Jurgen Klopp reaches 1,000 games as a head coach and manager on Saturday when Liverpool tackle Chelsea, and it has been quite a ride.

From a relegation battle with Mainz in the German second division to the heights of Champions League glory with Liverpool, Klopp has achieved more than anyone expected of a man whose playing career was distinctly modest.

It would be stretching it to say the signs were there from day one, but they were certainly there from day two.

Klopp was named as an interim replacement for Eckhard Krautzun when Mainz decided on a change of leader on February 27, 2001.

One day later, Klopp made his debut as a coach in the second tier of the Bundesliga. He had been a player in the team until that point, but this marked the beginning of a new chapter.

Club president Harald Strutz, quoted in the Rheinische Post at the time, voiced the suggestion the interim boss could stake a claim for the full-time job.

"Maybe that will be a permanent solution," Strutz said, presciently.

Midfielder Christof Babatz, who would be a significant figure in Mainz's rise to the Bundesliga under Klopp, then said after the first game resulted in a 1-0 win over Duisburg: "The coach teased that certain something out of us."

And so began the story of Klopp's touchline career, one centred on teasing out the very best from the talent at his disposal, nurturing prospects into polished performers, and tallying trophies along the way. From Mainz, to Borussia Dortmund, and eventually to Liverpool, Klopp has delivered on that initial leap of faith.

There have been league titles, cup triumphs and big European final nights with Liverpool and Dortmund, plus promotion and even a relegation during his formative Mainz days.

Here, Stats Perform looks at those first 999 games, as Opta data shows some essential numbers behind one of the 21st century's great coaching careers.

Pep, Howe, Hecking and Magath – Klopp's rivalries

Klopp has faced Pep Guardiola more than any other rival manager, going head-to-head with the Catalan 27 times across their careers.

There have been notable defeats along the way, including the 2014 DFB-Pokal final, when Klopp's Dortmund went down 2-0 to Guardiola's Bayern, and the 5-0 and 4-0 thrashings meted out by Manchester City to Liverpool in September 2017 and July 2020, both of which rank among the top nine heaviest defeats Klopp has had to stomach.

However, Klopp has the overall upper hand across their meetings, winning 11, drawing seven and losing nine of those games.

He has faced only one other boss more than 20 times: German Dieter Hecking, against whom Klopp pitted his wits 21 times, winning 11, drawing five and losing five. Hecking bossed Lubeck, Alemannia Aachen, Hannover, Nurnberg and Wolfsburg during Klopp's time in the German leagues.

Klopp certainly has a happy record against Newcastle United's former Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe, achieving 11 wins from their 13 meetings.

This shows the most wins Klopp has had against any boss is 11, against Guardiola, Hecking and Howe, while it can be revealed the team he has beaten the most are Freiburg (13 times), followed by Crystal Palace, Nurnberg and Arsenal (all 12).

His real nemesis appears to have been Felix Magath, the former Stuttgart, Bayern, Wolfsburg and Schalke coach. In 14 games against Magath teams, Klopp won only three times, losing eight.

Bayern have had the most wins against Klopp, with 16. No other team have reached double figures, with Hamburg, Schalke and Wolfsburg (all nine) next on the list.

The milestones, the biggest and the best... and the games he'd rather forget

Klopp won that first match of his career against Duisburg, and to date he has never lost on each 100th game on his way towards 1,000 as a boss.

There have been wins against the way against Bochum (200th game), Werder Bremen (300th), his old club Mainz (400th), Freiburg (500th) and Southampton (600th), and draws on his 700th, 800th and 900th games, against Newcastle, Chelsea and Real Madrid, respectively. Klopp's 100th game was also a draw, against Unterhaching with Mainz.

His biggest win was the 9-0 trouncing that Liverpool dished out to Bournemouth in August of this season, and his Liverpool team have also hit seven in a game five times (Maribor, Spartak Moscow, Crystal Palace, Lincoln City and Rangers), while his biggest win as a boss in Germany was Dortmund's 6-0 crushing of Arminia Bielefeld in May 2009.

