Jamie Carragher declared Manchester City's Premier League title defence as finished following their 2-0 defeat to Liverpool on Sunday. 

City were left 11 points behind leaders Liverpool after Pep Guariola's side fell to a fourth consecutive top-flight loss, an unwanted feat they have not suffered since 2008. 

Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah were on target at Anfield, earning Arne Slot an 18th win from his first 20 games in charge of the Reds in all competitions. 

Former Liverpool defender Carragher insisted that there is no way back for Guardiola's defending champions in their quest to retain the crown for a fifth consecutive season.

"This season, Manchester City will not be winning the Premier League," Carragher said on Sky Sports. "I don't think there is any way back.

"It is almost a mini-crisis for Manchester City, and I think it's reminiscent of Liverpool two years ago. I actually think Man City might have a fight on their hands for the top four.

"I look at Arsenal and Chelsea and the way they're looking right now, I think it may be difficult for Man City to finish above them if they don't go into the market in January."

Guardiola was seen holding six fingers up to the home crowd, referencing each top-flight title he has won, after 'you're getting sacked in the morning' chants echoed around Anfield. 

Carragher backed the former Barcelona boss for his decision to do so, saying: "He's putting the six fingers up and rightly so. 

"I think he is just hitting home, 'Don't take for granted what we've done'. Maybe just sending a message to the hierarchy above him, to his own supporters there."

City's defeat dropped them to fifth in the table following Chelsea's win over Aston Villa on Sunday and Arsenal's triumph over West Ham 24 hours earlier. 

With Guardiola's side continuing to stumble, Carragher believes that Chelsea and the Gunners will be Liverpool's main title challengers until the end of the season. 

"He [Guardiola] needs to buy players. If he can do that in January who knows, but he may need to wait until the end of the season to fix it," Carragher added.

"I look at the energy Arsenal have got and the energy the young players at Chelsea have got, and I think it might be difficult for City to finish above them."

City take on Nottingham Forest at home on Wednesday, hoping to get their season back on track against a side they have not lost to since an FA Cup defeat in January 2009.

Juventus were once again frustrated in Serie A after Ante Rebic's last-gasp leveller saw them held to a 1-1 draw by Lecce.

Nikola Krstovic's dazzling run and spectacular cross paved the way for substitute Rebic to equalise in the third minute of stoppage time on Sunday.

Andrea Cambiaso had opened the scoring in the 68th minute as his tame shot fortuitously deflected off Kialonda Gaspar and past helpless goalkeeper Wladimiro Falcone.

Thiago Motta's side should have been ahead earlier in the first half, with Khephren Thuram missing a gilt-edged chance just seven minutes into the clash after fine work from Kenan Yildiz.

Timothy Weah also saw a goal disallowed for offside after converting on the rebound when Falcone parried Teun Koopmeiners' long-range effort.

An eighth draw in just 14 league games this season left Juve sixth in the table and six points adrift of leaders Napoli, while Lecce sit 16th, two points clear of the relegation zone.

Data Debrief: Familiar face haunts Juve

Juve are one of only three remaining unbeaten teams in the Europe's top five leagues this season, along with Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain, but the manner of this draw will frustrate Motta.

Sunday marked an 18th draw for Juve in top-flight action in 2024, their most in club history across a single calendar year, surpassing the 17 way back in 1956.

It was a familiar face that thwarted Juve, too, with Rebic involved in his fifth Serie A goal against the Bianconeri (four goals, one assist), his joint-most versus one opponent in the competition (Torino, also five).

Carlo Ancelotti expressed his delight with forward Kylian Mbappe's performance during Real Madrid's 2-0 win over Getafe in LaLiga on Sunday. 

Mbappe netted in consecutive top-flight games for the first time since September, eight minutes after Jude Bellingham's penalty had put Los Blancos in front. 

The result moved Madrid to within a point of leaders Barcelona at the summit of the standings, with the luxury of a game in hand over their Clasico rivals. 

Mbappe starred in the win, registering a team-high expected goals (xG) tally of 1.29 to Madrid's 2.58 total, while also having more shots on target (two) and touches in the opposition box (eight) than any of his team-mates. 

