Jack Grealish revealed he overcame illness to play a starring role in Manchester City's victory over Liverpool.

Pep Guardiola's side maintained the pressure on Premier League leaders Arsenal, reducing the deficit to five points after coming from behind to run out 4-1 winners at the Etihad Stadium.

Grealish assisted Julian Alvarez for the hosts' first goal - cancelling out Mohamed Salah's opener - before getting on the scoresheet himself to seal the victory 16 minutes from time.

The England international's contribution to clinching another important three points was all the more impressive considering he did not feel at his best. 

"We knew it was going to be a tough game playing against Liverpool," he told BT Sport. "The first game after the international break is always difficult, so we wanted to start it right – this last period of the season.

"Liverpool are so dangerous with the players they have up front, so we went 1-0 down. Then you don't fear the worst, but think it's going to be a tough game to get back into. We responded brilliantly and thought we were excellent, especially in the second half.

"We had a chat between ourselves and with the manager [at half-time], and he said we have to stay in the game. I thought we were good [in the] first half apart from the goal. I was in the toilet at half-time, I felt sick all morning but fine now, I feel buzzing."

Grealish continued his resurgence having now been directly involved in eight Premier League goals since the World Cup (scored three, assisted five), and he feels that normal service has been resumed with his side looking to hunt down Arsenal.

"I love it - I love playing, training," he continued. "When it's going well, there's nothing better. I feel back to my normal self, feel fit and back to confidence - scoring and getting the assist.

"Arsenal are a great team, it's in their hands, so we've just got to keep doing what we can to chase them down."

Dietmar Hamann represented both Manchester City and Liverpool, Saturday's opponents, in his playing days. Now, working on German television, he is a dedicated contrarian.

The former midfielder's comments have irked Jurgen Klopp previously, while this week he was taking aim at Germany head coach Hansi Flick.

But when Erling Haaland was the subject of his criticism back in January, it was not Hamann's wildest take.

As City's superstar striker struggled in their derby defeat to Manchester United, Hamann posted on Twitter: "Man City was a better team without Haaland, even if he scores 40 goals this season."

It is easy to dismiss such a claim out of hand now, but there was at least debate at that stage in the season.

Almost three months on, that 40-goal mark has been passed in all competitions – Haaland is the only player in Europe's top five leagues to do so this term – and that conversation has quietly faded away.

If Hamann – or anyone else – was determined to revisit the discussion, however, Julian Alvarez's performance in a 4-1 win over Liverpool could be cited as evidence.

History-maker Haaland

Along with the sheer number of goals, Haaland's case until now has perhaps been helped by the increasing distance to the City of last season, a team without a traditional striker who won the Premier League title – something the class of 2022-23 may well not do.

Haaland has acknowledged he was signed to deliver glory in the Champions League, rather than merely another league success, but he has dominated domestically nonetheless.

In the Premier League, he has 28 goals, earning 20 points and making up 42 per cent of City's total prior to this weekend. All three numbers are club records.

So, news of Haaland failing to recover from a groin injury in time to feature on Saturday would have provided Liverpool some encouragement.

But as Pep Guardiola pointed out on the eve if the game: "In the past we also scored a lot of goals. Since we were here, and with Roberto Mancini and [Manuel] Pellegrini, always Man City was a team that scored a lot of goals in the season – with different players, different strikers."

And Alvarez has joined that group, a World Cup-winning striker eager to seize his opportunity in only his seventh league start of the season.

City's complete package

Alvarez might be considered a hybrid of Haaland and those who went before, as he illustrated against Liverpool.

The Argentina forward was on hand to equalise from close range when a flowing City move ended with Jack Grealish's low cross into the sort of position Haaland would usually occupy.

Another Alvarez shot led to the third goal, working space for an attempt that was deflected only as far as a grateful Ilkay Gundogan.

Alvarez had three shots, all from inside the box, worth a combined 0.82 expected goals. That could easily be a Haaland performance, the City number nine averaging 3.8 shots per 90, including 3.6 inside the box, worth 0.86 xG.

Yet the 23-year-old did more besides that, too. Only five of Alvarez's 32 touches were taken inside the box, his 15.6 per cent differing significantly from the 28.3 per cent of Haaland's touches that come inside the opposition's area.

As a result, Alvarez was far more involved in the build-up play than Haaland generally has been. He created two chances – Haaland averages 0.9 per 90 – but most importantly played a gorgeous pass out to Riyad Mahrez early in the second half, leading to Kevin De Bruyne's vital second goal.

Haaland surely would have hurt Liverpool, with Mahrez and Grealish piling forward on either side, but he would have done well to impact City's all-round performance as much as Alvarez did.