Klopp has suffered four defeats by five-goal margins, the worst he has had to endure, with Aston Villa inflicting two of those: 7-2 in October 2020 and 5-0 in December 2019 – albeit the latter with Klopp and his frontline Liverpool stars out of the country on Club World Cup duty. There was also a 6-1 torching for Mainz at the hands of Werder Bremen in October 2006, and Liverpool's 5-0 whipping by Guardiola's City.

When it comes to promoting young talent, Klopp has rarely hesitated. His youngest player was Harvey Elliott, now a first-team squad regular at Liverpool, who faced MK Dons in the EFL Cup at the age of 16 years and 174 days in September 2019.

Klopp has fielded five 16-year-olds for Liverpool, plus seven 17-year-olds, while he also gave chances to the 17-year-old Mario Gotze at Dortmund, and Mario Vrancic, also 17, during his time at Mainz. Gotze went on to become a World Cup final match-winner.

His oldest player was Peter Neustadter, a Kazakh defender who was older than Klopp himself, aged 37 years and 176 days, when he turned out for Mainz against Alemannia Aachen in the Bundesliga's second tier in August 2003.

Warhorse midfielder James Milner could yet break that record as the oldest Liverpool player to have appeared for Klopp, aged 37 years and 13 days when he played in the recent FA Cup replay win against Wolves this week.

James Woodburn remains the youngest scorer for Klopp after hitting the net against Leeds in an EFL Cup clash in November 2016 at the age of 17 years and 45 days, while Sebastian Kehl ranks as his oldest scorer – 35 years and 53 days old when he bagged for Dortmund against Hoffenheim in a DFB-Pokal quarter-final in April 2015.

Klopp's kingpins

Roberto Firmino has played more games for Klopp than anyone, racking up 341 outings for Liverpool under the manager, with Milner (301) next on the list.

When it comes to starters, though, we get a different picture, with former Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller top of the list with 280 games, followed by another BVB stalwart, Neven Subotic (278), and then Firmino (277 starts). Milner is a long way down that list, with 112 of the veteran's appearances for Klopp having come as a substitute.

Mohamed Salah has made 282 appearances and 261 starts for Klopp, and when it comes to scorers for the Reds manager, the brilliant Egyptian is the untouchable number one.

His 173 goals put him streets ahead of Klopp's next highest scorer, Sadio Mane (120), with Firmino (107) and former Dortmund supreme finisher Robert Lewandowski (103) being the only other players to reach three figures.

Among players with 10 or more goals for Klopp teams, Salah has also scored at the fastest rate, netting once every 133 minutes, with Lewandowski in a tie for second place with Darwin Nunez, both scoring at one per 139 minutes. Nunez scrapes onto the list, having scored 10 times so far.

Lewandowski hit four hat-tricks for Klopp's Dortmund, while Salah has managed five for Liverpool under the German.

Both men once hit four in a game for Klopp, with Lewandowski doing so in a Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid, and Salah in a Premier League match against Watford.

The manager teased plenty out of those two down the years, and Klopp will doubtless look to Salah, a former Chelsea player, to ensure his 1,000th game brings cause for celebration.

Bayern Munich were pegged back by RB Leipzig as the Bundesliga returned with an entertaining 1-1 draw on Friday.

Marcel Halstenberg struck in the 52nd minute at Red Bull Arena to draw third-placed Leipzig level against the league leaders.

Julian Nagelsmann had seen his team take the lead against his former club eight minutes before half-time, with Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting picking up where he left off before the World Cup break.

Bayern were lucky ex-Leipzig defender Dayot Upamecano stayed on the pitch after a rash challenge on Dominik Szoboszlai, but the visitors' run of 10 successive wins in all competitions came to a halt regardless.

Jamal Musiala was a rare bright spot for Germany in Qatar, and the teenager teed up the first chance when he played in Serge Gnabry, whose shot was deflected against the post by another World Cup star Josko Gvardiol.

Leon Goretzka thought he had nosed Bayern ahead when he nodded in from Choupo-Moting's flick-on, but the goal was disallowed for Matthijs de Ligt straying offside in the build-up, with the VAR upholding the linesman's decision.

