Robin van Persie has urged his Manchester United team-mates not to get carried away by their seven-point lead at the top of the Premier League ahead of Sunday's clash with Liverpool.

United face their old enemies at Old Trafford and victory will put them 10 points clear of second-place Manchester City, who do not play at Arsenal until later in the day.

John Terry could play for Chelsea for the first time in two months after being named in the squad for Saturday's Premier League match at Stoke.

The former England captain has been out since damaging ligaments in his right knee following a collision with Liverpool striker Luis Suarez in a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge on November 11.

French motorcyclist Thomas Bourgin was killed in the Dakar Rally when he collided with a Chilean police car on Friday.

Race officials say the incident occurred as Bourgin was traveling from Calama on the Chilean side of the Andes to the start of the seventh stage in Argentina. They say the police car was going in the opposite direction.

The German Football Federation has fined Bayern Munich a total of €15,000 ($19,670) for fan trouble during Bundesliga games.

The DFB says Bayern fans set off flares causing smoke plumes during a game at Fortuna Duesseldorf on October 20 and let off fireworks at Nuremberg on November 17, while a home supporter ran toward the pitch when the club hosted Borussia Dortmund on December 1.

Victoria Azarenka and Serena Williams are in the same half of the draw at the Australian Open, setting up the prospect of a semifinal match between the defending champion and the title favorite.

Top-ranked Azarenka has lost 11 of her 12 matches against Williams, who increased her career haul to 15 Grand Slam titles last year by winning at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. Williams has won five Australian titles, more than any other woman in the Open era, and is in dominant form after winning 35 of her last 36 matches.

The Portland Trail Blazers hung on to beat the Miami Heat 92-90 Thursday for their fourth straight win and ninth straight at the Rose Garden.

Wesley Matthews made a 3-pointer to put Portland in front with 26.9 seconds left as the Blazers held LeBron James to 15 points, snapping his 54-game streak with at least 20 points that dated back to last season.

David Villa made his case for returning to Barcelona's starting lineup by scoring twice in a 5-0 win over Cordoba on Thursday that sealed a place in the Copa del Rey quarterfinals.

The Spain striker has struggled to find minutes since returning from a broken leg. But he again proved he hasn't lost his scoring touch with two fine goals to follow Thiago Alcantara's opener at Camp Nou stadium.

Tony Parker scored 24 points on 10-of-16 shooting and Manu Ginobili had 19 points as the San Antonio Spurs defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 108-105 on Wednesday.

Ginobili scored a crucial three-pointer with 43 seconds left and pulled down eight rebounds for the Spurs, who bounced back from a loss to the New Orleans Hornets on Monday.

Kooyong Classic finalist Lleyton Hewitt is no fan of a new time crackdown instigated this season by the ATP, with warnings and even point penalties starting to flow on court for slow play.

The Australian criticized the inflexibility of strict enforcement of the longstanding rule which limits the time between points to 25 seconds in ATP events and just 20 at Grand Slams, starting at the Australian Open from Monday.

American world number 13 John Isner has withdrawn from next week's Australian Open with a knee injury, tournament organizers said on Thursday.

The big-serving Isner, who was seeded 12 at the first Grand Slam of the season, injured his right knee during the Hopman Cup in Perth last week and was forced to withdraw from the event.