Erik ten Hag has urged Manchester United to "go for it" and seize any opportunities to strengthen their squad before the transfer window closes.

The Red Devils are the only side to have beaten leaders Arsenal in the Premier League this season, and at Emirates Stadium on Sunday they will look to make it a double over the Gunners.

A turbulent start under manager Ten Hag has been followed by an impressive resurgence that has catapulted United to third place, still in with a sniff of the title.

Ten Hag this week brought Jadon Sancho back into first-team training, after an absence to deal with what the manager described as physical and mental issues.

While winger Sancho's return to match duty could still be some weeks away, United are looking to keep improving.

Dutch striker Wout Weghorst has already joined on loan, as has English goalkeeper Jack Butland, with Ten Hag and his staff still scouring to see if there is hope of landing other targets before close of play on January 31, expecting the club to then support them.

"I think at Manchester United always you have to look for solutions, and always you have to look for better, and that is what we will do," Ten Hag said.

"We will be doing our research and if there are opportunities, we have to go for it."

Asked about Sancho's likely return date, Ten Hag said: "I can't answer that question. So it's [about] making the next step, because, it's true, [on Tuesday] he was in team training for the first time.

"But team training is the final training before a game. So we will extend that in the coming days, the coming week, and then go step by step."

United will be without suspended midfielder Casemiro for the Arsenal game, a major loss given his impact since arriving from Real Madrid in August.

The Brazilian was only a substitute when United beat Arsenal 3-1 at the start of September, however, coming on for the closing minutes once the match was all but won.

"We beat Arsenal last time without Casemiro, so we have an idea of how to do it," Ten Hag said.

Like many bosses before him, Ten Hag pointed to Arsenal giving manager Mikel Arteta time to work with the team as being crucial to their growing cohesion.

"In the moment we played them, you could already see that the manager, with a coaching style, was already working for a long time on the team, and you saw really good structures in the team," Ten Hag said.

He spoke glowingly of Arsenal's strong spirit and said United, eight point behind the Gunners, would "need a really good performance" to be competitive.

"It's obvious they are in a really good run and I think they deserve [to be] in the position where they are now," Ten Hag added.

"It's a really good structure – how they play, a really good mentality and winning attitude in a team – and that is why they are now top of the [league].

"So they are in a great run, but it's up to us to beat that run, and we will do everything to do that."

Coco Gauff is excited about the prospect of players from the United States winning both singles titles at the same grand slam again following a bright start to the Australian Open for the men.

The last American to win the men's singles crown at any grand slam was Andy Roddick at the 2003 US Open.

The USA is still way out in front for all-time grand slam men's singles titles with 147, though 19 years and counting is comfortably their worst barren spell during the Open Era.

This comes after 2003 was the 15th year in a row that the USA had at least one champion in the men's majors, with the likes of Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi both prolific winners.

Of course, the drought did not extend to the women, with Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Sloane Stephens and Sofia Kenin all winning at least once since Roddick's success at Flushing Meadows.

But with eight of the last 32 in the men's draw representing the USA, there is a renewed sense of optimism – and that is even accounting for their highest seed, number eight Taylor Fritz, falling in the second round.

Gauff – who beat compatriot Bernarda Pera on Friday – is the USA's next great female hope, and she is looking forward to the day Americans claim a men's and women's double at the same slam.

Asked if there was a refreshing sense of excitement around the men, Gauff said: "Yeah, definitely. I definitely think on the men's side they're thriving.

"It's like eight people in the round of 32 I saw. I think it's incredible. It's just people that you've been rooting for for a long time, and some new faces, too, that people probably haven't been rooting for a long time but fell in love with.

"I'm just excited. On the women's side, we're always like, 'the guys need to catch up, you guys need to put in your work'. I think they're here. I'm hoping that eventually, hopefully soon, we'll have our slam champion on the men's side.

"That would be pretty cool if an American woman and guy could win the same slam. I don't know when the last time that's happened or if it's ever happened. I'll be pretty excited."

Coincidentally, it last happened at Melbourne Park. In 2003, Andre Agassi and Serena Williams were victorious at the Australian Open.