This season, only Ante Budimir (six) has scored more home goals in LaLiga than the Frenchman (five - level with Raphinha, Vinicius Junior and Robert Lewandowski). 

And Ancelotti was pleased with Mbappe's display after enduring a difficult outing during Madrid's 2-0 defeat to Liverpool in the Champions League on Wednesday. 

"He was active, dangerous and scored a great goal, which was important to control the rest of the game. He was active and that's what we want from him," Ancelotti said. 

"The fans understand better than anyone the moment of the team and the players. They supported Mbappe after Anfield because it was the right thing to do.

"Yes, a relief for everyone because it was a spectacular goal with fantastic execution," Ancelotti added when asked if it was a relief for Mbappe to score against Getafe.

The result saw Los Blancos extend their unbeaten home run against Getafe to 16 matches. Only against Racing de Santander (18 between 1952 & 1994) have they achieved a longer home winning streak in the competition. 

Ancelotti was also without several of his first-team players on Sunday, with David Alaba, Eder Militao, Vinicius, Aurelien Tchouameni and Eduardo Camavinga all missing. 

It looked as though they had suffered another injury blow when goalscorer Bellingham was taken off at the break, though Ancelotti was confident it was nothing serious. 

"Despite the difficulties, which are many because of all the injuries we are having, we are fighting and struggling," Ancelotti said.

"We have returned to playing with concentration, spirit and attitude and that reassures me and gives me confidence.

"Little by little we will solve the problems, but in the meantime we are fighting."

Madrid's next assignment comes in the shape of fourth placed Athletic Bilbao, who edged past Rayo Vallecano 2-1 on Sunday thanks to Oihan Sancet's brace. 

Carlo Ancelotti expressed his delight with forward Kylian Mbappe's performance during Real Madrid's 2-0 win over Getafe in LaLiga on Sunday. 

Mbappe netted in consecutive top-flight games for the first time since September, eight minutes after Jude Bellingham's penalty had put Los Blancos in front. 

The result moved Madrid to within a point of leaders Barcelona at the summit of the standings, with the luxury of a game in hand over their Clasico rivals. 

Mbappe starred in the win, registering a team-high expected goals (xG) tally of 1.29 to Madrid's 2.58 total, while also having more shots on target (two) and touches in the opposition box (eight) than any of his team-mates. 

This season, only Ante Budimir (six) has scored more home goals in LaLiga than the Frenchman (five - level with Raphinha, Vinicius Junior and Robert Lewandowski). 

And Ancelotti was pleased with Mbappe's display after enduring a difficult outing during Madrid's 2-0 defeat to Liverpool in the Champions League on Wednesday. 

"He was active, dangerous and scored a great goal, which was important to control the rest of the game. He was active and that's what we want from him," Ancelotti said. 

"The fans understand better than anyone the moment of the team and the players. They supported Mbappe after Anfield because it was the right thing to do.

"Yes, a relief for everyone because it was a spectacular goal with fantastic execution," Ancelotti added when asked if it was a relief for Mbappe to score against Getafe.

The result saw Los Blancos extend their unbeaten home run against Getafe to 16 matches. Only against Racing de Santander (18 between 1952 & 1994) have they achieved a longer home winning streak in the competition. 

Ancelotti was also without several of his first-team players on Sunday, with David Alaba, Eder Militao, Vinicius, Aurelien Tchouameni and Eduardo Camavinga all missing. 

It looked as though they had suffered another injury blow when goalscorer Bellingham was taken off at the break, though Ancelotti was confident it was nothing serious. 

"Despite the difficulties, which are many because of all the injuries we are having, we are fighting and struggling," Ancelotti said.

"We have returned to playing with concentration, spirit and attitude and that reassures me and gives me confidence.

"Little by little we will solve the problems, but in the meantime we are fighting."

Madrid's next assignment comes in the shape of fourth placed Athletic Bilbao, who edged past Rayo Vallecano 2-1 on Sunday thanks to Oihan Sancet's brace. 

Philippe Clement believes Rangers are continually improving after their hard-fought 1-0 away win over St. Johnstone on Sunday.

Former Rangers midfielder Jason Holt turned into his own net just past the hour as that own goal handed Clement's side their first away win in the Scottish Premiership since September.

