David James still thinks Liverpool or Manchester City will win the Premier League title, despite Sunday's draw between the pair leaving Arsenal at the summit.

Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola's final Premier League meeting ended in a frantic 1-1 draw at Anfield, with Arsenal, who beat Brentford 2-1 on Saturday, remaining clear of the Reds on goal difference at the top of the table.

Liverpool accumulated 2.7 expected goals (xG) to City's 1.56, but shared the spoils as Alexis Mac Allister's 50th-minute penalty cancelled out John Stones' inventive set-piece opener.

Though Mikel Arteta's Gunners sit narrowly ahead of Liverpool and a point clear of third-placed City with 10 league games remaining, James believes Sunday's draw does not favour Arsenal in the title race.

"I think this is the worst result for Arsenal, even though they ended the weekend top of the table," former City and Liverpool goalkeeper James told Stats Perform.

"If Arsenal slip up, both City and Liverpool are in exactly the right place to take advantage. Whereas, had one team won, then [Arsenal] would only essentially be looking at one team in a preferential position, even if they were in second place.

"I still see this as a Liverpool and Man City race. I think Arsenal, of course, are there numerically, but I think when it comes to the crunch, these two are the best teams in the country, and one of these will be crowned Premier League champions."

Liverpool had 19 shots on Sunday, their most in a Premier League clash against City, with 12 of those coming in the second half – a record high Guardiola's side have faced after half-time in a league match since May 2021 (12 against Brighton).

Though Liverpool may lament Luis Diaz missing a gilt-edged chance in the second period, as well as a contentious decision right at the end when Mac Allister was caught by Jeremy Doku inside City's area, James insists the Reds should take encouragement from their showing against last season's treble winners.

"[Liverpool] could have beaten the best team in the world with the better chances in the game," the 53-cap England international continued.

"That would give me confidence in the short term, of not getting the points, but that you can play the best team in the world and should beat them, that's a nice feeling."

James lauded "a fantastic game of football" but suggested an inexperienced and injury-hit Liverpool may have lacked a clinical edge, owing to their young side.

Indeed, with Conor Bradley (20), Harvey Elliott (20) and Jarell Quansah (21) all starting, it was the first time Liverpool had named three players aged 21 or under in a Premier League starting XI against City since March 2015, when Raheem Sterling, Emre Can and Lazar Markovic all featured.

James, who played 214 times for the Reds, added: "I don't want to say that nobody is allowed to miss chances…

"But the crucial moments in the game, I think in the first half in particular, Liverpool were getting into very good positions and were not making what I thought were the right decisions at the right time.

"[That was] either the correct pass or the shot, it was a touch that allowed City to get back into the box. Things like this, I think are understandable.

"Bradley, who has been fantastic since he came into the side, was culpable a couple of times, I think that might be just experience.

"He's playing in his biggest match ever, in front of the Kop, and there was a moment where you think just put your foot through it. You're playing against a fantastic team and there are a lot of influences on it."

Whether a point dropped for Liverpool or one gained for City, James believes both sides will look back on the showdown as decisive come the end of the campaign.

He concluded: "Ultimately though, it won't be until the end of the season. If the league is decided or lost by a point by either of these teams, they'll look at if they could have got that extra two points and won the title."

San Antonio Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama shrugged off Trayce Jackson-Davis' dunk after the Golden State Warriors ran out winners on Monday.

Jackson-Davis got the better of Wembanyama with just over a minute left of the fourth quarter, spinning the NBA draft's number one overall pick before finishing in style.

Wembanyama was left tumbling to the deck, and the Warriors went on to win 112-102.

But Wembanyama, who missed the Spurs' win over the Warriors at the weekend due to an ankle problem, is not overly concerned.

"Getting dunked on is nothing. It's part of the game," said the French youngster, fresh from finishing with 27 points and 14 rebounds.

"I dunk on a lot of people and a lot of people dunk on me too. But I think I block more often than I get dunked on, so that's positive."

Reflecting on the Spurs' performance, Wembanyama added: "Consistency is always [important], but today I think it's also responding to the physicality that they put [out]. We didn’t have a strong enough response."

