to Philadelphia last year, helping the Sixers record a 101-98 win.

The 2018 NBA MVP and 10-time All-Star was criticised for his decision to seek a Nets exit just over a year after being acquired from the Houston Rockets.

Harden was keen to get a few things off his chest after Saturday's win over Brooklyn, who are working with a new-look roster after the recent departure of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.

Asked if he could have foreseen a situation where both of those stars followed him through the exit door, Harden said: "Yeah. I didn't just ask to leave for no reason. It wasn't right.

"I was in a really good place in Houston. Obviously, we didn't have a chance to win a championship, but I was comfortable. 

"So for me to up and leave my family, all the things I created there, to come to Brooklyn for a year and a half to try to just get up and leave, it was for a reason, you know what I mean?" 

Pushed on whether the Nets could have done anything to keep him, the guard added: "Yeah, there was. Like, a lot of things.

"But it was just a lot of dysfunction, clearly. A lot of internal things that I'm not going to ever say or put in the media or anything. That was one of the reasons why I chose to make my decision.

"But now, fast-forward to this date, I don't look like the crazy one. I don't look like the quitter or whatever the media want to call me. 

"I knew what was going on and I just decided, 'hey, I'm not built for this'. I don't want to deal with that. I want to play basketball and have fun and enjoy doing it. Fast-forward to today, they've got a whole new roster."

Asked to sum up his time in Brooklyn, Harden described it as "frustrating", bemoaning his lack of game-time alongside Durant and Irving after the trio only played 16 times together.

"The reason I made that decision to get out of my comfort zone, to leave Houston and do everything that I did to get out of there was to come in and play with KD and Kyrie," he said.

"That didn't happen as much as I would like to or probably the organisation wanted to. It was just something where I knew it wasn't going to change. I had to make an individual decision for the betterment of my family and my career

 "It's a lot of what-ifs when you play less than 20 games together. So it's a little bit frustrating, but it is what it is. Hopefully, everybody's in a good place now and we can move on."

Joel Embiid and James Harden led the Philadelphia 76ers to a hard-fought 101-98 win against the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center on Saturday.

The Nets, now shorn of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, had to face another of their former stars in Harden, who had no problem showing them the kind of form he rarely displayed in Brooklyn on his first appearance there since leaving last year, scoring 29 points with six rebounds and six assists.

Embiid had an even better outing, with the Cameroonian finishing with 37 points and 13 rebounds, making 12 of his 18 field-goal attempts.

Mikal Bridges scored 23 on debut for Brooklyn after his arrival as part of the Durant deal with the Phoenix Suns, with fellow debutant Cam Johnson adding 12, while Joe Harris managed 18 points from just over 16 minutes on court.

The two players the Nets acquired as part of the Irving deal, Dorian Finney-Smith and Spencer Dinwiddie, struggled against the Sixers.

Finney-Smith made just two of his eight field-goal attempts, while Dinwiddie fared even worse with two from 10, and zero from four shots from beyond the arc.

Dinwiddie thought he had forced overtime at least when a three-pointer finally went in, but it was ruled out of time after a review as Philadelphia secured the victory.

Doncic and Irving outfoxed by De'Aaron

In their first outing together for the Dallas Mavericks, Luka Doncic and Irving could not get the W as De'Aaron Fox helped the Sacramento Kings to an overtime victory.

Both Doncic and Irving spent more than 40 minutes on the court, scoring 27 and 28 points respectively in a tight game in which neither team ended a quarter with more than a two-point lead.

Fox particularly shone in the latter stages as he recorded 26 points in the fourth quarter and overtime, including six free throws in the final 18.4 seconds to help seal a 133-128 win at Golden 1 Center.

Jokic makes history, Young's assist bonanza

Nikola Jokic became only the fifth player in NBA history to record 20+ triple-doubles in a single season as he led the Denver Nuggets to a 119-105 win at the Charlotte Hornets.

The two-time MVP scored 30 points, with 16 rebounds and 10 assists, while Trae Young also had a productive game as the Atlanta Hawks beat the San Antonio Spurs 125-106.

Young provided an impressive season-high 17 assists for his team to go with his 24 points to make it a 12-game losing streak for the Spurs, their longest since 1988-89 (13).

A much-changed Los Angeles Lakers pulled off a 109-103 victory against the Golden State Warriors, with Dennis Schroder top-scoring with 26 points, while the returning D'Angelo Russell added 15 and Anthony Davis recorded 16 rebounds.

There is guaranteed to be an Argentine winner of the Cordoba Open on Saturday, while Taylor Fritz was stunned in Dallas.

Federico Coria, seeded sixth, overcame reigning champion and 2021 runner-up Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-4 7-6 (7-2) after over two-and-a-half hours of action.

The world number 67, who is into his second ATP Tour-level final and is set to rise into the top 50 of the rankings, has dropped just a single set in the tournament.

Sebastian Baez, eight years Coria's junior, is aiming for his second title after winning in Estoril last year.