Liverpool lax at the back

Alvarez, Mahrez and Grealish undoubtedly benefited from another dismal defensive performance from Liverpool away from home.

"For one game, absolutely, they can beat everyone," Guardiola said of the Reds on Friday, and the data did not disagree. In a below-par campaign, they entered April having earned the most points in matches between this season's top six.

But they had still lost to Manchester United and Arsenal away from home, with their defeat of 10-man Newcastle United at St James' Park in February their sole success on the road in 2023.

Liverpool have lost at Brentford, Brighton and Hove Albion, Wolves and Bournemouth since the start of January, conceding 10 goals across those four matches.

A 4-1 defeat at City perhaps saw Liverpool get off lightly, as Klopp told BT Sport: "We were lucky they were not in the most greedy mood."

Mahrez and Grealish repeatedly exposed Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold; Robertson's failure to make a tackle on De Bruyne in the build-up to Alvarez's goal left Klopp with his head in his hands.

That can happen against City, but it can also happen against Chelsea and Arsenal – Liverpool's next two opponents.

Klopp's men must respond to have any hope of qualifying for the Champions League next season. Perhaps, in a one-off game against the Gunners, they could yet do City a favour.

Carlo Ancelotti has said he wants to continue at Real Madrid amid links to the vacant Brazil head coach job, but also admitted "the future is unknown".

Ancelotti's name has been strongly linked to the Selecao since former coach Tite left at the end of the 2022 World Cup, with some of his Brazilian players at Madrid speaking openly about it during the international break.

President of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) Ednaldo Rodrigues also recently confirmed an interest in appointing the former Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain boss as the next head coach of the national side.

Speaking at a press conference on Saturday ahead of Madrid's LaLiga clash with Real Valladolid, Ancelotti seemed to pledge his allegiance to Los Blancos, though stopped short of confirming he would not ultimately take the Brazil role.

"The only thing that concerns me right now is to be successful with this club," he said.

"I will remain here for as long as Real Madrid want me to. I feel affection from the president, from the players, from the fans.

"Also the atmosphere here is quite calm, quite good, and we have two months ahead in which we will try to win some titles and hopefully I will continue here as Real Madrid head coach."

He added: "The truth is that the Brazil national team wants me, they are interested in me and I love that. But then you have to respect contracts and there's a current contract with Real Madrid and I would like to continue here."

The 63-year-old has a deal at the Santiago Bernabeu until 2024, but despite winning LaLiga, the Supercopa de Espana and the Champions League last season, has come under some pressure after falling away from Barcelona in the title race this time round.

"Everyone can think or say what they want, but reality is reality," he said. "In this case it's quite simple, I have a contract with Real Madrid and I want to continue here.

"I love this club and everything that can happen later, I don't know. The future is unknown."

Ancelotti also insisted the rumours about him and some of his players whose contract situations remain up in the air is not affecting preparations as the club aim to end the campaign strongly in the league, Copa del Rey and Champions League.

"We do not talk about these rumours in the dressing room, all we are focused on is Valladolid, Barcelona, Chelsea - all these big games coming up," he said.

Erling Haaland was not included in Manchester City's squad to face Liverpool on Saturday after failing to recover from a groin injury.

The Norway star has 42 goals in 37 games for City this season, but had been a doubt after suffering the injury that ruled him out of the recent international break, with Pep Guardiola saying on Friday that his star striker's availability remained uncertain.

Haaland was not even named among the substitutes, as Julian Alvarez took his place up front in the team to face the Reds.

Guardiola made six changes to the team that thrashed Burnley 6-0 in the FA Cup last time out as City aimed to keep the pressure on leaders Arsenal in the Premier League title race.

Ederson, John Stones, Manuel Akanji, Nathan Ake, Ilkay Gundogan and Jack Grealish came in for Stefan Ortega, Kyle Walker, Aymeric Laporte, Rico Lewis, Haaland and Phil Foden, who has also been sidelined after having his appendix removed.

Jurgen Klopp made two changes from the side that lost 1-0 to Real Madrid as Liverpool exited the Champions League last time out, with captain Jordan Henderson taking the place of James Milner in midfield, while Harvey Elliott came in for Darwin Nunez.

Klopp opted for a front three of Cody Gakpo, Diogo Jota and Mohamed Salah as Liverpool looked to give their top-four hopes a boost at the Etihad Stadium.

Lewis Hamilton suspects Mercedes' sensational Saturday in Melbourne may not be achievable at other tracks and is still unsure if he and George Russell can fight to win the Australian Grand Prix.

Mercedes drivers and officials had been pessimistic in their forecasts for the season prior to qualifying in this week's third race.