Explaining his thought process behind the dunk, Warriors rookie Jackson-Davis said: "I saw that he overplayed it, and he overplayed it to my right.

"I'm left-handed. So, I think I spun or got to my left hand and then I had to step on him. I just tried him.

"I told Kevon [Looney] before the game that if I got the chance to try him, I would. At the end of the day, sometimes you dunk on people, sometimes you get dunked on. It's just a basketball play."

Monday's win saw the Warriors, who were without Stephen Curry, bounce back from back-to-back losses, with Golden State limiting the Spurs to just one point in the final stages of the fourth quarter.

"We weren't doing anything differently, just the effort and the connection," said coach Steve Kerr.

"If one guy is out of place and everybody's giving great effort, it still results in two points. I just felt we were better connected in the second half and as that went, we picked up some momentum."

Jonathan Kuminga led the Warriors with 22 points, with Klay Thompson adding 21, to go with a contribution of 19 from Chris Paul.

What the papers say

Manchester United have identified 21-year-old Everton defender Jarrad Branthwaite as their top transfer target this summer, according to the Daily Star. Branthwaite has a deal with the Toffees until 2027.

The Daily Mirror says United will pursue Branthwaite regardless of boss Erik ten Hag’s future at the club, with the England Under-21 international valued at £75million.

Meanwhile, Everton are said to be interested in Hull defender Jacob Greaves, Football Insider reports, with the 23-year-old likely to leave the club if they miss promotion to the Premier League.

The i says Tiago Pinto, who was formerly at Roma, is interested in taking over the sporting director role from Dan Ashworth at Newcastle, who looks to be headed to Manchester United.

Social media round-upPlayers to watch

Bruno Guimaraes: Football Transfers says Manchester City are interested in a bid for the 26-year-old Newcastle midfielder who has a £100million clause in his contract.

Pedro Neto: Wolves will be in a battle to keep their winger after Tottenham joined Liverpool, Newcastle and Arsenal in the race to sign the 24-year-old.

Mauricio Pellegrino was axed as Southampton boss following a bad run of form on this day in 2018.

The Argentinian was only appointed as manager the previous summer but the Saints hierarchy opted for another change with eight games remaining as they attempted to cling onto their Premier League status.

Southampton had won just one of their previous 17 league matches – against bottom club West Brom – and a 3-0 defeat at Newcastle, which left Saints languishing just one place and one point above the relegation zone, proved to be the final straw.

Former Liverpool defender Pellegrino had been under increasing pressure as the season progressed, with fans frustrated by his perceived defensive tactics and pundits accusing the players of not playing for him.

Pellegrino said after the Newcastle defeat: “I observed some players who gave up and we cannot show this, to be honest.

“You can lose, you can play badly, but you have to show another face on the pitch.”

Southampton moved quickly to replace Pellegrino, appointing former player Mark Hughes on a deal until the end of the season just two days later.

The Welshman’s first game in charge was an FA Cup quarter-final victory over Wigan, and two victories from their final eight Premier League games proved enough to secure a 17th-placed finish and top-flight survival.

Hughes was given a three-year contract at the end of the season but was sacked in December 2018 and replaced by Ralph Hasenhuttl.

Pellegrino returned to management with Leganes three months after leaving Southampton and is currently the boss of LaLiga side Cadiz.

David Rittich stopped all 26 shots he faced as the Los Angeles Kings put an end to the New York Islanders' six-game winning streak with Monday's 3-0 victory.

Adrian Kempe, Phillip Danault and Trevor Moore all had goals to back Rittich's second shutout of the season as the Kings bounced back from Saturday's 4-1 home defeat to the Dallas Stars. Moore added an assist on Danault's goal, which gave Los Angeles a 2-0 lead 6:07 into the third period.

After an eventful opening period, Kempe put the Kings ahead 7:14 into the second by rifling a shot over the glove of New York goaltender Ilya Sorokin.

Moore set up Danault's close-range goal that gave Los Angeles some more breathing room, then sealed the outcome with an empty-netter with 2:22 left to play.

Rittch polished off his sixth career shutout by making 13 saves in the final period.

Sorokin stopped 22 of 24 shots for New York, which had totalled 13 goals in winning the first two games of its current four-game road trip.