The 22-year-old fourth seed defeated Hugo Dellien 6-4 6-4.

This will be the fourth singles final of Baez's career, though his first on home soil.

"It means a lot, but [it brings] confidence," said Baez.

"I have my people here, my friends, my family, everything, so that is a big motivation for me."

While Coria and Baez have just five previous final appearances between them, John Isner advanced to a 31st Tour-level showdown of his career as he beat fellow American J.J. Wolff at the Dallas Open.

Playing in his home city, 37-year-old Isner came from behind to prevail 3-6 7-5 7-6 (7-4).

Isner offered up eight break points, but saved seven of them to frustrate Wolff.

"I saved a lot of break points with unreturnable serves," Isner said. "Without that I would have been dusted off the court 6-3, 6-4. I'm of course very fortunate to have that weapon in my pocket, and I needed every bit of it today.

"It was an absolute battle, so I'm pretty tired. But I'm absolutely ecstatic to be in the final tomorrow here in Dallas."

Asked how he was faring up after his long tussle with Wolff, Isner quipped: "Truthfully, it feels terrible right now. I'm 38 in April. It's not getting any easier. I started off a little slow, a little sluggish, but in the third set I actually felt the best I felt the whole match.

"I had a lot of adrenaline there at the end and I was able to hold my nerve and win. Right now the name of the game is recovery."

Isner will be the favourite in the final, after top seed Fritz surrendered a lead in a 6-7 (3-7) 7-5 6-4 loss to Wu Yibing.

Jon Rahm and Adam Hadwin provided the highlight of the third round at the Phoenix Open, where Scottie Scheffler kept hold of the lead.

World number one Scheffler carded a 68 on Saturday to maintain the two-stroke lead he held after the opening two days.

A bogey on the 13th threatened to set Scheffler back, but he recovered with a birdie on the next hole and then another on the 17th.

Yet the highlight came from Rahm and Hadwin on the Stadium Course's famous 16th hole.

With the vociferous crowd having been deprived of much excitement up until then, Hadwin – who endured a frustrating round, dropping three bogeys – planting his tee shot close to the pin, setting up a simple putt for birdie.

If that shot had the spectators on their feet, then Rahm's exceptional putt had them positively in delirium soon after, as the world number three sunk an excellent effort to on his way to a three-under 68.

Rahm moved up to T2 alongside Nick Taylor, who found timely birdies on the last two holes to head back into the clubhouse on 11 under after three rounds.

Jordan Spieth, who went round in 63 on day two, carded 69 but dropped a place to T4 along with Hadwin, with Im Sung-jae, Tyrrell Hatton, Rickie Fowler and Jason Day moving up to joint-sixth. Xander Schauffele had a disappointing round, though, and dropped three places.

It was a similar story for world number one Rory McIlroy, who bogeyed on the fourth, seventh and 17th, as well as double-bogeying the 14th. His round of 70 leaves him on three under for the week, 10 behind Scheffler.

Sam Burns was the big mover of the day as he leapt up 28 places thanks to a stunning 64, matching Scheffler's effort from Friday.

Burns struck five birdies and eagled the 13th, and is part of a five-strong group tied for 11th at eight under.

Cristian Stellini has questioned the mentality of Tottenham's players and accepts "something has to change" after a 4-1 loss at Leicester City.

Spurs failed to build on last weekend's 1-0 win over Manchester City as their hopes of finishing in the Premier League top four suffered another setback.

Rodrigo Bentancur gave Tottenham the lead, but Leicester responded with goals from Nampalys Mendy, James Maddison and Kelechi Iheanacho before half-time.

Harvey Barnes added a late fourth at the King Power Stadium to inflict a fourth league defeat on Spurs in seven matches since the turn of the year.

Tottenham assistant Stellini, who took press duties despite Antonio Conte returning to the dugout following gallbladder surgery, was not pleased with what he saw on Saturday.

"To be consistent is a long process; it's a mental process," he said. "You have to be better mentally and better with the approach. After we scored the goal, something changed.

"We struggled a lot and we are disappointed for that. There's not an explanation because if you know what happened you can change this. 

"It happened last season, after we beat Manchester City we lost to Burnley. We are a team, and in the team something has to change, not individually. It's about the desire.

"It's about recovering the mental energy. After a game against City, maybe we used all the energy we had. To recover that is like a battle. You have to recreate the same energy."

Conte returned to Tottenham's training ground on Thursday, eight days on from undergoing surgery, but Stellini explained the head coach is still recovering.

"It's good for the club, the team and everyone to have Antonio back," he said. "He has to take it easy a bit. 

"He cannot use his energy 100 per cent and we have to give something more to cover the gap. We know we have to be more responsible."

Tottenham are two points behind fourth-place Newcastle United, who played out a 1-1 draw with Bournemouth later on Saturday and have a game in hand.

Conte's side host London rivals West Ham and Chelsea in their next two league games, but first is a Champions League last-16 first-leg tie away at Milan on Tuesday.