Bayern were not to be denied the lead, though, with Choupo-Moting turning in his seventh Bundesliga goal of the season after meeting Gnabry's pinpoint left-wing cross.

Yann Sommer had little to do in the first half, but the Bayern debutant was picking the ball out of his net seven minutes after the restart.

Joshua Kimmich's slack pass put Bayern in trouble, with the champions failing to clear their lines and eventually allowing Halstenberg to prod home from close range despite appeals for a foul in the build-up.

Upamecano was fortunate to escape a red card when he scythed down Szoboszlai and appeared to be the last defender, yet Bayern made their luck count to come away with a point.

Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris has blamed a lack of "mental freshness" for his recent costly errors, which he puts down to France's run to the World Cup final.

Lloris played in six of France's seven matches in Qatar, including a full part in their 3-3 final draw against Argentina after extra time that ended in a 4-2 defeat on penalties.

The 36-year-old, who has since called time on his international career, returned to club action with Spurs on January 1 and has made a spate of errors in his four games since.

He was beaten too easily by Riyad Mahrez in Spurs' 4-2 collapse at Manchester City on Thursday, having also been at fault for goals against Aston Villa and Arsenal.

Indeed, his four errors leading to goals – as defined by Opta – are more than those of any other goalkeeper across Europe's top five leagues in all competitions this season.

On the back of a tough month for club and country, Lloris accepts the criticism he is facing.

"I can't complain. You're a professional and you just follow a rhythm," he told the Evening Standard. 

"When you're involved with the national team and you go until the last day of the World Cup, you come back and miss mental freshness. But you need to get back on track.

"When you look at the Arsenal goal, I can be in a good position, but the deflection hit the ball on my chest and with the spin it goes over [the line]. 

"It's something that even if I wanted to do on purpose, I can't. Even on Thursday, when you look at the third [City] goal, a deflection makes the ball go over my knee."

After conceding four second-half goals against City, Tottenham have now conceded 31 goals after 20 Premier League games – their highest tally since the 2007-08 season (36).

Spurs have lost three of their past four league games ahead of Monday's visit to Fulham and are five points off the top four, having played a game more than the sides above them.

Despite crumbling against City, though, Lloris insists his side do not collectively have a mentality issue.

"When you look at the guys working every day, we can't blame anyone," he said. "We have probably lacked consistency in our performances. 

"I believe we struggle a bit to play 90 to 95 minutes at our best, things we were able to do last season, especially in the last two to three months.

"But the most important period is ahead of us: February, March, April and May is where you play for everything, and it’s important going forward to get our level back."

An emotionally charged encounter is on the cards when the Buffalo Bills host the Cincinnati Bengals in the Divisional round given the events when the two sides met just over two weeks ago.

In the Week 17 contest in Cincinnati, Damar Hamlin's collapse and cardiac arrest brought the NFL to a standstill.

Now, the Bills will continue to be spurred on by news of Hamlin's improving health throughout the playoffs – not that they have needed much help of late.

A 34-31 Wild Card victory against the Miami Dolphins was the third playoff game in a row in which they have scored at least 34 points. Prior to this run, the Bills had tallied 34 or more points in just five of their first 34 playoff games.

Buffalo are 11-2 in the postseason when scoring at least 28 points, compared to a 7-17 record when scoring 27 or fewer.

The Bills will have confidence in Josh Allen to lead them to another big score after his latest impressive playoff showing. His 352 passing yards against the Dolphins last week represented the third-best such performance by a Bills quarterback in the playoffs, behind only Jim Kelly (405 in the 1989 Divisional round) and Doug Flutie (360 in the 1998 Wild Card round).

It was Allen's fourth playoff game with at least 300 passing yards and multiple touchdown passes, making him one of only 10 players in NFL history to have at least four such games. He has only played seven playoff games in total.

The Bengals might represent a step up, however, with this the first game at the Divisional round or earlier in NFL history to have both teams entering on winning streaks of at least eight games.

Both previous playoff encounters between the sides have gone in the Bengals' favour, although their last postseason meeting was in the 1988 season.

The Bengals reached this stage with a 24-17 victory against the Baltimore Ravens, which made this the first time they have had wins in back-to-back postseasons.