Kapanen, Hofer lead Blues over Bruins

Kasperi Kapanen had a goal and two assists to support a 36-save effort from Joel Hofer that sparked the St. Louis Blues to a needed 5-1 victory over the Boston Bruins.

Kevin Hayes and Brandon Saad added a goal and an assist each to help the Blues end a three-game losing streak and gain some ground in the Western Conference play-off race. St. Louis is six points back of the current holders of the West's final wild-card spot, the defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights.

Despite the Bruins owning a 24-17 shot advantage through the first two periods, the Blues built a 4-0 lead as Hofer outperformed counterpart Jeremy Swayman.

Kapanen opened the scoring midway through the first period and Robert Thomas made it 2-0 with a power-play goal later on in the frame. Hayes then extended the margin by burying a feed from Kapanen on a 3-on-1 rush with 4:31 elapsed in the second period.

Saad scored St. Louis' fourth goal later in the second period before the Bruins finally got on the board early in the third on David Pastrnak's team-leading 41st goal of the season.

Boston later pulled Swayman with still nearly nine minutes remaining, a decision that enabled St. Louis' Alexey Toropchenko to score into an empty net with 8:33 left to play.

Swayman stopped just 17 of 21 shots as the Bruins had a four-game point streak snapped (3-0-1).

Rangers extend Devils' struggles, pad lead in Metropolitan Division

Jonathan Quick made 20 saves and the New York Rangers scored twice in the second period en route to a 3-1 win over the still-slumping New Jersey Devils.

Mika Zibanejad and Erik Gustafsson accounted for the second-period goals that helped New York extend its lead over the second-place Carolina Hurricanes to four points in the Metropolitan Division. 

Quick yielded only Simon Nemec's goal with 2:34 remaining to record his 389th career victory, two shy of tying Ryan Miller for the most by an American-born goaltender in NHL history.

Vincent Trocheck tacked on an empty-net goal with 1:13 left that sealed New Jersey's eighth loss in 11 games, and third in four outings since Travis Green replaced the fired Lindy Ruff as head coach last week. 

Kaapo Kahknonen stopped 23 of 25 shots in his Devils' debut. The goaltender was acquired by New Jersey from the San Jose Sharks at Friday's trade deadline.

World number one Novak Djokovic has been dumped out of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells by lucky loser Luca Nardi.

Nardi, 20, booked a last-16 meeting with American Tommy Paul as he won 6-4 3-6 6-3.

Currently 123 in the world, the Italian is the lowest-ranked player to beat Djokovic at ATP Masters 1000 or Grand Slam level.

“I don’t know [how I held my nerve],” he said. “I think it is a miracle, because I am a 20-year-old guy, 100 in the world, and beating Novak. It’s crazy.”

Sealing his victory with his sixth ace, Nardi hit 16 winners in the final set against just two from the five-times Indian Wells champion.

“It’s fine. You know, it’s part of the sport,” said Djokovic. “You just have to accept it. Some you win; some you lose. Hopefully I’ll win some more and still keep going.

“I guess every trophy that eventually comes my way is going to be great, obviously to break the kind of negative cycle a little bit I’m having in the last three, four tournaments where I haven’t really been close to my best.”

Paul reached the last 16 with a 6-4 6-4 win over France’s Ugo Humbert while seventh seed Holger Rune, ninth seed Casper Ruud, Taylor Fritz and Grigor Dimitrov all moved through in straight sets.

But British number one Cameron Norrie went out after a dramatic 6-7 (5) 7-6 (5) 6-3 defeat to French veteran Gael Monfils.

The British number one led by a set and 3-0 before falling victim to a stirring comeback from the 37-year-old.

Monfils clawed back to level in an extraordinary second set tie-break in which he won a point with an underarm serve before clinching the set at the end of a stunning 31-stroke rally.

Mauricio Pochettino warned there will be more problems for Chelsea if they fail to build on their 3-2 victory over Newcastle at Stamford Bridge as he praised the impact of match-winning substitute Mykhailo Mudryk.

The Ukrainian came off the bench to score with a superb individual goal to make it 3-1 in the 76th minute, pelting on to the ball at full tilt before tricking his way beyond a dumbfounded Fabian Schar and nipping round Martin Dubravka to finish.