It capped an improved week for Clement, whose side thrashed Nice in the Europa League on Thursday to move a step closer to the knockout stages.

Speculation had also grown over the future of under-fire Clement, though the Belgian believes his team are on the right track.

"At the end, it's also crucial to not concede chances," said Clement in his post-match press conference. "We have for the second time in a row only one shot on target from the opponent.

"Last week it was a goal. Now not. And we need to continue in that way, keeping clean sheets and being defensively strong.

"I don't speak only about the defence, it's the whole team working hard for that. I see a lot of improvements with all the squad in what they are doing. It's now continuing all these things.

"What we talked about the last weeks and months. The mistakes we made to take it out of the game, you see it less and less, and then to grow like that.

"And then in the final third to sometimes have better positioning, to sometimes have better decision-making also. It's still a work in progress."

Victory moved Rangers 11 points behind leaders Celtic and seven behind second-placed Aberdeen, who were held to a 1-1 draw away at Hearts on Sunday.

Leighton Clarkson opened the scoring in the first half, only for Aberdeen captain Nicky Devlin to turn into his own net after the interval.

That result left Aberdeen without a win in their last three games, though manager Jimmy Thelin vowed to get his side back on course.

"You can see the players have the fight for each other," Thelin told BBC Scotland. "They're really trying. I liked their approach, that they run so much. They keep running.

"We also need to find the rhythm again, the dynamic of the team. We have the quality, we just need to find the rhythm of the game again.

"Sometimes when the dynamic is there, you lose the ball and the opponents get the momentum too easily. That's the part we have to improve, because we have done it.

"We've taken points away from Hibernian and Hearts this week, that's a tough week. We want to get to Pittodrie and try again."

Charles Leclerc says Ferrari will give the fight for the Formula One constructors' championship their all in the final weekend at Abu Dhabi.

The Ferrari star finished second at the Qatar Grand Prix behind Max Verstappen, but bettered both McLaren drivers' positions, with Oscar Piastri in third and Lando Norris in 10th after he received a 10-second stop-go penalty.

That result means there are now just 21 points separating Ferrari and leaders McLaren in the constructors' championship ahead of the final race.

Leclerc has now finished on the podium 12 times in 2024, his best year in F1, surpassing his previous best of 11 in 2022. He is also now just nine points behind Norris in the drivers’ standings.

Ferrari knows a big result is needed in Abu Dhabi next weekend, and Leclerc is looking forward to seeing how things pan out.

"It's difficult to know [how Ferrari will perform in Abu Dhabi]," he said.

"I think we are all close, so I think it's going to be very tight, but it's exciting. Twenty-one points is still a lot, and everything is possible. We will give it our all.

"I'm really happy, I mean honestly, I would have signed a paper that told me that we will finish second after a weekend like this.

"Especially on a track like this because our car's characteristics is not fitting very well with this track, and we knew it was going to be a difficult weekend compared to McLaren, but in the end, we managed to take some points from them, so yeah, the fight will be all the way to the last race in Abu Dhabi next week."

Leclerc's team-mate Carlos Sainz finished in sixth after he suffered a puncture on lap 36 due to debris on the track.

"Honestly, I don't know if it was the debris or the way the kerbs are. I just ignored it because I knew that there was too much performance in it, and I was just hoping to not have a puncture myself as well," Leclerc added.

"For the debris, I was staying left on the straights, hoping it wouldn't bite me, and it didn't. It's a shame for Carlos. Obviously, as a team, it would have been great to be further up with Carlos, but it's the way it goes, and it's still a positive weekend for the team."

Danny Rohl pinpointed Barry Bannan as a characterisation of a battling Sheffield Wednesday performance after his fine finish in Sunday's 2-1 win over Derby County.

Ebou Adams needed just nine minutes to open the scoring for Paul Warne's hosts at Pride Park, only for Wednesday to turn things around after the interval.

Bannan started the revival with a sumptuous left-footed effort, chipping over the stranded Jacob Widell Zetterstrom and into the top-left corner.

Jamal Lowe then snatched victory in the dying seconds, powering Wednesday to back-to-back victories for the first time this Championship season.

Rohl highlighted the role of Bannan in particular, lauding his desire to drag the Owls through hard-fought encounters.