But Russell secured a place on the front row alongside Max Verstappen, with Hamilton qualifying third-fastest to put the Silver Arrows in a great position to attack Red Bull's world champion.

"I'm a little bit surprised; maybe they are also a little bit surprised," Verstappen said in Saturday's press conference. "But I guess it's a good thing."

It is certainly a good thing for Mercedes, although Hamilton is not convinced this means all their issues have gone away.

"I think it's perhaps track-specific," he said, "but I think ultimately there's no one in the team that's had their heads down, in terms of giving up.

"Everyone's been working incredibly hard to try to squeeze the most out of what we currently have."

Verstappen had not previously qualified on pole in Melbourne, where he is still waiting for his first win.

Hamilton has a joint-record eight poles at this event, winning twice, and added: "I think this gives everyone in the team a boost and a glimpse of hope and this will spur everyone on and will inspire everyone to continue to push.

"We know that if we can just bring a little bit of performance, we can close the gap to the front. Still, there are going to be places where the gap is a lot bigger."

Russell did not entirely concur, countering: "For sure, we maximised the job, no doubt about it, but we had a good qualifying last week in Jeddah.

"I didn't put my lap together in the last run in Jeddah and was only a tenth off P3.

"So no, I don't think it's necessarily track-specific. I do think we're making some improvement with the understanding of the car."

But Hamilton and Russell were in agreement that Red Bull, even with Sergio Perez encountering issues and failing to make it out of Q1, remain the team to beat.

Russell said: "I do still think Red Bull are a class ahead of everybody else.

"For sure Lewis and I got the most out of it today, [but] by the sounds of what Max is saying, there was probably still a little bit more in the locker.

"And we're talking that three-tenths is a little bit – normally, they're a second ahead; now, they're three-tenths ahead – that's still a huge amount in the world of F1."

If only for this weekend, though, can Mercedes challenge Red Bull for the top step of the podium? Hamilton still does not know.

"I haven't even done a long run," he explained. "So tomorrow, going into the race, will be the first time I do so.

"And I've not seen where we tally up compared to them. We have to expect they're going to be a quarter of a second, half a second, at least, quicker than us.

"But maybe in the tow, maybe we can just about hold on; maybe the fact that there's two of us and only one Red Bull, maybe with strategy, maybe we can apply some pressure to them. So, we'll see."

Liverpool will be looking to spend at the end of the season as Jurgen Klopp plans to rebuild the faltering Premier League giants.

After finishing second on 92 points in the league and reaching three cup finals last season, winning two, the Merseysiders have fallen from grace in this campaign, currently in sixth place and out of all other competitions.

Liverpool have been linked with moves for Borussia Dortmund's Jude Bellingham and Chelsea's Mason Mount among others, with the England pair anticipated to cost up to £200million between them.

Speaking ahead of his team's trip to Manchester City, Klopp was not willing to go into specifics, but did outline the club's intention to be active when the transfer market reopens at the end of the season.

"I will not answer the question [about potentially spending nine figures on one player] because we never speak about these kind of things," the Reds manager said.

"We will spend in the summer, that's what I can say, definitely. For who and how many and stuff like this, there is nothing to say about that really."

Klopp is in the process of trying to create his next team at Anfield, having brought in Ibrahima Konate, Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo in the last two years, but with ageing stars – particularly in midfield – recognises the need for more work.

"It's clear after a specific amount of time that you need to shuffle things and kind of start anew. That is completely normal," he added.

"It's just rare nowadays that it happens with the same manager because people realise when you sack a manager and bring in a new manager, things change and you readjust the squad.

"After seven years it was clear that we have to do it. There is a moment when you have to make changes.

"We are not where we want to be, where we should be and where we have to be."

Jalen Brunson stepped up in Julius Randle's absence on a career night as the New York Knicks fired a warning shot in beating the Cleveland Cavaliers ahead of the playoffs.

The Knicks are fifth in the Eastern Conference, with the Cavs in fourth. Barring an unlikely late turn of events, they will face each other in the first round this postseason.

Friday's win was a big one then for New York, a 130-116 victory in Cleveland renewing optimism ahead of making that same trip again in the coming weeks.

All-Star Randle was back in New York, but he was scarcely missed as Brunson scored a career-high 48 points, including seven three-pointers.

"There is nothing that Jalen does that surprises you," said Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau. "He's so mentally tough.

"He's nicked up a little bit, but he's a machine. He just keeps going."

Randle sprained his ankle this week and will miss the rest of the regular season, although he will be evaluated again ahead of the playoffs.