Gauff is not getting carried away, but her perception is there is genuine belief among the men now, which is being fed by unity.

"I definitely think the guys are feeling it," she said. "You can see it. I think it really comes from, not the women, but the same dynamic, where everybody is doing well, so it makes you want to do well.

"We're all not competing with each other but pushing each other. I think that's what the men are having.

"They're competing against each other but also pushing each other to be better. I'm pretty sure all the American guys get along, at least that's what I think."

There were setbacks to American men's title hopes on Friday as Frances Tiafoe and Mackenzie McDonald both lost at the last-32 stage, but there was a hugely notable win too, with Sebastian Korda beating seventh seed, two-time Australian Open runner-up and former US Open champion Daniil Medvedev in straight sets.

Brighton and Hove Albion head coach Roberto De Zerbi is hopeful Moises Caicedo will complete the season at the AMEX Stadium following Chelsea's bid for the midfielder.

The Blues reportedly saw a £55 million bid for the Ecuador international rejected on Thursday, with the Seagulls valuing the 21-year-old much higher and not willing to lose his services midway through the campaign.

While Chelsea could return with a fresh approach, having shown no limitations on splashing the cash since Todd Boehly's takeover ahead of the campaign, De Zerbi is hopeful the player will not push for an exit.

However, he admitted it will be difficult for Brighton to retain Caicedo's beyond the end of the campaign if he continues on his current track.

"Caicedo is very important for us, it's difficult to change now for another player inside the season. I hope he finishes the season with us," he told reporters ahead of the Premier League clash against Leicester City on Saturday.

"In the transfer market, it is always difficult to give one answer. When there are some bigger teams, they want the power player, it's good news for us. The best solution is he finishes the season with us and, next summer, it's then better to change team.

"I don't know if he will leave [at the end of the season] but if Caicedo continues to play like this, like the last few games, it's possible he can leave for another team."

De Zerbi says Brighton can cope without Leandro Trossard, who is closing in on a move to Arsenal.

"The situation was difficult, I understood he wanted to leave. I'm sorry for the last period because I prefer when people are clear, not when there are some differences, but we will see," the Italian said.

"I think we are a good team, we can play well with Leandro and without Leandro. I think in the transfer market, you can always improve, you can always buy new players.

"But we're at a good level now. The players in our squad are very good, and it's not so easy to improve this squad. I think the club, if there was a possibility to improve the squad, will do something."

Gary Neville believes Jim Ratcliffe would "do the right thing" by Manchester United if he were to complete a takeover.

The Glazer family announced back in November they were exploring options for new investment including the possibility of a sale of the club, opening the door for prospective bidders to make their move to complete a takeover.

This week, Ratcliffe, who previously failed with a takeover bid for Chelsea, announced his intention to enter the bidding process for United, his boyhood club.

Neville feels that Ratcliffe could be the ideal candidate to take stewardship should a takeover be completed, though urged caution on what a takeover would entail.

"The main thing is the Glazers leave as quickly as possible, but the second thing is if whoever takes over, if they could hand it over to people who have feelings for the club, that would be great," he told Sky Sports.

"Jim Ratcliffe, he was born in Manchester, he knows the area. If he wins it, I think there would be a lot of very happy Manchester United fans as he would want to do the right thing by the club. I'm sure he would.

"I don't think that United can afford to be with another investment fund that would expect a return on the money, that's what worries me about private equity coming into football because, ultimately, they want a return on their investment.

"It might be that United aren't like this club here [Manchester City] or Newcastle or other clubs who have benefactors, who are willing to let them live debt free, not leverage the club, and United need a debt-free football club with someone who is willing to put money into it."

Asked what the priority for any new owner taking charge of United should be, Neville outlined performances on the field and improving the club infrastructure as the two most crucial elements.

"The priority for the new owner has to be winning, a winning Manchester United club is difficult to stop, we've seen that in the past. At that point, United become a very dangerous football club," he added.