“It was a very good goal and that is what we expect from a player from the bench – impact,” said Pochettino. “Then it is about competing with different players in his position. Then he will deserve to (start).”

The goal helped settle a finely balanced game, the kind that has so often slipped away from Chelsea under Pochettino.

They had already allowed an advantage to get away from them on the stroke of half-time.

Leading 1-0, Chelsea made two errors to hand Newcastle a way back into the match. First, the otherwise impressive Malo Gusto was caught trying to juggle the ball in midfield, then Trevoh Chalobah rushed up from central defence to assist and left a gaping hole into which Alexander Isak darted and rifled the visitors level.

Earlier, Nicolas Jackson had given his team a deserved sixth-minute lead, applying the deftest touch with his heel to Cole Palmer’s strike, getting just enough contact to divert it out of the reach of Dubravka and into the bottom corner.

Palmer, brilliant again on the right of a forward three, scored a 13th goal of his debut Chelsea season early in the second half.

Enzo Fernandez spotted the Blues’ top-scorer in space and gave the ball to him with his back to goal. With his first touch Palmer turned and with his second he lashed a shot inside the near post for 2-1.

Then came Mudryk’s decisive moment of magic and, although Jacob Ramsey gave Chelsea a scare with a cracking late drive from range, Pochettino’s young side clung on.

“We need to understand that we are Chelsea,” said Pochettino. “We are in a project that is completely different (to the past). Some people might be confused. When people don’t want to listen, it’s difficult.

“But we are trying to explain we are a different Chelsea, we are building something different. It’s going to be tough.

“We need to keep believing, even when it’s tough circumstances. We played (the Carabao Cup) final, 120 minutes, then after three days we play the FA Cup and we play Brentford. In six days we played three very tough games, nearly with the same team.

“It was really tough. If that means we are a disaster, OK. The most important thing is it’s not affecting the team. They know what they need to do and we keep believing.

“The win today is important for our fans to be a little bit more calm. But I think if we don’t win our next game, it’s going to be again a problem. That is Chelsea.”

Newcastle boss Eddie Howe reflected on a match that had been there for the taking before Mudryk’s late strike.

“I thought it was a game in the balance and an open game,” he said. “The game got away from us with the goals we conceded which were really poor from our perspective – they were self-induced.

“Wherever you play you have to pride yourself on being tight and I don’t think Chelsea had an abundance of chances tonight.

“But the way the goals came from our perspective is hugely frustrating as we know the details have to get better.”

The Las Vegas Raiders and quarterback Gardner Minshew have agreed to a two-year, $25million contract, multiple media outlets reported Monday.

Minshew, whose contract will reportedly include $15million fully guaranteed, is expected to compete with second-year quarterback Aidan O’Connell for the starting job.

The NFL’s free agency negotiating period began Monday, with deals not to be finalised until the league year begins on Wednesday.

A sixth-round pick in 2019, Minshew became the Indianapolis Colts’ starter last season once Anthony Richardson suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in Week 5.

Minshew kept the Colts afloat in the AFC South and led them to a 9-8 record.

Formerly with the Jacksonville Jaguars and Philadelphia Eagles, Minshew has played 49 career games, throwing for 9,937 yards, 59 touchdowns and 24 interceptions.

The Raiders entered last season with Jimmy Garoppolo starting under center, but then-interim coach Antonio Pierce benched the veteran for O’Connell, who won three of his final four starts.

The Raiders hired Pierce as a full-time head coach earlier this offseason and are hoping he can help the franchise win its first play-off game since the 2002 season.

Earlier Monday, former Las Vegas running back Josh Jacobs agreed to a contract with the Green Bay Packers.

Emma Raducanu went down fighting as she was beaten in straight sets by world number two Aryna Sabalenka in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells.

Raducanu pushed the Belarusian to the limit, battling back from a break down to level at 5-5 in the second set before ultimately falling to a 6-3 7-5 defeat.

Despite her loss, the 21-year-old Briton will take confidence from the way she consistently pressured her opponent before Sabalenka finally claimed victory on her fourth match point.

Raducanu had booked her third-round berth after winning back-to-back matches for the first time since her run to the last 16 of the same tournament last year.