"Barry is the same age as me and I can't run around like him," said Rohl. "He is the character of the team in a way.

"He shows brilliant willingness and desire to try and make things happen. After we went behind, step by step, we came back into it. We got a little bit more control.

"But while I'm happy with the result, I'm not happy with the performance. We need to do better overall, especially in a division as tough as this.

"It is a credit to my players that they came through. But I know we also need to improve and do better in certain aspects."

Jerry Yates had earlier spurned a brilliant opportunity to put Derby 2-0 up, with that miss coming back to haunt Warne's side, who are 15th and three places behind Wednesday.

"We created enough to win the game handsomely," Warne said. "I know people are frustrated with me but I've even had members of their staff, not apologise to me, but say that we didn't deserve that.

"We needed that second goal and we couldn't get it. Yes, we lost a little bit of control but overall I thought we did excellently. The lads are devastated in that dressing room.

"They are lower than a snake's belly in there so, because I think overall they've done really well, it's up to us to stay positive and bring that positivity to them.

"Honestly, I don't think I've ever felt this sorry from a defeat before because overall I thought the lads did great."

Like Rohl, Warne also praised the skill of Bannan's glorious leveller from 25 yards out.

"We just needed that second goal and unfortunately it remained elusive," Warne added.

"I thought it would take a wonder goal to get them back in it and Barry is probably the only player on the pitch who could have scored one like he did."

Max Verstappen was delighted with his and Red Bull's efforts after claiming his ninth win of the Formula One season at a chaotic Qatar Grand Prix on Sunday.

Verstappen followed up securing his fourth world title in Las Vegas with an impressive display, having been stripped of pole position shortly before the race. 

The Dutchman started the weekend with a disappointing eighth-place finish in the sprint race that was won by the McLaren of Oscar Piastri. 

But he made amends in some style, becoming only the third driver in F1 history to surpass the 3,000 points barrier after Lewis Hamilton (4,875) and Sebastian Vettel (3,098). 

After passing pole-sitter George Russell on the opening lap, Verstappen remained at the front of the pack for the duration of the 57-lap encounter. 

It is the 14th time he has led every lap in a single race and the first time since Bahrain earlier this year, surpassing Jim Clark's record of 13 in the competition. 

“It was a very good race. In qualifying, the car was a lot better and then [on Sunday] that first stint was very, very fast," Verstappen said.

"Lando [Norris] and I were making 1.8 seconds of each other the whole time and pushing each other, it was honestly a lot of fun out there.

“This track has a lot of grip and this year the tyres were really holding on, so, it was a lot of fun to really be pushing the tyres, and we went really long in that first stint.

"After that there were a lot of safety car moments when you had to take the car.

"I'm very happy it's been a long while in the drive and to be this competitive, and I'm very proud of everyone in the team turning it around, so they definitely deserve this victory."

Verstappen's victory saw Red Bull surpass 7,000 laps led in their F1 history thanks to his display, becoming the fifth team to reach that milestone in the competition. 

But his triumph was far from straightforward, with the safety car making an appearance on three occasions during the race for a number of incidents, leaving Verstappen to restart the race each time.

He ultimately held onto the lead as Russell was pushed wide late on, and explained after the race exactly what went wrong to leave him battling to protect top spot.

"On the hard tyres there was very little grip. You've just come out of the box so they're already cold, and then immediately, of course, we had the safety car," he added.

"Behind the safety car you can't warm them up, and then I tried something different at the last corner where I had no rear grip, so I just struggled for traction out of the corner.

"It got a bit spicy into Turn 1, but I think that's great to see. After that, we drove it to the end with good pace so very happy to win here."

Antonio Conte was pleased Napoli responded to his plea for improvement by claiming a 1-0 win over Torino in Serie A on Sunday.

Napoli got back to winning ways last weekend with a 1-0 home win over Roma and maintained that momentum thanks to Scott McTominay's strike after suffering a 3-0 loss to Atalanta followed by a 1-1 draw at Inter earlier in November.

The Partenopei have now beaten Torino 52 times in Serie A, and only against Lazio (54), have they won more games in the Italian top-flight (52, also against Fiorentina).

Despite that slight dip, Napoli remain top of the standings, four points clear of the teams below them.