Even so, they have a knack for close playoff games, with their last six all decided by seven or fewer points.

To come out on top in another tight matchup, the Bengals will need to do a better job of protecting Joe Burrow, who was sacked four times against the Ravens and has been sacked 23 times in his five career playoff games, tied with Wade Wilson from 1987 to 1989 for the most through a QB's first five playoff starts since at least 1970.

An NFC East rivalry clash between the Philadelphia Eagles and the New York Giants in the Divisional Round might seem set to be one-sided.

The Eagles won both of their games against the Giants in the regular season.

A series sweep for the first time in three seasons boosted a dominant record for the Eagles against the Giants in recent history, having won 20 of 26 meetings since 2010.

However, they have never beaten a team three times in the same season.

Playoff encounters between the Eagles and the Giants are split down the middle with two wins each. The last such encounter came in the 2008 Divisional Round, which saw Philadelphia become the first sixth seed in the NFC to defeat the top seed.

When coming off a bye in the Divisional Round against a team who played in the Wild Card round, the Eagles stand 3-0 and are 5-0 at home in this stage of the playoffs all-time – the best record for any side in NFL history.

In a bid to continue that run, Jalen Hurts will look wide to inflict damage upon the Giants, with 65.4 per cent (200) of the quarterback's 306 completions this season being to wide receivers – of QBs with at least 250 completions this season, only the Miami Dolphins' Tua Tagovailoa had a higher percentage (72.2).

The Eagles also possess a giant killer on the ground. Running back Boston Scott has scored a touchdown in all eight of his career appearances against the Giants (10 total), tied for the third-longest such streak against New York in the league.

While all of that will be a concern to the Giants, they enter the encounter with an impressive run of results away from home in the playoffs.

Victory in Minnesota against the Vikings in the Wild Card round secured the Giants' sixth triumph in seven road playoff games dating back to the 2007 season, with only the Baltimore Ravens (eight) having more postseason road wins in that time.

Daniel Jones enters the game on the back of a stellar performance, throwing for 301 yards and rushing for 75 against the Vikings to become the third player all-time to have at least 300 yards in the air and 75 on the ground in a playoff game, joining Lamar Jackson and Steve Young.

Jones' aerial tally against the Vikings was his third-highest this season, behind 341 yards in Week 11 against the Detroit Lions and 334 yards against Minnesota in Week 16.

However, it was the only game of the three where the Giants emerged victorious.

While hitting such numbers against the Eagles could well be too much to ask, Jones will certainly need to improve upon his total of 169 from Week 14 against Philadelphia – his third-lowest tally on the season.

Chelsea have an opportunity to truly turn a corner under Graham Potter when they face Liverpool in Jurgen Klopp's 1,000th game as a manager.

Just four months into the job, Potter had to fend off questions regarding his future on the back of a run of one win in eight matches, six of those ending in defeat.

Last weekend's slender 1-0 win over Crystal Palace has brought the "buzz" back to Chelsea, in the view of Potter, but another loss at Anfield on Saturday could change all that.

Tenth-place Chelsea are not the only Premier League giant to have struggled this term, with opponents Liverpool level on points in ninth, albeit having played a game less.

Indeed, this weekend's meeting will mark the first time since the 2015-16 campaign that both sides have been outside the top six at this stage of a season.

Stats Perform has picked out the standout Opta numbers to preview the big game, with both clubs needing to put a strong run together to have any change of securing a top-four finish.

Poor form laid bare

Chelsea have won just two of their past 10 Premier League matches, collecting nine points from a possible 30 in that period.

Both of those victories – against Bournemouth late last month before seeing off Palace  – have been on home soil, with the Blues winless in five away top-flight matches since mid-October.

Liverpool's form has been equally as patchy, having lost back-to-back league games in 2023 against Brentford and Brighton and Hove Albion, the two sides directly above them.

They picked up their first win of the year in all competitions at the fourth attempt against Wolves in the FA Cup on Tuesday to lift the gloom.

Not since 1953 have the Reds started a year with three straight league losses.

Draws galore

Both teams are therefore in need of a victory if they are to make up any ground on the top four, though this fixture has often ended all square in recent times.