Carlo Ancelotti joked he is grateful he does not have to retire at the end of the season after Federico Valverde struck his 10th goal of the campaign in Real Madrid's Club World Cup final win.

Valverde netted twice at Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Morocco as Madrid defeated Saudi Arabian champions Al Hilal 5-3 to win the competition for a record-extending fifth time.

Ancelotti said in September, when Valverde had three goals to his name, that he would rip up his coaching licence if the versatile right-sided attacker failed to reach double figures in a single campaign for the first time in his career.

That milestone was reached on Saturday in emphatic style, with the pair embracing on the sidelines after Valverde's second goal of the game.

"I'm grateful because I don't want to retire," quipped Ancelotti, who has now won the competition three times, in his post-match press conference.

"He has gone through a very difficult period. Valverde offers us a lot playing on the right."

Vinicius Junior also scored twice for Madrid, while there was a welcome goal for Karim Benzema on his return from an injury lay-off.

Brazil winger Vinicius was also on the scoresheet in the semi-final win over Al Ahly and won the Golden Ball, awarded to the best player of the tournament.

Vinicius has faced appalling racist abuse in Spain this season, but he once again let his football do the talking on the pitch in Rabat.

"We are delighted for him because we can see he's still improving," Ancelotti said. "He's much more effective now. He scores and makes a difference in every game we play.

"He was hurt by our loss against Real Mallorca last week but was ready to play in this tournament. We'll now go back to Madrid hoping the way he's played in this tournament will give him a boost.

"We know he won't play on Wednesday [against Elche] because he's suspended, so I'll give him a couple of days off which will do him good, even though he isn't showing any signs of fatigue. The opposite is true."

Pep Guardiola reaffirmed that Manchester City's glorious moments will always belong to them, asking if it was the club's fault Steven Gerrard slipped in the 2013-14 season.

City have been accused of over 100 breaches of the Premier League's financial rules between the seasons of 2009-10 and 2017-18. 

Speculation has been rife as to the level of punishment the champions might receive should they be found guilty, including points deductions, relegation or the stripping of the titles they won during that time period, including two under Guardiola.

Yet Guardiola has insisted the moments cannot be taken away from City or their fans regardless of the punishment, if indeed there is one, with the manager sarcastically asking the press if it was his club's fault that Liverpool great Gerrard slipped at a vital moment in the 2013-14 title race.

Gerrard fell to the Anfield turf during a clash with Chelsea in April of that season, with Demba Ba going on to score as the Blues triumphed and handed City the chance to go and win their second Premier League title.

"Those moments belong to us. They absolutely belong to us, regardless of the sentence, they belong to us," Guardiola said.

"The goal from Sergio Agüero [in 2012]. I don't know if we are responsible for Steven Gerrard slipping at Anfield. Was that our fault?

"I have respect for Steven Gerrard – but that moment belongs to us.

"The moments that we lived these years together, the Premier League will decide, but I know what we won and the way we won it.

"I know the effort we put in. If something happened in 2009 or 2010 it is not going to change one second."

Guardiola has full faith in the club's hierarchy.

"What I can say is I am proud of my owners, of my chairman, and the relationship we have had, this time together," he said.

"I have relied on them [and what they told me] a lot in the past, now you can't imagine."

Former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss Guardiola also remains fully committed to City's cause.

"If they want me here I will be here," he continued. "The results are not good, they will put me out because it is a business where you have to win.

"But if they want me I will not let them down and my players, too. I want to convince them that what we have done, we have done and they won't remove it.

"We have to defend our position and the way to do it is on the pitch, that’s the only way, and the way we have done it all the time."

City would move within three points of league leaders Arsenal, who drew with Brentford on Saturday, should they beat Aston Villa on Sunday.

The corresponding fixture last season saw City come from behind to beat Villa – then managed by Gerrard – 3-2 on the final day of the season, clinching the fourth Premier League title of Guardiola's tenure in the process, ahead of Liverpool.

LeBron James will miss his second consecutive game with soreness in his left ankle.

James became the NBA's all-time leading points scorer this week, breaking the record against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday.

Yet the 38-year-old sat out Thursday's loss to the Milwaukee Bucks and will not feature on Saturday against the Golden State Warriors.

It marks the 13th missed game this season for James, though it appears to be a primarily precautionary move.

Medical imaging on the affected area has not shown any significant damage other than general wear and tear, according to Lakers coach Darvin Ham.

"We're grateful that things came back clean and good," Lakers vice president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka said on a conference call on Saturday.

The Lakers are expected to have newcomers D'Angelo Russell, Jarred Vanderbilt, Malik Beasley and Davon Reed available to face the Warriors.

Mo Bamba, who was also acquired at the deadline, will finish serving his four-game suspension stemming from an altercation in a February 3 game between the Orlando Magic and the Minnesota Timberwolves.

James ranks seventh in the league in scoring (30.2 points per game) and his absence leaves a huge void for Los Angeles, who are 13th in the Western Conference and facing an uphill climb to make the playoffs.