"The priority has to always be football performance. Then you're talking about fan experience, which means the stadium has to be world class, and it's not at this moment in time, it falls behind many stadiums that you come to.

"There needs to be investment in the team to get them winning and investment in the facilities, the fan experience. For me, they would be the two priorities."

Antonio Conte believes Tottenham have collectively forgotten how to "suffer" and grind out results after their capitulation against Manchester City.

Spurs blew a two-goal lead at the interval to slide to defeat against the Premier League champions on Thursday, going down to a 4-2 loss at the Etihad Stadium.

The result keeps the north London outfit well adrift of the top four, with a five-point gap between them and fourth-placed Newcastle United, with the Magpies also possessing a game in hand.

For Conte, whose long-term future at Tottenham remains a cloudy prospect, the manager thinks his side have lost their readiness to battle through the difficult moments this season, and he challenged them to show a "nasty" streak.

The Spurs spirit will next be put to the test at Fulham on Monday evening, with the Cottagers just two points adrift of Tottenham.

"I think that maybe we have to improve the spirit, the collaboration, the will and the desire to suffer," Conte said. "Maybe we have forgotten to suffer and to understand that.

"If we want to win the game, sometimes you have to stay there to suffer and defend the result, [with] the will and desire to not concede a goal."

Defeat to City marked a third loss in five Premier League games since Tottenham returned to domestic action following the mid-season World Cup break.

A draw with Brentford and a victory over Crystal Palace have been their other results, along with an unconvincing FA Cup win over third-tier Portsmouth.

Conte remains insistent he is seeing improvement from his side up to a point, saying: "I think that we are making progress in my opinion, in my mind, in some aspects.

"[But] in other aspects, I think that we have to come back like last season and be a bit more solid, a bit more focused, a bit more nasty.

"I think that we have to try to find the same solidity as last season and to learn again to suffer at the moment that we have to suffer. I think that we are [headed] in the right direction from my experience."

Iga Swiatek is growing in confidence by the day after she blew Cristina Bucsa to reach the fourth round of the Australian Open.

The world number one ruthlessly dispatched the Spanish qualifier 6-0 6-1 in just 55 minutes on Margaret Court Arena on Friday.

Swiatek won the French Open for a second time last year before claiming her first US Open title and the 21-year-old is the favourite to be crowned champion at Melbourne Park.

Reflecting on her progress through the draw so far, the Pole believes she is making great strides in her quest for a fourth grand slam triumph.

"I feel I'm more and more confident since day one here," she said. "I feel like I've done so much work to feel more confident, more relaxed on court.

"I'm pretty happy I did it because it's just a little bit easier. Whe you actually play those matches, you can feel the rhythm a little bit more.

"I don't feel like the tournament is going to start now, because first rounds are always challenging.

"I'm trying to treat every match separately. I always try to have the same mindset. I can just say that I feel more confident because I'm played a couple of matches here."

Swiatek will do battle with Elena Rybakina in the fourth round and will ensure she does her homework before facing the Wimbledon champion.

"Tactically, I'm not prepared yet. We played an exhibition in Dubai, [but] it's hard kind of to take a lot from that match," she said.

"I'm pretty sure my coach is going to be ready to give me some tips. We'll see [but] I'm not really thinking about that today."

Tournament director Craig Tiley has no plans to change the Australian Open schedule despite a 4am finish for Andy Murray and Thanasi Kokkinakis.

Murray stormed back from two sets down to beat Australian Kokkinakis 4-6 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 7-5 early in the early hours of Friday morning on Margaret Court Arena.

The three-time grand slam champion sealed an incredible victory in a second-round thriller that took five hours and 45 minutes to settle.

That was the longest match in Brit Murray's career and the 4.05am finish was the third-latest in the history of the sport.

Murray made his feelings over having to play at that time of day very clear, but Tiley did not see an alternative option.

"You would expect from 7pm to 12pm (the evening session) in that five-hour window, you would get two matches," Tiley said. "We also have to protect the matches. If you just put one match at night and there’s an injury, you don't have anything for fans or broadcasters.

