Salver took another step towards a potential outing at next month’s Cheltenham Festival after maintaining his unbeaten Virgin Bet Victor Ludorum Juvenile Hurdle at Haydock.

Gary Moore’s youngster had impressed in winning each of his first three starts to date, never more so than when beating his rivals by upwards of 21 lengths in the Finale Juvenile Hurdle at Chepstow over the Christmas period.

The son of Motivator was bidding to make it four from four over obstacles on Merseyside – and while he made a couple of small jumping errors in the extremely testing conditions, the 2-5 favourite was ultimately not hard pressed to score by three and a half lengths in the hands of Caoilin Quinn.

Josh Moore, assistant to his father, said: “He’s done it nicely and it’s sort of a case of he’s done what he had to do.

“I think he can be better than he was today as he was quite wound up beforehand, which he isn’t usually.

“It’s proper heavy ground out there and they’ll either go on it or they won’t. As we saw at Chepstow, he goes on it, but Haydock heavy is completely different to anywhere else.”

Paddy Power trimmed Salver’s odds for the Triumph Hurdle at Cheltenham to 10-1 from 14-1, while he is 8-1 from 12-1 with the same firm for the Boodles.

However, Moore junior revealed his Festival participation will be ground dependent.

“I think he will only be going there if it is soft or worse than soft. You’d definitely want to be seeing soft in the going description anyway,” he added.

“If it’s a good ground Triumph I can’t see him running there. It’s quite a big occasion for a young horse, there’s Aintree afterwards and you’ve got the option of France as well.

“There’s lots of options and we wouldn’t be in a rush to make any decisions. He’s a nice horse.”

Mohamed Salah scored on his Premier League return as Liverpool eased to a 4-1 win at Brentford.

Coming off the bench for his first appearance since injuring a hamstring on duty with Egypt at the Africa Cup of Nations, he netted his side’s third goal moments after making a brilliant assist for Alexis Mac Allister to make it 2-0.

Darwin Nunez had opened the scoring with a superbly-taken chip to cap a wonderful counter attack in the first half as Jurgen Klopp’s league leaders ensure they would finish the weekend still on top.

Ivan Toney continued his goalscoring form since returning from his gambling ban to briefly give Brentford hope at 3-1.

It was a fleeting moment of optimism, quickly extinguished when substitute Cody Gakpo stroked home Liverpool’s fourth in the closing minutes.

Henry’s Friend held off the late lunge of Kilbeg King to successfully move up in class and win the Sodexo Live! Reynoldstown Novices’ Chase at Ascot, on a tremendous afternoon for trainer Ben Pauling and jockey Ben Jones.

Pauling fitted Henry’s Friend with cheekpieces for the first time, despite him winning his last two outings.

And it certainly had the desired effect, as he showed real determination in the closing stages to win the Grade Two in the hands of Ben Jones.

Brave Kingdom attempted to make all, but he was beaten a long way from home which left 13-8 favourite Apple Away in front.

She could never quite break away, however, as Henry’s Friend, Kilbeg King and outsider The King Of Ryhope all had a chance jumping two out.

It was Henry’s Friend (13-2) who toughed it out best, winning by a head and earning a quote of 10-1 for the National Hunt Chase with Paddy Power, although Cheltenham is unlikely to be on the winner’s radar, as Pauling explained.

“He didn’t jump well enough early doors and it was fortunate for him they didn’t go much of a gallop,” he said.

“I thought they would go a right gallop and if they had done he wouldn’t have been in it. But he was brave from the back of the last and his jumping got better and he keeps improving.

“I thought he was well handicapped, but I just thought he would be better off in a smaller field. I’m thrilled because he had to improve and he has.

“He wants every yard (of three miles) and he will be a lovely staying chaser in time. Stamina would never be a worry for me with this lad.

“He’s got an entry at Cheltenham in the amateur chase, but I doubt he wants to go there after that – that looked a bit of a ding-dong and to go there so quickly might be stupid.

“We might look at Aintree for him or something like that, but I think that will do for now.”

Pauling also claimed the opening Ascot Shop Novices’ Hurdle with Pic Roc (11-2) as he continues to add to his crack team of promising youngsters.

His second to Hasthing at Catterick saw him qualify for Sandown’s European Breeders’ Fund Betfair ‘National Hunt’ Novices’ Handicap Hurdle Final and having downed the well-regarded 13-8 favourite Inthewaterside, his handler confirmed that would be his next assignment.

