Liverpool and Arsenal capitalized on a rare slip-up by Premier League leader Chelsea by claiming away wins at their fiercest rivals on Sunday to close up an intriguing four-team race for the title.

Liverpool humiliated soon-to-be-deposed champion Manchester United in a 3-0 victory at Old Trafford, with Steven Gerrard converting two penalties and Luis Suarez also scoring in a one-sided match that highlighted the gulf that has emerged between the two foes.

Nico Rosberg said Mercedes would have to work hard to improve the reliability of their new F1 car despite his emphatic win in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

While Rosberg was dominant in his fully functioning W05, his pole-sitting team-mate Lewis Hamilton lasted only four laps before a misfiring cylinder ended his race.

World number two Novak Djokovic rallied to beat Roger Federer in a three-set thriller on Sunday to win his first title of 2014 at the Indian Wells ATP Masters.

Djokovic defeated Federer 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/3) to add a third title in the California desert to those he captured in 2008 and 2011.

Four-time World Player of the Year Lionel Messi has set his sights on beating Real Madrid next weekend after leading Barcelona to a 7-0 thrashing of Osasuna on Sunday.

Messi overtook Paulino Alcantara to become Barca's all-time leading scorer in all forms of football with his second goal of the afternoon before completing his hat-trick to take his tally for the club to 371.

Bayern Munich on Saturday named Karl Hopfner as successor to the disgraced president Uli Hoeness, who was jailed this week for tax fraud.

The championship club's board of directors voted unanimously to name Hopfner, the current vice president, to head the storied franchise.

West Bromwich Albion announced Friday that it had sacked banned French striker Nicolas Anelka for "gross misconduct", just hours after he announced on Twitter he was leaving.

Anelka, who turned 35 on Friday, was due to start a five-match ban after being punished for his controversial "quenelle" goal celebration at West Brom's 3-3 draw at West Ham on December 28.

Liverpool hold the whip hand over Manchester United for the first time in decades and could land a devastating blow on their rivals' top-four challenge at Old Trafford on Sunday.

Having endured year upon year of United supremacy, Liverpool have turned the tables this season and approach this weekend's match 11 points above their floundering foes in the Premier League table.

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton claimed pole position for Formula One's season-opening Australian Grand Prix in a rainy qualifying session Saturday, while four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel will start the race from 12th after being caught out by the wet conditions.

Vettel was joined by fellow big-name drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Jenson Button in dropping out of qualifying in the second session as they struggled on the wet surface at the Albert Park street circuit.

The Los Angeles Clippers rallied to extend their winning streak to 10 games with a 96-87 victory over the Utah Jazz on Friday, despite Chris Paul landing awkwardly after a layup and spraining his ankle.

Blake Griffin had 20 points and Paul shook off the injury to score 18 for the Clippers, who haven't lost since February 21 and pulled within two games of the Oklahoma City Thunder for the second-best record in the Western Conference.

For the first time in four years, Novak Djokovic is without a big title to start the year. Or any title.

The Serb is used to arriving at the BNP Paribas Open with the Australian Open in his back pocket, having won the season's first Grand Slam three straight years. He lost in the quarterfinals in Melbourne in January, and then lost in the semifinals at Dubai last month.