"At this point there is no need to alter the schedule. We always look at it when we do the debrief like we do every year, we've had long matches before, at this point we've got to fit the matches into the 14 days so you don't have many options."

Murray vented his frustration at the chair umpire during the match and stated after his victory that he did not see the logic in playing so late.

"I don't know who it's beneficial for," Murray said. "We come here after the match and that's what the discussion is, rather than it being like, 'epic Murray-Kokkinakis match'. It ends in a bit of a farce.

"Amazingly people stayed until the end, and I really appreciate people doing that and creating an atmosphere for us. Some people obviously need to work the following day and everything.

"But if my child was a ball kid for a tournament and they're coming home at five in the morning, as a parent, I'm snapping at that. It's not beneficial for them. It's not beneficial for the umpires, the officials. I don't think it's amazing for the fans. It's not good for the players.

"We talk about it all the time, and it's been spoken about for years. But when you start the night matches late and have conditions like that, these things are going to happen."

Philadelphia 76ers coach Doc Rivers did not hide his frustration with certain elements of his team's play despite beating the Portland Trail Blazers 105-95 on Thursday.

The Sixers made it four wins on the bounce, all of which have been on the road, with Joel Embiid and James Harden playing key roles.

Embiid's 32 points made it the seventh game in a row he has reached at least 30, while Harden posted a triple-double of 16 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds.

The Sixers looked to be coasting at one stage, finding themselves 26 points to the good, but the Trail Blazers made life a little trickier towards the end.

Rivers' team got the job done as they improved to 29-16 in the East, behind only the Boston Celtic and Milwaukee Bucks, though he was certainly not completely satisfied.

He was particularly irritated by the Sixers' poor handling of the Trail Blazers' trapping, and he was not impressed by how spread out his players were.

Asked how they coped with respect to trapping, Rivers said: "Poorly, but we also took advantage of some of it as well.

"I didn't think trapping was that hard, our spacing was horrendous, and we're great at spacing most nights, but tonight we kept leaving two guys on the other end.

"I'm hoarse from yelling, just getting one to cut through and we basically didn't do it. We got away with three or four more than I thought they could've had. But that's easy to fix."

In letting Portland back into the contest somewhat in the second half, Rivers felt there was a hint of complacency in the Sixers' performance.

As such, he surmised they are still not at a stage where they can consider themselves anything more than a "good" team.

He added: "There's no lesson, the lesson is execute. I just thought we didn't.

"You get leads sometimes and they're hard, NBA leads shrink quickly and then you get complacent, and I think we did a little bit of that.

"But in that, one thing I like is we kept playing defense, and that's a good sign.

"I think we're good, and I think we can be really, really good. But we have work to do.

"We can't expect to come in and just show up and win, we have to go out and do something about it."

Nevertheless, with the likes of Embiid and Harden in their arsenal, the Sixers have the kind of star quality that can drag them through the mud even when they are not at their optimal level as a unit.

That is not lost on Embiid.

"I think from the beginning it was easy," he said of linking up with Harden, who joined from the Brooklyn Nets last February.

"When you've got two guys with high basketball IQs, you can figure it out everything easy.

"So, it's all about just playing off of each other. We've been doing a wonderful job of doing that."

Jacque Vaughn will continue challenging Ben Simmons to answer his responsibilities after another disappointing outing saw him ejected in the Brooklyn Nets' loss to the Phoenix Suns.

Simmons was sent from the game for arguing with referee Eric Lewis having played just 18 minutes, as the Nets continued to struggle in the injury-enforced absence of Kevin Durant in a 117-112 loss – their fourth defeat in a row.

In his previous outing, Simmons had put up his first triple-double for the Nets in Tuesday's defeat to the San Antonio Spurs, but a season of ups-and-downs went on in Phoenix, where he spent most of the game contending with foul trouble.

Averaging just 7.5 points, 6.8 rebounds and 6.3 assists this campaign, the Nets need more from a player who has All-Star pedigree.

Vaughn is determined to spark more consistency in Simmons, who arrived last February as part of a blockbuster trade that sent James Harden to the Philadelphia 76ers.

