World Sports News in Brief

Liverpool enjoy derby demolition

Liverpool's bandwagon rolled on as they crushed Merseyside rivals Everton 5-2 at Anfield but Leicester City's pursuit continued with a seventh successive Premier League victory to stay eight points behind on Wednesday.

Soccer Football - Premier League - Liverpool v Everton - Anfield, Liverpool, Britain - December 4, 2019 Liverpool's Georginio Wijnaldum celebrates scoring their fifth goal with teammates. (Photo: Action Images via Reuters)
Soccer Football - Premier League - Liverpool v Everton - Anfield, Liverpool, Britain - December 4, 2019 Liverpool's Georginio Wijnaldum celebrates scoring their fifth goal with teammates. (Photo: Action Images via Reuters)

Even with strikers Mo Salah and Roberto Firmino warming the bench, Juergen Klopp's side had far too much firepower with Divock Origi scoring twice as Liverpool set a new club record of 32 league games undefeated. Liverpool moved to 43 points from 15 games, eight ahead of Leicester and 11 clear of champions Manchester City.

* While a first title for 30 years is beckoning Liverpool, pressure is piling up on Everton boss Marco Silva as his side dropped into the relegation zone, below Southampton who beat fellow strugglers Norwich City 2-1.

* Jose Mourinho's return to Old Trafford was not a happy one as Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford's double earned his side a 2-1 victory over Tottenham Hotspur.

* Leicester beat bottom club Watford 2-0 as they equalled a club record winning streak dating back to 1963 - Jamie Vardy and James Maddison scoring after the break to lift Brendan Rodgers's side three points above champions Manchester City.

* Chelsea manager Frank Lampard got the better of former team mate John Terry, assistant manager at Aston Villa, as his side shrugged off back-to-back league defeats with a 2-1 victory to consolidate fourth spot.

* Wolverhampton Wanderers are now unbeaten in 10 league games - their best run in the top flight for 40 years - as they cruised to a 2-0 victory over West Ham United. Wolves jumped to fifth spot, six behind Chelsea.

* A superb Kylian Mbappe goal and a Neymar penalty helped Paris St Germain restore a five-point lead atop the Ligue 1 standings with a 2-0 home win over Nantes on Wednesday. France striker Mbappe found the back of the net with a jaw-dropping backheel finish early in the second half and Neymar doubled the tally in the closing stages to put PSG on 36 points from 15 games.

* George Russell, the only Formula One driver without a point this year, swapped his tail-end Williams for a title-winning Mercedes on Wednesday and ended up fastest on the final day of post-season testing in Abu Dhabi. The Mercedes-backed rookie did 145 laps of the Yas Marina circuit, the second most of the day, with a fastest lap of one minute 37.204 seconds - more than three seconds quicker than his time for Williams on Tuesday.

* The women's Champions League is to be transformed with the introduction of a group stage in what European governing body UEFA says will be a "game changer". UEFA said on Wednesday that, instead of the knockout format which is currently used, the competition would consist of groups of four once it reached the last 16 from the 2021-2022 season onwards.

* UEFA is to introduce a new-look playoff system for its 2022 World Cup qualifying competition which will avoid the need to compare results of teams in different groups. UEFA said the 55 teams, who will be battling for 13 places at the tournament in Qatar, will be divided into 10 groups. The 10 group winners will qualify directly for the World Cup while the runners-up will go into the playoffs along with two more teams from the 2020-21 Nations League.

* Rwanda signed a deal on Wednesday with French soccer club Paris St Germain to promote tourism in the east African nation, its second such agreement since last year. A source close to the French club said the deal was worth between EUR8-10 million.

* Birmingham City have named Pep Clotet as their head coach on permanent basis after his six-month stint as the caretaker at St Andrew's Stadium, the Championship side said on Wednesday. Clotet, 42, was assistant to Garry Monk, who was dismissed in June after 15 months at the club.

* World number two Novak Djokovic will play in the inaugural Adelaide International tennis competition in January ahead of his Australian Open title defence, tournament organisers said on Wednesday. Djokovic will start his competitive preparation for the new season at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi from Dec 19 to Dec 21, before representing Serbia in the inaugural ATP Cup in Australia in early January.

* The International Olympic Committee and the Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games announced the dates and details of the routes to be used for the Tokyo Olympic marathon and race walk events. Sapporo's Odori Park, used in the past as a venue for the Hokkaido Marathon, has been fixed as the venue for both the men and women's marathons and race walking events at next year's Games.

* Cambodia men's Under-22 Olympic football team secured a semifinal slot after beating Malaysia with three goals in 12 minutes at Southeast Asian Games football tournament here on Wednesday. Myanmar, which have already booked a place in the semifinals from Group A after collecting 10 points, drew a bye on that day.

Reuters, Xinhua