“He’s a nice horse who I’ve always thought plenty of but haven’t managed to win with him,” added Pauling.

“If you are going to lose your maiden status, here is a great place in a nice race.

“He will go to the EBF Final and he qualified for that at Catterick (when second to Hasthing). I just needed to get a run into him and tried that at Doncaster last week but it snowed.

“He doesn’t jump well enough to be a top-class novice this year – he needs a fence. But he will be a lovely novice chaser next year. He’s not a star of hurdles but he might be a nice staying chaser next year.

“We’ll just chuck him in the EBF, see how we get on and then maybe pull stumps for the year. We’ve got a lot entered in that race this year, but he would probably right towards the top of them now.”

The double marked a big Saturday afternoon for Jones, who has become a key member of Pauling’s Naunton Downs team following the retirement of Luca Morgan and steered home Harry Redknapp’s Shakem Up’Arry at Cheltenham on New Year’s Day.

“I’m absolutely delighted and it’s easy when you have nice horses underneath you,” said the 24-year-old.

“I’m just lucky that I’m able to go out and perform against the big boys and the big horses, so I’m delighted.

“As a jockey all you want to do is ride in the bigger races and at the bigger meetings and winners like that on the big stage mean a lot.

“The better the horse, the better the jockey and I’ve had a couple of willing partners today.”

And it was so nearly the stuff of dreams for the pair, with Bad going agonisingly close to giving them a quickfire hat-trick in the Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards Handicap Hurdle but just missing out to Mothill in a bob of heads on the line.

Henry’s Friend held off the late lunge of Kilbeg King to successfully move up in class and win the Sodexo Live! Reynoldstown Novices’ Chase at Ascot, on a tremendous afternoon for trainer Ben Pauling and jockey Ben Jones.

Pauling fitted Henry’s Friend with cheekpieces for the first time, despite him winning his last two outings.

And it certainly had the desired effect, as he showed real determination in the closing stages to win the Grade Two in the hands of Ben Jones.

Brave Kingdom attempted to make all, but he was beaten a long way from home which left 13-8 favourite Apple Away in front.

She could never quite break away, however, as Henry’s Friend, Kilbeg King and outsider The King Of Ryhope all had a chance jumping two out.

It was Henry’s Friend (13-2) who toughed it out best, winning by a head and earning a quote of 10-1 for the National Hunt Chase with Paddy Power, although Cheltenham is unlikely to be on the winner’s radar, as Pauling explained.

“He didn’t jump well enough early doors and it was fortunate for him they didn’t go much of a gallop,” he said.

“I thought they would go a right gallop and if they had done he wouldn’t have been in it. But he was brave from the back of the last and his jumping got better and he keeps improving.

“I thought he was well handicapped, but I just thought he would be better off in a smaller field. I’m thrilled because he had to improve and he has.

“He wants every yard (of three miles) and he will be a lovely staying chaser in time. Stamina would never be a worry for me with this lad.

“He’s got an entry at Cheltenham in the amateur chase, but I doubt he wants to go there after that – that looked a bit of a ding-dong and to go there so quickly might be stupid.

“We might look at Aintree for him or something like that, but I think that will do for now.”

Pauling also claimed the opening Ascot Shop Novices’ Hurdle with Pic Roc (11-2) as he continues to add to his crack team of promising youngsters.

His second to Hasthing at Catterick saw him qualify for Sandown’s European Breeders’ Fund Betfair ‘National Hunt’ Novices’ Handicap Hurdle Final and having downed the well-regarded 13-8 favourite Inthewaterside, his handler confirmed that would be his next assignment.

“He’s a nice horse who I’ve always thought plenty of but haven’t managed to win with him,” added Pauling.

“If you are going to lose your maiden status, here is a great place in a nice race.

“He will go to the EBF Final and he qualified for that at Catterick (when second to Hasthing). I just needed to get a run into him and tried that at Doncaster last week but it snowed.

“He doesn’t jump well enough to be a top-class novice this year – he needs a fence. But he will be a lovely novice chaser next year. He’s not a star of hurdles but he might be a nice staying chaser next year.

“We’ll just chuck him in the EBF, see how we get on and then maybe pull stumps for the year. We’ve got a lot entered in that race this year, but he would probably right towards the top of them now.”

The double marked a big Saturday afternoon for Jones, who has become a key member of Pauling’s Naunton Downs team following the retirement of Luca Morgan and steered home Harry Redknapp’s Shakem Up’Arry at Cheltenham on New Year’s Day.