The two league games last season were drawn – 1-1 at Anfield in August and 2-2 at Stamford Bridge five months later, with Chelsea recovering from two goals down in the latter.

Then came the EFL and FA Cup finals contested in the space of three months that defined both sides' seasons; each ending goalless before Liverpool prevailed on penalties.

Never before have Liverpool and Chelsea drawn three consecutive league games, though, so that streak looks set to end this weekend.

No home comforts

Preceding that run of draws, Chelsea won 1-0 at Anfield in March 2021 – Mason Mont scoring the only goal – to continue an interesting sequence in this fixture.

The home team has won just three of the past 17 league games between Liverpool and Chelsea – and none in the Reds' case since July 2020 on the day they lifted the title.

Due to the high number of draws, though, Liverpool have lost only two of their past 15 top-flight games with Chelsea at Anfield, winning six and having to settle for a point seven times in that sequence.

Mudryk to make his mark?

One of the big factors behind Liverpool's drop-off this season has been their struggles at the back, having conceded 25 goals in 18 games – compared to 26 in 38 last season.

Should they concede against Chelsea, it will be the first time since between May and October 2016 they have gone nine successive Premier League games without a clean sheet.

Not since December 1953 have they shipped three-or-more goals in three straight top-flight matches, meanwhile, which they are risk of doing on Saturday. 

But that seems highly unlikely on the face of it as Chelsea have only scored more than twice in a league game once this season, coming in October's 3-0 win at Wolves.

Mykhailo Mudryk's arrival has bolstered Chelsea's attack, and he is out to become the first Ukrainian to score on their Premier League debut.

The San Francisco 49ers Divisional Round clash against the Dallas Cowboys is a game where the number 11 tells a different story for both sides.

For the 49ers, their run of 11 straight wins, each of which has come without multiple turnovers, puts them in good stead to advance to the penultimate round of the playoffs under the stewardship of rookie quarterback Brock Purdy.

No side in NFL history has ever recorded 11 consecutive wins in a single season without conceding multiple turnovers in any of those games, with the last such occasion for the 49ers being a trio of turnovers against Kansas City in Week 7 – the second game in a row that saw three turnovers for San Francisco.

The 49ers' winning run has come with Purdy, the last pick of the 2022 NFL Draft, excelling in a remarkable run that could result in accolades should San Francisco go all the way.

Purdy has become one of 12 QBs in NFL history to enjoy a six-start undefeated stint with 120.0 or better passer rating and had his team score over 200 points, with all the previous 11 either winning the Super Bowl or an MVP award in their careers.

Despite throwing three touchdown passes and accumulating 332 passing yards against the Seattle Seahawks in the Wild Card round, Purdy was not at his best, finishing the game with 60 per cent passing accuracy, completing 18 of 30 attempts.

While Purdy boasted the third-most passing yards of the Wild Card round, behind only Josh Allen (352) and Tom Brady (351), only Tyler Huntley threw fewer completions (17) in last week's contests.

Averaging 11.07 yards per completion, incomplete passes did not hinder the 49ers against Seattle but better efficiency against the Cowboys may be required.

In contrast to the 49ers' fine winning streak this season, Dallas are looking to bring an end to a disappointing franchise record, having failed to reach the Championship Game in their last 11 playoff appearances.

Dallas' last Championship Game appearance came 27 years ago, on their way to victory at Super Bowl XXX, with their streak being the longest across the NFL in that regard.

Victory against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last week was only their fifth playoff win since Super Bowl XXX, and the Cowboys' hopes rest on Dak Prescott.

Prescott enters the game on the back of a stellar performance against the Buccaneers, where he became the first QB in NFL history to complete 75 per cent of his passes (when counting players with at least 30 attempts), throw four TD passes without an interception and rush for 20 yards and a TD in a single game.

A similar performance will likely be required to cause an upset against the in-form 49ers, though last season's defeat in the Wild Card game at home to San Francisco may serve as encouragement.

Maria Sakkari joined eight of her fellow co-stars from the Netflix series Break Point in suffering an early exit from the Australian Open.