"I have a group of guys who really understand when I ask them to improve. This is the aspect I like the most, beyond the result and the standings," Conte told a press conference.

"We are growing as individuals and as a team... Torino are a great team. I was really afraid of this game. I lived in Turin for more than thirty years. I warned the guys, [and got] a mature response."

Torino keeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic, brilliant throughout the day, dived to keep out a low back-heel shot by Romelu Lukaku, who made his 350th start in the top five European leagues, that could have opened the scoring for Napoli in the 23rd minute.

The Serbia goalkeeper showed off his reflexes again when he stretched to deny Khvicha Kvaratskhelia's header one minute later and continued to thwart Napoli's attack after the restart.

"Sometimes you take refuge in the result. Today we created, but there was a great goalkeeper who prevented us from being more relaxed at the end," Conte added.

McTominay eventually found a way past the Torino keeper in the 31st minute when he struck a shot powerfully inside the near post.

"He is a boy who was not a protagonist at [Manchester] United. I knew him well because I frequented the Premier League, he has quality," Conte said.

"We were lucky because he agreed to come in a situation in which we were not playing in Europe, having finished in 10th place. He could have seen Napoli as a demotion, instead, he came to be a protagonist."

Despite his satisfaction with the result and his side's growing form, the Italian coach pointed out that Napoli will need reinforcements if they keep up their good form and return to Europe next season.

"Looking at the other teams, how they've equipped themselves also in view of the commitments in Europe, and if we were to be good at getting into Europe, you will have to strengthen this squad... The president must know that," he said.

"Today we have 21 outfield players, and we have done what a team that only plays in the league and the Italian Cup does."

John McGinn insists Aston Villa's Champions League exploits is not excuse for the club's difficult run of form, following their defeat to Chelsea.

Unai Emery's side have made a promising start to their first campaign in Europe's premier club competition in over 40 years, registering 10 points from their opening five matches.

However, they have struggled to build on that momentum and, after losing 3-0 at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, are now without a win in their last eight games across all competitions.

Nevertheless, McGinn believes Villa's continental adventure has not affected him and his team-mates, and is adamant they can turn their fortunes around, having dropped to 12th place in the Premier League table.

"I'm not sure if it can be an excuse because we had a more difficult turnaround last season," the skipper said. "The Conference League games, Thursday to Sunday, are much more difficult to recover from.

"It's an easy excuse, but not one we want to use. We know we are good enough to compete and get results like this. We need to get back to the levels we have reached over the last few seasons.

"We're in a tough moment as a group, so it's important for us to stick together; don't let what we have built break, take the responsibility, take the criticism that will probably come our way.

"We've still got an opportunity to do something really special this season. We have a game on Wednesday and then on Saturday, so we have to turn it around quickly."

Emery concurs Villa must do better, but has encouraged them to keep plugging away.

"Today, Chelsea were better than us," he said. "They played like they are now feeling confident with the players they have. We had our moments, but we didn't score. 

"We believe completely in our work. We are enjoying the Champions League and in the league, we are more or less under where we were.

"There are still matches to play and we are going to recover our confidence, trying to build the team. We have to try to be better than we are being now. We can, individually, do better."

Arne Slot believes his Liverpool team "came close to perfection" during their 2-0 win over Manchester City to go nine points clear at the top of the Premier League table. 

Liverpool piled more misery on Pep Guardiola's side, with goals from Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah compounding the Citizens to a sixth defeat in seven matches. 

And the Reds were worthy of their win. They accumulated an expected goals (xG) tally of 3.35 from their 18 shots compared to City's measly 0.82 from their eight efforts. 

Liverpool's lead at the summit is their biggest margin as leaders in the competition since the final day of the 2019-20 campaign when they won their last title (18 points).

Though Slot did not want to get carried away with his latest victory, he lauded his side for their display at Anfield. 

"Yeah [it was almost a perfect match], and if you look at the work-rate, I think it was perfect. The amount of chances we missed made it tight at the end," Slot said. 

"But maybe that's nice for matches like this. It should be like this. But it would have been nicer to score the second goal earlier.

"We always press high, but they're so good at build-up. So you have to work very hard. Our players had energy. Apart from our players, the crowd was fantastic today. 