“I’m absolutely delighted and it’s easy when you have nice horses underneath you,” said the 24-year-old.

“I’m just lucky that I’m able to go out and perform against the big boys and the big horses, so I’m delighted.

“As a jockey all you want to do is ride in the bigger races and at the bigger meetings and winners like that on the big stage mean a lot.

“The better the horse, the better the jockey and I’ve had a couple of willing partners today.”

And it was so nearly the stuff of dreams for the pair, with Bad going agonisingly close to giving them a quickfire hat-trick in the Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards Handicap Hurdle but just missing out to Mothill in a bob of heads on the line.

Leeds moved to second in the Championship with a comfortable 2-0 win at Plymouth thanks to goals from forwards Wilfried Gnonto and Georginio Rutter.

Daniel Farke’s side made a flying start and their early pressure was rewarded with a 10th minute goal for in-form Gnonto, taking his goal tally to five in as many games.

Rutter’s audacious high ball into the area split the home defence and Gnonto brilliantly brought the ball down and stroked it home past goalkeeper Conor Hazard.

Argyle’s best attempt in the opening 25 minutes was a long-range shot which flew over by midweek scorer Mickel Miller, recalled to the starting eleven following his impressive display against Coventry.

Miller was also on hand to stop a lightning break in the 32nd minute as Crysencio Summerville looked to pounce on the counter-attack in a one-on-one break.

Seconds earlier United keeper Ilian Meslier did well to punch Morgan Whittaker’s in-swinging corner clear, in a rare Argyle attack.

Rutter came close to putting Leeds 2-0 up in the 38th minute with a first time shot that flew back off the post, with Hazard beaten, after being set up by Joel Piroe.

Piroe did superbly to beat three Argyle players before putting Rutter in on goal.

Miller continued to be a thorn in Leeds’ side in the second half and his pacey 52nd minute cross from the left should have been converted by Kiwi striker Ben Waine, as he slid in on the increasingly wet playing surface.

Three minutes later Miller forced a near-post save from Meslier as he let fly with a rising shot from the left.

Waine headed over from Matthew Sorinola’s cross from the right after 57 minutes.

Meslier punched Adam Randell’s in-swinging corner clear and then was equal to the Plymouth playmaker’s cross as he swept the ball back into a crowded six yard box from the wide on the right.

Summerville fired high and wide after making room for himself in the Plymouth penalty area from Rutter’s cutback.

Within minutes Rutter was at the centre of the action again.

The striker ran on to Joel Piroe’s defence-splitting through ball and beat diving Hazard with a thumping shot on the run into the box, which gave the home keeper little chance on 72 minutes.

Scottish striker Ryan Hardie announced his arrival – as a replacement for Waine – by forcing an acrobatic save from Meslier.

The French keeper made a low save at his near post to keep out 18-goal top scorer Morgan Whittaker’s 88th minute free kick from the right.

Leeds came close to making it three in stoppage time as substitute Daniel James’ thumping strike smashed off the cross bar.

Nemean Lion justified strong market support to win the Jennings Bet Kingwell Hurdle at Wincanton for Kerry Lee.

Lee decided against running the seven-year-old under a big weight in the Betfair Hurdle last weekend in favour of this Grade Two and the decision was vindicated.

Winner of the Welsh Champion Hurdle earlier in the season, Richard Patrick settled him just behind the front-running Rubaud, who Nemean Lion had replaced as favourite due to sustained money in the morning.

Sent off the 6-5 market leader, it looked like it was going to be plain sailing at the second-last as Rubaud dropped away tamely and Nemean Lion was pulling away from Colonel Mustard.

To the Irish raider’s credit, Colonel Mustard stuck to his task gamely and kept Nemean Lion honest, but there was a length and a half in it at the line.

Ben Duckett defended Joe Root despite the Yorkshireman’s ugly dismissal that sparked an England batting collapse and left India in the driving seat in the third Test.

Root directed a reverse ramp he has made a specialty in the last couple of years into the slip cordon off India pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah as England crumbled from a competitive 224 for two to 319 all out and a first-innings deficit of 126.

Ashes 2005-winning captain Michael Vaughan tweeted Root is “far too good to gift India such a cheap wicket” although it is a shot he has used 22 times in the past, bringing 60 runs and one dismissal.

After India ended day three 322 ahead on a Rajkot pitch showing signs of sharp turn, Duckett argued Root, who is yet to pass 30 in five attempts in this series, was correct to go for it as he did.