Of the 10 players to have featured in the series, which first aired on the streaming platform last week, only Felix Auger-Aliassime remains following Sakkari's defeat to Lin Zhu on Friday.

Sakkari, the WTA sixth seed, went down 7-6 1-6 6-4 to world number 87 Lin, who claimed her first victory over a top-10 opponent.

Lin became the sixth Chinese female player to reach the fourth round at the Australian Open in the Open Era.

"I mean honestly, am I in a dream?" Lin said in her on-court interview.

"I have to believe in myself that I have the ability to be able to play at this high level. Who knows what's going to happen? You never know."

She added in her press conference: "It means a lot. It makes me believe that I can play at this level and I can beat a player like her.

"It took me a long time to get here, and so that's why I'm so emotional. This is not the end. Let's keep going."

Sakkari's defeat saw the Greek join Thanasi Kokkinakis, Taylor Fritz, Matteo Berrettini, Casper Ruud and Ons Jabeur in exiting the season's first grand slam within the opening three rounds.

Ruud and Jabeur were the respective second seeds in the men's and women's singles, while Berrettini and Kokkinakis both fell foul of a resurgent Andy Murray, whose victory comeback over Kokkinakis lasted almost six hours and went on beyond 4:00 am local time.

Nick Kyrgios, Ajla Tomljanovic and Paula Badosa also featured in the five-part Netflix series, which will air its second batch of episodes later in the year, but all three withdrew from the Australian Open due to injury.

A downcast Sakkari, who had rubbished the suggestion of any "Netflix curse" in a previous press conference, told reporters: "I think that my level was not good at all. I started the match by being very defensive and not hitting the ball, just being scared of playing my game.

"She had basically nothing to lose. She was playing free. She was enjoying herself. She was playing very, very well. I didn't handle the situation well.

"She was barely missing anything, [not] making any unforced errors. That's how I felt. She was very solid from both sides. I've seen her on the tour. I've never seen her playing that well, to be honest.

"Of course, beating Jil [Teichmann] in the round before, she was pretty pumped and motivated to have a good result here. She has achieved it already by beating two very good players."

Lin's next opponent will be two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka, who became the eighth female player in the Open Era to win 45+ main draw matches at the Australian Open by beating Madison Keys 1-6 6-2 6-1.

Azarenka joins Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, Lindsay Davenport, Venus Williams, Martina Hingis, Steffi Graf and Martina Navratilova on that list.

"She's a great champion," Lin said of Azarenka. "She's a great player. I will just keep playing like I played today and trust myself, enjoy the match. Who knows?"

For the first time in 20 years, four or fewer of the top eight seeds in the men's singles will progress to the fourth round of the Australian Open.

Daniil Medvedev's defeat to Sebastian Korda on Friday meant he joined Casper Ruud, Taylor Fritz and defending champion Rafael Nadal in heading home early from the season's first grand slam.

According to Opta, it is the first time since 2003 that the round of 16 in Melbourne will include four or fewer of the top eight players in the competition.  

Nine-time champion Novak Djokovic, meanwhile, is struggling with injury ahead of his third-round tie with Grigor Dimitrov on Saturday, while world number six and fifth seed Andrey Rublev faces a tough test against Dan Evans.

Stefanos Tsitsipas is sure of his place in round four after the Greek third seed beat Tallon Griekspoor in straight sets. Felix Auger-Aliassime will go up against Jiri Lehecka for a place in the last eight.

Newcastle United striker Chris Wood has joined Nottingham Forest on an initial loan deal, which is set to become permanent at the end of the season.

Wood only signed for Newcastle in January 2022, leaving then-relegation rivals Burnley in a £25million move.

Although Burnley were subsequently relegated, Newcastle stayed up comfortably under Eddie Howe and a year later are well in contention for Champions League qualification.

But having started 15 of his 17 Premier League appearances for the Magpies last term, Wood's 18 outings in this campaign have included only four starts and account for a meagre 437 minutes.

Wood found himself behind the fit-again Callum Wilson and club-record signing Alexander Isak in the pecking order, with the New Zealand international having scored just four times across 35 appearances.

He will instead spend at least the rest of the season at Forest, who have recruited Wood following news of an injury to Taiwo Awoniyi as they bid to secure their Premier League status for next season.