Cameron Norrie also went out after a dramatic 6-7 (5) 7-6 (5) 6-3 defeat to French veteran Gael Monfils.

The British number one led by a set and 3-0 before falling victim to a stirring comeback from the 37-year-old, who revelled in the support of the majority of the crowd.

Monfils clawed back to level in an extraordinary second set tie-break in which he won a point with an underarm serve before clinching the set at the end of a stunning 31-stroke rally.

Monfils said in an on-court interview: “I’ve been working hard. Cam was playing very good tactically. He was better than me at the beginning.

“I had to change and think about it. I had to improve a couple things in my game to give him trouble and at the end I was happy that physically I could stay with him.”

Mykhailo Mudryk scored a sensational solo goal as Chelsea kept alive slender hopes of qualifying for Europe via the Premier League with a 3-2 win over Newcastle at Stamford Bridge.

At 2-1 late in the second half, the result was in the balance but it was tipped decisively in Chelsea’s favour by a moment of magic from the substitute, taking the ball off Conor Gallagher’s foot at top speed and bamboozling his way beyond defender Fabian Schar before rounding the goalkeeper and finishing.

The win marked a significant step forward for Mauricio Pochettino’s side, who have so often allowed balanced duels – as this undoubtedly was – to slip away from them.

Nicolas Jackson gave them a sixth-minute lead with a smart backheeled goal from Cole Palmer’s shot, before Alexander Isak rifled Newcastle level at the end of the half.

Palmer got his 13th of the season to restore the lead, a brilliant, driven finish from range.

Mudryk’s goal with 15 minutes to go looked to have settled it before Jacob Murphy made Chelsea think with a superb 90th-minute strike, but the hosts hung on for a deserved win.

Struggling in 11th, they had needed all the aid they could muster, and were promptly handed a boost by Newcastle defender Sven Botman after six minutes.

Malo Gusto’s low cross was well pitched but should have been an easy mop-up job for Botman. Instead, he carelessly swept the ball to the right boot of Palmer, whose tame shot from outside the box was intelligently flicked home via the deftest backheeled touch from Jackson.

Raheem Sterling looked determined that a strong start should not go to waste, muscling beyond Tino Livramento down the left and offloading to Jackson to strike low at goal, this time easily saved by Martin Dubravka.

Yet the one-goal lead was fragile, and Chelsea were exposed when Trevoh Chalobah headed a weak clearance straight to Anthony Gordon who shot wide.

Isak was inches from connecting with Murphy’s cross as it zipped across the face of goal, then skied over from two yards out as the ball came back in, comfortably the visitors’ clearest chance of the half so far.

European qualification through the league is still not beyond Chelsea. Victory here would take them to within four points of seventh-place West Ham with a game in hand, but consistency has been this team’s downfall under Pochettino.

In the final minutes of the half, they allowed Newcastle back in. The hitherto impressive Gusto was caught trying to juggle the ball in midfield. Chalobah raced up to take charge, but he was dispossessed by Bruno Guimaraes and was caught horribly out of position.

The ball broke to Isak, who skipped inside the box and curled an exquisite shot around Axel Disasi and beyond the dive of Djordje Petrovic.

Chelsea might still have led at the break had Sterling’s driven 18-yard effort been hit either side of Dubravka. In truth though, 1-1 was a fair conclusion to a balanced half.

Sterling came close again at the start of the second period, bursting into the box and lashing a shot narrowly wide at the near post.

Chelsea were looking the more confident side on the ball, penning Newcastle inside their own half, and they retook the lead on 57 minutes.

Enzo Fernandez collected the ball centrally and fed it in to Palmer, receiving with his back to goal 20 yards out. The home side’s top scorer took one touch to turn inside and then crashed it with his left foot inside Dubravka’s near post.

Sterling should have put it beyond doubt minutes later, carrying the ball around the goalkeeper but denied on the line by Dan Burn who was covering.

There were a few nerve-jangling moments as the visitors tested Chelsea’s defence with balls into the box that were cleared not wholly convincingly.

Then came a moment of magic from Mudryk and, despite Murphy’s late rocket, at last a glimmer of a happy ending to a turbulent season.