“I’d be interested to know if those people were against it when he was doing it to (Australia captain) Pat Cummins and hitting him for six in last summer’s Ashes,” Duckett said. “I’ve no words for it.

“It’s the same as me playing a reverse sweep and getting caught at point. Options are practised and that shot has been very successful for him over the past year, so next time it may go over slip.”

Duckett was seen off by a Kuldeep Yadav long hop after a majestic 153 off 151 balls while Ben Stokes, on his 100th Test, holed out to cow corner on 41 but Root’s downfall was the major talking point.

India were effectively down to 10 men without Ravichandran Ashwin, who can only be replaced in the field and not as a batter or bowler following his overnight withdrawal because of a family emergency.

But England lost their last five wickets in 38 balls before Yashasvi Jaiswal ground them into the dirt – despite their willingness in sapping heat – as India went to stumps on 196 for two.

“It was one of those days when I feel we have to give credit to India,” Duckett said. “We want to take the positive option and I get more frustrated when I get caught at silly point, playing a nothing shot.

“I’d much rather get out putting the bowling under pressure and getting caught on the fence at times – as long as it’s a shot that you play and have practised thousands and thousands of times.

“We’ll come back (on Sunday) and give it our best.”

Duckett had carried England to 207 for two overnight off just 35 overs with a swaggering 88-ball ton, taking on all of India’s bowlers, including Ashwin, who had tormented the left-hander in 2016.

Indeed, Duckett lasted just two Tests into a five-match series but after six years out of the side, he has become indispensable on his second coming, averaging a shade under 50 in 30 innings.

“It’s obviously a very tough place to come and tour and I’ve said a lot over the last so many years that I wasn’t the first left-hander to struggle against Ashwin,” Duckett added.

“It’s the backing of this team that means I can go out and play with the freedom that I did here. It probably wasn’t the same back then. I’m not a completely different player to what I was.”

Jaiswal followed up his sparkling double century in Visakhapatnam with 104 before retiring hurt with a sore back on Saturday and Duckett believes the 22-year-old is taking his cues from England’s attacking style.

“When you see players from the opposition playing like that, it almost feels like we should take some credit that they’re playing differently than how other people play Test cricket,” Duckett added.

“We saw it a bit in the summer and it’s quite exciting to see other players and other teams are also playing that aggressive style of cricket.

“He looks like a superstar in the making, unfortunately he’s in some very good form at the moment. He’s due a couple of low ones.”

Saffie Osborne completed a magical double when guiding Emaraaty Ana to success in Qatar on Saturday.

Just 24 hours on from making history as the first woman to ride a winner in Dubai when Ouzo struck at Meydan, former Group One scorer Emaraaty Ana took the Dukhan Sprint at Al Rayyan Racecourse.

“It’s my first time riding here, I’ve tried to do as much research as possible and talk to people about the track,” Osborne said after Emaraaty Ana’s victory.

“He’s a horse who’s nearly won two Breeders’ Cup (Turf) Sprints, he has plenty of pace and I was able to use that to our advantage.

“He’s got so much ability this horse, I was able to get a breather into him around the bend and turning in he’s ultra-tough. I would ideally have been a bit further back, but he’s a really classy horse and I’m lucky to be on board him.”

Speaking after her win on Ouzo, she said: “I’ve grown up watching people ride big winners here.

“If you told me then that I’d be here riding a winner I wouldn’t have believed you. It’s something every jockey dreams of doing. It’s absolutely epic.”

Like Ouzo, Emaraaty Ana – formerly with Kevin Ryan – is trained by Osborne’s father, Jamie, and her mother Katie O’Sullivan was in both Dubai and Qatar to cheer their daughter on.

“We have had an unbelievable 24 hours, and so has that young girl there! Saffie and I got the 5.20am this morning. We have just been floating through life, it is incredible and so exciting,” she said.

“It was a solid run last time. Ian and Claire Barrett have reinvested in these kind of horses, and what a success it’s been for them! Saffie is doing what she loves and it is a pleasure to watch her.”

Bayern Munich manager Thomas Tuchel has urged his team to turn things around following their disappointing Champions League defeat to Lazio.

Bayern were beaten 1-0 at the Stadio Olimpico on Wednesday thanks to Ciro Immobile’s penalty after Dayot Upamecano was sent off for a late challenge on Gustav Isaksen.

The result came days after a disappointing 3-0 loss to Xabi Alonso’s high-flying Bayer Leverkusen and Tuchel insists his side are working to “turn around the mood”.