The agreement contains "a conditional obligation to become a permanent deal", Forest confirmed, with reports suggesting the achievable criteria of those conditions will lead to a £15m move.

Wood was no longer a starter at St James' Park, but only Jacob Murphy (36) had made more Premier League appearances for Newcastle since his arrival from Burnley, and Howe wants a replacement for the 31-year-old forward.

Ahead of the transfer on Friday, Howe said: "Hopefully, we're planning to replace him.

"Certainly, from my side, there was no thought of letting a player go and not replacing [them]. I think that would leave us dangerously short of players."

Howe acknowledged the club were now in a "difficult situation" in the transfer market but recognised Wood's departure represented "a very good deal financially".

Arsenal have completed the signing of Leandro Trossard from Brighton and Hove Albion for a reported £27million.

The Belgium international has agreed a long-term deal at Emirates Stadium, which is thought to run through until July 2027.

Premier League leaders Arsenal confirmed the news on their official website on Friday, with the versatile midfielder eligible to play against Manchester United this weekend.

"It is good work from everyone at the club to complete the signing of Leandro," Mikel Arteta said. 

"He is a versatile player with high technical ability, intelligence and a great deal of experience in the Premier League and at international level.

"Leandro strengthens our squad as we head into the second part of the season and we’re all looking forward to working with him."

Arsenal made no secret of their desire to bring in attacking reinforcements this month, with Mykhaylo Mudryk initially seen to be their primary target.

But Chelsea beat them to the signing of the Ukraine international last week despite Mudryk appearing eager to move to north London.

Shakhtar Donetsk confirmed Arsenal matched the reported £89m (€100m) bid of Chelsea in monetary terms, but they felt the variables and bonuses in the Blues' offer were more realistic.

However, some might feel Trossard is a less risky signing and represents better value.

Arsenal are thought to have been keen on Trossard since before he joined Brighton from Genk in 2019, and at the Amex Stadium he has blossomed into a high-level winger who offers both a goalscoring threat and creativity.

Since the start of last season, Trossard is one of just seven players to score at least 14 Premier League goals (excluding penalties) and create more than 65 chances in open play – the others are Harry Kane, Mohamed Salah, Kevin De Bruyne, Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka and Bruno Fernandes.

Arsenal's north London rivals Tottenham had also been credited with an interest, though recent reports suggested a £12m bid by Spurs was "laughed off".

Trossard had been keen to leave Brighton after falling out with head coach Roberto De Zerbi, who criticised the winger's attitude earlier this month after taking him out of the team.

Arsenal have completed the signing of Leandro Trossard from Brighton and Hove Albion for a reported £27million.

The Belgium international has agreed a long-term deal at Emirates Stadium, which is thought to run through until July 2027.

Arsenal made no secret of their desire to bring in attacking reinforcements this month, with Mykhaylo Mudryk initially seen to be their primary target.

But Chelsea beat them to the signing of the Ukraine international last week despite Mudryk appearing eager to move to north London.

Shakhtar Donetsk confirmed Arsenal matched the reported £89m (€100m) bid of Chelsea in monetary terms, but they felt the variables and bonuses in the Blues' offer were more realistic.

However, some might feel Trossard is a less risky signing and represents better value.

Arsenal are thought to have been keen on Trossard since before he joined Brighton from Genk in 2019, and at the Amex Stadium he has blossomed into a high-level winger who offers both a goalscoring threat and creativity.

Since the start of last season, Trossard is one of just seven players to score at least 14 Premier League goals (excluding penalties) and create more than 65 chances in open play – the others are Harry Kane, Mohamed Salah, Kevin De Bruyne, Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka and Bruno Fernandes.

Arsenal's north London rivals Tottenham had also been credited with an interest, though recent reports suggested a £12m bid by Spurs was "laughed off".

Trossard had been keen to leave Brighton after falling out with head coach Roberto De Zerbi, who criticised the winger's attitude earlier this month after taking him out of the team.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

David Raya (Leeds United v Brentford)

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

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

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

Dan Burn (Crystal Palace v Newcastle United)

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

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

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

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