"We need him to be productive, and that is without the fouls," Vaughn said. "That is helping us rebound the basketball. That is playing with poise and composure. That is pushing the pace for us.

"So unfortunately when you're a really good basketball player, your list is long and so are the responsibilities. And hopefully, we'll continue to ask of those things and challenge him and challenge this group to be able to answer those long lists."

For his part, Simmons felt the decisions given against him lacked consistency.

"I don't want to say nothing because I ain't trying to get another fine," he said.

"I think if you're going to call the game like that, then you've got to be consistent. I think it's been like that all year. If you're going to call a moving back, then you've got to be consistent [on] both ends. Same with the holding."

Team-mate Kyrie Irving remains confident in Simmons' ability to contribute to the Nets' cause but urged him to control his emotions going forward as the season reaches an important stretch towards the playoffs.

"Same thing we've been doing is just give him a ton of confidence," Irving said when asked how the team can help Simmons get going. 

"But also knowing that he's mature enough to handle himself. He's a very talented basketball player, and we could name all the superlatives, but we need him in the game and I think he understands that, especially during this stretch we're going to need him in every game.

"I've gotten ejected before only once in my career. Tempers flare, you disagree with the refs, but the big picture is the most important thing, and on this team, I think Ben realises that. But tonight, just his emotions got the best of him."

The latest defeat leaves the Nets fourth in the Eastern Conference with a 27-17 record.

Jaylen Brown likened the intensity in the Boston Celtics' workmanlike overtime 121-118 victory over the Golden State Warriors to a playoff game.

The Warriors had not returned to TD Garden since winning Game 6 of last season's NBA Finals to secure the championship.

Much like in that series, the Celtics were littered with turnovers (17 in total resulted in 24 points for the visitors) and struggled to fire on all cylinders offensively.

This time, though, Boston found a way to win. Trailing by 11 points in the second half, the Celtics fought back and Brown tied the game via a three-pointer with 18 seconds remaining and then, having gained an eight-point advantage, held on after a sloppy ending to overtime.

"That felt like a playoff game," Brown said.

"Their intensity, their force where they came, that's a game I'm sure they wanted to win. We were down, what, five to seven [points] in the fourth quarter, four, five minutes left. 

"To be able to have poise to battle back, that shows a lot of growth. We're taking steps in the right direction."

Jayson Tatum had a career-high 19 rebounds to go with 34 points and six assists but was also guilty of a couple of poor turnovers.

He too, though, felt the Celtics showed the sort of requisite desire to win when the team is not particularly playing their best basketball.

"You're going to need games like this," Tatum said. 

"There's going to be a handful of playoff games where you don't necessarily shoot the ball well, maybe even on the road – under 40 per cent, 73 per cent from the free-throw line, 17 turnovers – and still find a way to win.

"I think that just shows the depth of our team, that on a below-average night for us, we can still find a way to win. That's all that matters at the end of the night. Did you win or did you lose?"

Interim Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla felt the nature of the victory showed how the team have grown since losing the Finals.

"For us, we've talked about poise and physicality," he said. 

"Everybody asks, what did we learn [from losing in the Finals]? What have we learned? And I think what we've learned is it takes a mindset in order to be successful. And it takes a mindset to be a really, really good team in the NBA. And you can't be inconsistent with that.

"I think even though you play really, really well and we win, we're still going to have some of those moments. Yeah, we had some turnovers, we had some kind of plays where it's just kind of like, 'That shouldn't happen'. But that's going to happen.

"It's about just the habits that we're growing as far as our mindset, our poise, our physicality, our ability to execute, our ability to handle the chaos of an NBA game."

The Celtics sit top of the Eastern Conference with a league-best 34-12 record, while the Warriors are ninth and 22-23 in the West.

As Premier League managers try and strengthen their squads you'll need to ensure you make the right moves ahead of another weekend of action.

Amid the comings and goings in the January transfer window, finding the right formula is crucial in order to challenge for honours or start climbing the table.

Using Opta data, Stats Perform has picked out four players who can earn you some precious points.