"He's done all he can to prepare himself to play in every game, which is a credit to him," Thibodeau said.

"He doesn't miss practice. He doesn't miss games. I'm actually surprised it doesn't happen more than it does."

With Randle potentially returning for the Knicks' far more consequential next game against the Cavs, Donovan Mitchell was eager to ensure Cleveland learn from their loss.

"This loss hurts," said Mitchell. "We need to feel it and be ready to use it when the time comes.

"Obviously, we control our destiny and we'll probably see these guys in two weeks.

"There is a lot of film to go through. But if we let this affect us, we have no chance in the playoffs."

The NBA and the NBPA have reached an agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement, which is set to include a new in-season tournament.

The two parties announced a deal early on Saturday, although details of the CBA's contents were not officially released.

"The NBA and National Basketball Players Association have reached a tentative agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement, pending ratification by players and team governors," a statement read.

"Specific details will be made available once a term sheet is finalised."

ESPN reported the terms of a seven-year agreement that is set to come into place from next season.

The most notable addition is that of an in-season tournament, which would see eight teams advance to a single-elimination bracket ahead of a 'Final Four' at a neutral site.

Those games would count towards the regular season standings, meaning the two finalists would play 83 games.

The agreement is also reported to include changes to eligibility rules for end-of-season awards, requiring MVP candidates to appear in 65 games in order to qualify in a bid to curb load management.

Further tweaks relate to team spending and contracts, with the upper limit for player extensions set to increase.

Anthony Davis limped through a vital Los Angeles Lakers win at the Minnesota Timberwolves before assuring fans his ankle would "be fine" and "we're not finished".

The Lakers moved above .500 for the first time this season with a 123-111 victory at the T-Wolves, powered by 38 points and 17 rebounds from Davis.

That was despite the Lakers superstar turning his ankle in his first game back in Minnesota since sustaining a knee injury there in December 2021.

On that occasion, Davis missed more than a month; this time, he did not miss a possession.

"I knew I was going to play," he said after the game. "Tied the shoes up tighter and just kind of played off adrenaline until the end of the game and was able to get some treatment. But I'll be fine."

The Lakers could not have afforded to be without him, with coach Darvin Ham emphasising the big man's importance to their team.

"Everyone knows that in order for us to be at the highest level and playing at the highest level, it all starts with AD," he said.

"We have a team that can make some things happen, but you have to have that one pivotal force that's leading the charge, and in our case, with this particular team here in the moment, it's AD.

"When he comes out and he's aggressive and we're feeding him and he's not settling and he's putting pressure on the paint, putting pressure on the rim, we find ourselves having a lot of success."

LeBron James added of his team-mate: "I think he understood the assignment and knew how important this game was, and I think we all knew that.

"We jumped on AD's back and he brought us home."

As T-Wolves coach Chris Finch put it: "He kicked our a** in every way possible."

The Lakers are up to seventh in the West, but an intense playoff race is not done – and nor are they.

"We've made some huge climbs, but we're not finished," Davis said. "We want to get greedy."

Max Verstappen ended his wait for pole position at the Australian Grand Prix, but Mercedes came out of Saturday with their optimism renewed in Melbourne.

While reigning Formula One champion and season leader Max Verstappen remains the man to beat, he is without Red Bull team-mate in support at the front of the grid this weekend.

Instead, George Russell joined Verstappen on the front row, with Lewis Hamilton qualifying third-fastest in a qualifying session the pair acknowledged was "unexpected".

It could have been even better for Mercedes, with Hamilton setting an initial provisional pole in a hotly contested Q3.

Just 0.301 seconds separated the top seven at one stage, before a dominant Verstappen performance took him 0.236s clear.

"The last run was very good," he said, acknowledging a "very tough" weekend.

After finally securing pole in Melbourne, his next aim is a first Australia GP win.

Verstappen added: "I've been on the podium once, but I want to be on a different step this time."

Yet Mercedes intend to have something to say about that, even if merely getting this close to Verstappen was far beyond their expectations.

"We weren't expecting that, that's for sure," said Russell. "There's a lot of hard work going on back at the factory here in Melbourne, and what a session for us. The car felt alive.

"The lap at the end was right on the limit, and to be honest, I was a little bit disappointed we didn't get pole position.

"It's one of those things, how your expectations change so quickly in this sport. We probably would have been happy with top four, top five yesterday, but the car felt awesome.

"It goes to show we've definitely got potential still to come."

Hamilton suggested this week it would take "the rest of the year to potentially close that gap" to Red Bull, yet the Silver Arrows are suddenly back in contention.

"I'm so happy with this. This is totally unexpected," Hamilton said. "I'm really, really proud of the team.

