An 83rd minute penalty from Ashley Barnes, after he was brought down by goalkeeper Alisson Becker, decided the contest after Juergen Klopp’s side failed to score for the fourth straight league match. Liverpool have not won for five games in the league and trail leaders Manchester United by six points, in fourth place.
* Lindsey Vonn, who retired in 2019 as the most decorated female alpine skier in the world, will make her on-air debut as an analyst for this weekend's women's downhill and Super-G events in Crans Montana, Switzerland, NBC Sports said on Thursday. Vonn, whose 82 World Cup race wins are the most by a woman and four shy of the all-time record set by Swedish great Ingemar Stenmark, will work alongside the network's lead alpine skiing commentator Dan Hicks for both telecasts.
* Red Bull have agreed a deal to continue using Honda's power unit after the Japanese manufacturer leaves Formula One next year but it depends on a vote to freeze engine development, according to team advisor Helmut Marko. Honda announced last October that it will end its participation as an engine supplier at the end of the 2021 season.
* Manchester City Women's England midfielder Jill Scott has returned to Everton on loan until the end of the season, City said in a statement on Thursday. The 33-year-old, who made more than 170 appearances for City after joining them in 2013, played for Everton for seven years from 2006.
* Reigning champions Serbia, led by world number one Novak Djokovic, will play Germany and Canada in the group stage of the ATP Cup in Melbourne next week after the draw was made on Friday. The men's team competition made its debut in cities around Australia last year but will be truncated and played only at Melbourne Park from Feb. 1-5 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
* The Victoria state government on Friday confirmed one new case of COVID-19 in the group of people in quarantine in Melbourne ahead of the Australian Open, a few hours after Spanish player Paula Badosa said she had tested positive for the virus. Badosa was the first player entered for next month's Grand Slam to confirm a positive test, although four were among the 10 cases announced earlier this week.
* Eibar goalkeeper Marko Dmitrovic defied convention by scoring a penalty but it was Luis Suarez's spot kick in the dying minutes that proved conclusive as Atletico Madrid secured a 2-1 away win on Thursday which lifted them seven points clear at the top of La Liga. A sixth successive league win gives Atletico a seven-point lead over nearest challengers Real Madrid with a game in hand.
* Extra-time strikes from Ousmane Dembele and Martin Braithwaite allowed Barcelona to edge past stubborn third division neighbours Cornella 2-0 and reach the last 16 of the Copa del Rey on Thursday.
* When Newport County goalkeeper Tom King took a goal kick in a League Two game at Cheltenham Town on Tuesday, little did he know he would be writing his name into the Guinness World Records book for the longest goal ever scored. Guinness World Records ratified the record on Thursday, with his 105 yards (96.01 m) goal breaking the record previously set by former Stoke City goalkeeper Asmir Begovic, whose clearance from inside his own box found the Southampton net in 2013.
* Hyundai's Ott Tanak took the early lead in the season-opening Monte Carlo Rally on Thursday after winning the first two stages in the French Alps. The Estonian crashed heavily as reigning world champion last year but kept his car on the road this time as he finished the first 20.58km stage 3.0 seconds clear of Toyota's Kalle Rovanpera.
* World number six Rory McIlroy took a one-shot lead in the first round of the HSBC Golf Championship in Abu Dhabi after carding an error-free 64 to finish at eight-under before bad light stopped play on Thursday. Paraguayan Fabrizio Zanotti was third, two shots behind McIlroy, with nearly half the field yet to finish the first round which will resume early on Friday.
* Serie A outfit Fiorentina have signed Spartak Moscow's Russia forward Alexander Kokorin on a three-and-a-half-year contract, the Russian club said in a statement on Thursday. Kokorin, 29, has scored two goals and had two assists in 10 games in all competitions for Spartak this season.
* Poland have named Portuguese Paulo Sousa as their new national team manager, the country's Football Association's chief Zbigniew Boniek said on Thursday, after former head coach Jerzy Brzeczek was unexpectedly fired this week. Sousa, 50, won the Champions League as a player with Juventus and Borussia Dortmund. He last coached French club Girondins Bordeaux but left the job in 2020.
* Paris St Germain are missing Mauricio Pochettino’s aura with the manager sidelined following a positive test for COVID-19 last week, his assistant coach said on Thursday. Pochettino, who missed last weekend’s game at Angers, will again be in isolation on Friday with Perez taking his place on the bench.
* Southampton striker Danny Ings could play in Saturday's FA Cup fourth round tie at home to Arsenal after missing the last two games because of a COVID-19 positive test, manager Ralph Hasenhuettl said on Thursday. Ings returned a positive result for the novel coronavirus after scoring the winning goal in Saints' 1-0 Premier League home victory over Liverpool on Jan. 4.
* Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero confirmed on Thursday that he has tested positive for COVID-19. Aguero, City's record scorer, has missed their last four games, including Wednesday's victory over Aston Villa.
* AC Milan players Rade Krunic, Ante Rebic and Theo Hernandez are available for selection again after their latest coronavirus tests, the Serie A club announced on Thursday. Croatia forward Rebic and Bosnia midfielder Krunic have made a full recovery from the virus and received negative results, while defender Hernandez was found to have received a false positive test on Sunday.
* This year's London Marathon is set to break new ground with a record 50,000 runners expected to tackle the course on the city's streets while another 50,000 compete in a remote race "wherever they are on the planet", organisers said on Thursday.
* Arsenal are looking at bringing new players in during the January transfer window after trimming the squad in recent weeks because the situation was unmanageable with players left out of rosters, manager Mikel Arteta said on Thursday. Arsenal agreed to terminate Greek defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos' contract on Wednesday, while midfielder Mesut Ozil is finalising a move to Turkish club Fenerbahce.
* Parma have signed AC Milan right back Andrea ContAndrea Conti i on a deal until June 2025, the Serie A club announced on Thursday. The 26-year-old Italian, who has made three league appearances this season, will initially move on loan before making the move permanent at the end of the 2020/21 campaign.
* Crystal Palace have signed French striker Jean-Philippe Mateta from Bundesliga side Mainz on an 18-month loan deal, the Premier League club said on Thursday. The 23-year-old has scored 10 goals in 17 appearances this season. He was part of the France team that reached the semi-finals of the under-21 European Championship in 2019.
* World number one Ash Barty will join Serena Williams, Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic in playing a pre-Australian Open exhibition event in Adelaide at the end of the month, organisers confirmed on Thursday.