David Raya (Leeds United v Brentford)

Raya has kept two clean sheets in Brentford's past three top-flight games, the latest coming in a 2-0 victory over Bournemouth.

The Spain international has kept out the opposition entirely on six occasions this season in the Premier League and his tally of 81 saves is more than any other goalkeeper.

Leeds put five goals past a poor Cardiff City side in the FA Cup on Wednesday, but they have been wasteful in the top flight. A combination of a solid defence and Raya could frustrate them at Elland Road.

Dan Burn (Crystal Palace v Newcastle United)

If you have not got Burn in your defence, then it is a case of better late than never.

Newcastle have kept five consecutive Premier League clean sheets and Burn has been at the heart of their back four in all of those games.

Only team-mate Kieran Tripper (11) has more clean sheets to his name in the league this season than Burn's tally of nine.

A threat from set-pieces, the towering centre-back has also created five chanes and is due a Premier League goal after finding the back of the net against Leicester City in the EFL Cup.

Half a season is a long time in football.

At the end of the 2021-22 campaign, Liverpool had come within a whisker of becoming the first English team in history to win the EFL Cup, FA Cup, Premier League and Champions League in a single campaign.

Chelsea had reached two domestic finals, losing on penalties to Liverpool on both occasions, and finished third in the Premier League after initially threatening a title charge with their early season form.

As the two prepare to meet at Anfield on Saturday, they do so in very different places from then, sitting ninth and 10th in the league table respectively.

They both managed to win their last games 1-0, but there is a long way to go if they are to get back to where they expect to be, and Stats Perform has taken a look at where it may have gone wrong for the two stumbling giants.

Reds struggling to step up to the challenge

It has been a particularly harsh slide for Liverpool, who for the second time in recent seasons were denied the league title by Manchester City in May despite earning over 90 points, while an inspired performance from Thibaut Courtois stopped them in the Champions League final against Real Madrid.

The inevitable disappointment from those two blows has been suggested as one of the reasons why they have accumulated just 28 points from 18 Premier League games, having already lost three times as many as they did in their entire league campaign last season (6-2), and conceding just one fewer goal in less than half the games (25-26).

A lack of turnover in his previously trusted players has been another factor blamed for what has been a tired looking season from the Reds, and tired performances are understandably a significant problem for a team that thrived by overwhelming the opposition with their energy and high pressing.

Liverpool simply aren't executing as many high turnovers, averaging 9.4 per 90 this season, the fourth-most in the league, down from 11.7 last season when they produced comfortably the most (Man City second with 9.9 per 90).

One of the criticisms Klopp has been willing to make publicly of his team in recent games has been their struggle to win challenges, and he wasn't wrong as Liverpool have the worst record in the Premier League for duel success this season (47.4 per cent).

This could go some way to explaining why the number of big chances against them – defined by Opta as a situation from which a player should reasonably be expected to score – has exploded, having already allowed 54 in just 18 games, one more than the whole of last season, and 13 more than their total from the 2018-19 campaign when the team was entering its peak.

Compounding the problem, their ability to put away their own big chances has also fallen off a cliff, having led the league with a 55.3 per cent conversion rate last season.

Despite only Man City (67) creating more big chances than Liverpool's 60 this season, only Leicester City (25.8 per cent) have a worse conversion rate than their 26.7 per cent, less than half what it was last season.

The sale of Sadio Mane could be a factor given the Senegalese forward scored 14 of his 27 big chances in the league last season (51.8 per cent), while his primary replacement Darwin Nunez has only taken four of his 19 so far (21.1).

Things should settle if Nunez and new arrival Cody Gakpo can get close to their previous numbers. The Uruguayan put away 21 of his 35 in the Primeira Liga for Benfica last season, with his 60 per cent success rate the fourth-highest of players in Europe's top 10 leagues (min. 20 big chances), while Gakpo scored five of his 10 big chances for PSV in the Eredivisie before his move this season.

Blues in limbo after period of change

If the lack of squad replenishment is one of the main issues at Liverpool, it could be argued quite the opposite is true of Chelsea since their ownership change last May.