"George did a fantastic job today, so for us to be up there on the two front rows is a dream for us.

"We're all working as hard as we can to get right back up the front, so to be this close to Red Bull is honestly incredible. I hope tomorrow we can give them a bit of a run for their money."

Absent from the Q3 battle was Perez, who is on a career-best run of three straight podiums and had talked up his title aspirations this week.

But he endured problems right from the outset on Saturday, delayed in his start to FP3 and then running into trouble at Turn 3.

Perez locked up again at the same corner early in Q1 and ended in the gravel, his session over as he bemoaned "the same issue again" over the team radio.

McLaren's home favourite Oscar Piastri, making his Australian GP debut, fared little better, out in Q1.

A strong start to the season for Fernando Alonso continued as the veteran qualified fourth, ahead of Ferrari's Carlos Sainz.

PROVISIONAL CLASSIFICATION

1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
2. George Russell (Mercedes)
3. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
4. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
5. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
6. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
7. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
8. Alexander Albon (Williams)
9. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
10. Nico Hulkenberg (Haas)

Anthony Joshua weighed in at a career-heavy 18st 3lb for Saturday's bout against Jermaine Franklin, which Eddie Hearn suggested was a sign he had "bad intentions for this fight".

Heavier than at his previous top weight of 18st 2lb for his 2017 clash with Carlos Takam, Hearn anticipates an "explosive knockout" from Joshua at O2 Arena.

By contrast, Franklin has lost 23lb since facing Dillian Whyte, weighing in at 16st 7lb to seemingly give Joshua a clear advantage in terms of power, if not mobility.

"There's always an over-analysis with his weight, but clearly he's come in with bad intentions for this fight," said promoter Hearn.

"In some fights, where you need speed and agility, he comes in lighter. But I think you're going to get an explosive knockout."

Joshua is backing himself for the same, adding: "I know I've got the possibility of doing it, but there's a process to get there. I just follow the process."

Franklin claimed to have "a chin of steel", but that is set to be put to the test by the focused Briton, who has vowed to retire if he loses.

"I've got my gameplan, got my mind right, and I'm ready to go for war," Joshua said.

World Series hero Yordan Alvarez came to the Houston Astros' rescue again on Friday with a bases-clearing double to ignite a 6-3 comeback win against the Chicago White Sox.

Alvarez, who hit the go-ahead home run in the clinching Game 6 of the World Series in November, was 0-2 with a walk when he stepped up to the plate in the seventh inning with two outs and the bases loaded.

He got on a hanging sinker and drove it to deep left-centre, cannoning off the wall for a three-run double to turn a 3-2 deficit into a 5-3 lead.

It comes after Alvarez connected on an Opening Day home run in Thursday's loss, as he continues to make his case as arguably the best left-handed hitter in the sport.

While Alvarez got the Astros over the line, it was Kyle Tucker initially sparking the comeback, finally getting Houston on the board with a two-run homer in the sixth inning.

White Sox third-baseman Yoan Moncada was the only player to record three hits in the game – including a ground-rule double to bring in Chicago's third run – but the road team could not get anything going after Astros starter Cristian Javier was taken out of the game.

The Astros bullpen – with an inning each from Phil Maton, Seth Martinez, Bryan Abreu and Rafael Montero – combined for four scoreless frames, with five strikeouts, three hits and no walks.

Soler, Chisholm and Luzardo get the Marlins back on track

After dropping their home opener with reigning Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara on the mound, the Miami Marlins rode a strong start from Jesus Luzardo to a 2-1 triumph against the New York Mets.

Luzardo pitched five-and-two-thirds innings of scoreless action, striking out five while walking four and allowing just two hits. 

He was given an early lead to work with after Jorge Soler's second-inning solo home run, and rising star Jazz Chisholm Jr doubled the advantage with another solo shot in the eighth.

New York's top hitter Pete Alonso made it a contest again with his first home run of the year off Marlins closer A.J. Puk in the ninth, but Puk was able to finish off the save.

Padres fall to surprise 0-2 start

The Colorado Rockies have handed the San Diego Padres a rocky start to their season after sealing at least a road series split with a 4-1 victory.

The Rockies came into San Diego and upset the Padres on Opening Day with a 7-2 result, and despite being one of the World Series favourites, the home side's offense failed to fire yet again in a poor display.

Kim Ha-seong finished with three of the Padres' five total hits, while Yonathan Daza, Elehuris Montero and Charlie Blackmon all collected multiple hits for the Rockies, highlighted by Blackmon's two-run homer in the fifth inning.

The Padres will hope to right the ship in the third of their four-game series on Saturday.