"We're a compatible team, and it's difficult to beat us. But also we have to put the effort in. But we have injuries. We had to take Trent [Alexander-Arnold] off. It would have been a risk.

"These are the challenges we face at the moment, but every team has to face these challenges over a season. Next week is a big week against Newcastle and Everton.

"Ideally, I would have loved to have seen the second half being the same as the first half. But the quality of the other team.

"If you want to win against City you have to be perfect in every part of the game. High press, low press, build-up. They bring so many problems to you.

"We came close to perfection. We weren't perfect, but we came close to perfection. That's the only way to beat a quality team like City.

"I don't think anyone, including me, would have predicted this [start]. I knew Jurgen [Klopp] left the team in a very good place.

"But still, to win so much with all the difficult teams we have played already is not something you could predict at the start of the season.

"But, like I say, I saw Arsenal yesterday and Chelsea today and I saw City. They will come back because these teams have so much quality.

"They could go on the same run as us. So we have to stay sharp and focused."

However, Slot also highlighted his side's missed chances, with Liverpool perhaps unfortunate not to end the encounter with a more handsome scoreline. 

Salah perhaps squandered the best of those opportunities, firing over after intercepting a pass from Bernardo Silva with only Stefan Ortega to beat. 

"That's true. Although I watched this game every time when I was not working here, maybe this game deserved the way it went because it was special until the end," he added.

"But if you only look at it from a Liverpool perspective, it would not have been strange if we were two goals up at half-time or any other point of the game.

"City were dominating possession but still the chances were for us.

"You have 90 minutes of concern when you play City because they can cause you troubles or problems in every single second of the game.

"Even if you are 2-0 up you think like this. I saw a game with my former club doing something special.

"But no, you never feel comfortable when you play City because of the quality of their players and their manager."

Pep Guardiola wants to "reset and start from zero" after Manchester City suffered a 2-0 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield.

Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah got the goals for the Reds as they moved 11 points clear of City, who sit in fifth, at the top of the table.

The reigning champions suffered their fourth consecutive Premier League defeat, their longest such run since August 2008, while they are now winless in seven in all competitions.

In fact, it is the first time Guardiola has lost four league matches in a row during his managerial career.

City were outplayed on Sunday, not registering their first shot until the 39th minute, their longest wait in a Premier League match since April 2010 against Arsenal (58 minutes).

"The first 15-20 minutes they were unstoppable, they started so strong, we tried to play with a lot of control and passes, but it was difficult to take it," Guardiola told Sky Sports.

"They deserved the first goal, but we started the first half so well and played well in the second half without too much threat. I know how strong Liverpool are in both boxes.

"I congratulate them, and we'll reset and start from zero, and it is difficult to believe it. I rely a lot on these players. I know they are doing in this position. We'll see what happens by the end of the season.

"We can always do the short passes, and we can do it, but we don't have many alternatives. All I can say is thank you to them because I know the commitment that they showed with and without the ball. Maybe I had a feeling inside me that we will build from them. We will restart and try and make a good run.

"There is a moment where maybe it will click. I congratulate Liverpool, they deserve the victory, and we accept the situation right now, and we'll build from that."

Liverpool fans were heard chanting "You're getting sacked in the morning" before the final whistle rang out at Anfield, with Guardiola holding up six fingers – one for each Premier League title he has won – as a reminder of City's recent dominance.

"All the stadiums want to sack me, it started at Brighton!" he said. "Maybe they are right with the results we've been having.

"I didn't expect that at Anfield. They didn't do it at 1-0, but at 2-0. Maybe they should have sung it in the past.

"I didn't expect it from the people from Liverpool, but it's fine, it's part of the game, and I understand completely. We've had incredible battles together. I have a respect for them."

City have won the Premier League in each of the last four seasons but have given themselves a mountain to climb if they want to repeat the feat for an unprecedented fifth year.

According to the Opta supercomputer, they now have just a 4.4% chance of clinching the title again, having had a 9.5% chance before the start of the weekend.

"I said before this game that we weren't in a position to think about targets, but the season is long," Guardiola added.

"We have to think about making results and then some players will come back, and then we'll be better, and we'll believe, maybe. There are many things to fight for and we're going to try."