The £88.5million purchase of Mykhaylo Mudryk took the club's overall spending to £372.7m since then (according to Transfermarkt), with 13 new players coming in.

All that on top of swapping the head coach in September, with Thomas Tuchel replaced by the much-heralded Graham Potter, who had never coached a club of Chelsea's standing before.

While many put this down to same old Chelsea, changing their man in the dugout at the first sign of any trouble, it felt more like a statement of intent from Todd Boehly and co, wanting to put in place a long-term strategy with a progressive coach like Potter at the helm.

Despite a solid enough start, going unbeaten in his first nine games (W6, D3), a 4-1 humbling at former club Brighton and Hove Albion signalled the start of a prolonged wobble that has seen them lose another seven of their 11 games since. 

Potter managed to turn the Seagulls into one of the most attractive and fluent teams in the league, with one particular stand-out metric being their high turnovers.

Between the start of the 2021-22 season and leaving for Chelsea last September, only Liverpool (11.4) and Man City (9.9) averaged more high turnovers per game than Brighton (9.8) in the Premier League.

During the same period, Chelsea averaged 8.2 per game, which has gone up to 8.9 under Potter, showing there is still a way to go before his new team will be fully able to implement his style of football.

There has also been a significant struggle to score goals, having only managed 22 at the halfway point of the league campaign – four fewer than Leeds United and Leicester City – after scoring 76 last season.

It is an interesting situation considering Brighton managed just 42 goals last season, with only Wolves and the three relegated teams scoring fewer, and many pointed to the fact Potter never really had an orthodox and accomplished striker to call on.

However, at Chelsea he has had Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who may not be what he once was but still scored 13 goals in 23 games for Barcelona last season. The Gabon international has found the net just three times in 16 outings for the Blues, and once in 10 games in the Premier League.

There is also the revolving door of players in and out of the side due primarily to injuries and Potter trying to ascertain his best team, making 60 changes to his starting XI already since his arrival, 21 more than any other manager in the league in that time.

With the talent and resources available to both Klopp and Potter, it would be safe to assume that this is probably just a bad patch for them and before long, the familiar figures of the Reds and the Blues will be back challenging the top four.

There are certainly issues to iron out for both though, and what better way to start than by adding further misery to the other at Anfield on Saturday?

World number one Iga Swiatek made an emphatic statement with a 54-minute rout of Spanish qualifier Cristina Bucsa to seal her progression to the Australian Open fourth round on Friday.

Swiatek dropped only six points in a 22-minute first set, before completing a 6-0 6-1 demolition over her 25-year-old opponent at Margaret Court Arena.

The Pole led 6-0 5-0, prompting a crowd member to shout "open the bakery", before Bucsa held her serve to avoid a dreaded double bagel.

Swiatek's victory sets up a fourth-round clash with 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina, as the Pole chases her fourth major triumph, including the French Open and US Open crowns last year.

The 21-year-old completely outclassed her opponent, winning 82 per cent of serve points, along with 65 per cent on return, including 71 per cent on Bucsa's second serve. The Spaniard only won 19 of 71 points for the match.

Despite an unconvincing first-serve percentage of 59 per cent, Swiatek never offered up a break point, hitting 15 winners throughout the lopsided contest.

Swiatek has not dropped a set in her three matches at the tournament, giving up only six games in her past two matches.

Data slam: Swiatek demolition falls short of Barty mark

Swiatek's swift victory coincidentally came on the afternoon after Andy Murray and Thanasi Kokkinakis battled until 4am local time in a five-hour-and-50-minute epic in the men's singles.

However, the Pole's 54-minute win was not as brief as last year's champion Ash Barty who disposed of Danka Kovinic 6-0 6-0 in 44 minutes at the 2021 Australian Open.

WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS

Swiatek – 15/6
Bucsa – 4/21

ACES/DOUBLE FAULTS

Swiatek – 3/0
Bucsa – 1/3

BREAK POINTS WON

Swiatek – 5/10
Bucsa – 0/0