Reflecting on the Lazio game, he told a press conference: “It’s an unusual situation. The mood is obviously down because we expected a reaction from ourselves.

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“The defeat is still only a first-leg defeat. We’re not out of the Champions League. Everyone wants to turn around the mood.

“From my experience, that only happens through work on the training ground, and we tried that yesterday. We’ll definitely give our all to bring the energy to turn things around.”

Leverkusen are five points clear of Bayern at the top of the Bundesliga going into this weekend’s action and up next for Tuchel’s side is a trip to Bochum.

Bayern utterly dominated in the reverse fixture at the Allianz Arena in September where England captain Harry Kane bagged a hat-trick as the Bavarian side emerged with a 7-0 victory.

Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, Matthijs de Ligt, Leroy Sane and Mathys Tel were also on target as Bayern battered Bochum, but Tuchel expects a “hard-fought game” on Sunday.

“We need to get back that ease, that’s tough. I’m not expecting a walk in the park in Bochum,” he said.

“It’ll be a tough pitch, tough opponent who have got good results lately. A physical opponent.

“Bochum played very well against Stuttgart (a 1-0 win) and Augsburg (a 1-1 draw), I’m expecting a very hard-fought game. We’ve also adapted our training, but that’s normal.

“I’m not expecting a deep, tactically well-organised defensive block that just lets us have the ball, but one that gets at us high up the pitch, plays long balls, fights for the ball.

“It’s a completely new challenge, it doesn’t matter who it is. At Bayern it’s about always getting back up and putting your neck on the line.

“We’re still in second place. We don’t need to be ashamed of that. We don’t need any sympathy.”

Kane leads the goalscoring charts in the Bundesliga with 24 so far this season, but struggled to make an impact in the Lazio defeat and Tuchel admitted there has been a “discrepancy” between training and matches in providing chances for the England international.

“Harry takes care of himself. He doesn’t need me. He’s not happy with the connection in games – neither are we,” Tuchel said.

“I’ve rarely seen such a discrepancy between training and matches. The way he scores in training, the way he puts his chances away – it’s incredible. It’s world-class. But then we rarely find him in matches.

“He acts like a captain. Everything’s okay with him.”

The NBA has fined Los Angeles Clippers coach Tyronn Lue $35,000 following his comments over the officials in Wednesday's win over the Golden State Warriors.

Lue was shown on video claiming the officials were "cheating" in a game the Clippers won 130-125.

The Clippers coach was ejected during the fourth quarter, though LA still came back to win.

Lue was then videoed shouting to his players and staff: "Where the refs at now? Cheating. That's all they be doing."

On Friday, the NBA fined Lue for "public criticism of the officiating and for questioning the integrity of game officials."

Indiana Pacers guard Bennedict Mathurin set his sights high after he led Team Jalen to glory in the Rising Stars Game.

Mathurin was named the night's MVP on Friday, after scoring 22 points across two games, first in the semifinal against Team Tamika, and then in the final against Team Detlef.

The Rising Stars format saw rookies – including number one draft pick Victor Wembanyama – sophomores and some G League players split into four teams.

Mathurin, playing on home turf at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, was also serenaded with "MVP" chants from the crowd. 

And for the 21-year-old, it is hopefully a taste of what is to come in his career.

"It was fun. It was fun to see, to receive those chants," said Mathurin, who has averaged 14.1 points per game across 52 appearances for the Pacers this season.

"The Rising Stars Game, I feel like I haven't really gotten that feeling in the NBA. One day I want to be MVP, so it was great to have that feeling pretty early in my career.

"I saw a couple of shots going in and I was like, it's a wrap. If I'm being totally honest, it's also my city. I had to make sure I brought it home. So that was the main thing for me.

“To see my family and friends travelling all this way just to see me have a good time, I felt I needed to play well."

There was no such look for Wembanyama, who exited in the first round as part of Team Pau on his first Rising Stars appearance, albeit the 20-year-old San Antonio Spurs star has a busy weekend to come, with the skills challenge next up for him.

"I want to win and I hate losing," he said. "But at the same time, I have so much going on.

"I'm happy that I just knocked one thing off the list this weekend. So it's mixed feelings."

Pacers stars Tyrese Haliburton, Myles Turner, Isaiah Jackson and Obi Toppin were all in the crowd to support Mathurin, meanwhile, who was delighted to have the backing of his teammates.

"I was pretty pumped, just to see them," he added. "Seeing how much they support me and love me."