Liverpool great Steven Gerrard could return to the club in a coaching capacity as early as this year, he revealed in a British newspaper interview published on Saturday.

Gerrard, 35, left Liverpool for the Los Angeles Galaxy last year, but he has been training on Merseyside during the Major League Soccer close season and is now eyeing a role on Jurgen Klopp's coaching staff.

Hassan Whiteside tallied 25 points and 19 rebounds and the Miami Heat got the job done without Dwyane Wade in the starting lineup with a 106-82 win over Dallas on Friday.

An ailing Wade came in off the bench for just the 10th time in his career after falling ill enough with the flu that he needed a pre-game IV.

Six weeks after completing one of the greatest seasons in tennis history, Novak Djokovic begins his 2016 campaign and warm-up for his Australian Open defense in Qatar.

The Serbian, also current holder of Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, heads a strong field at the Qatar Open starting in Doha on Monday, which also includes Rafael Nadal, Tomas Berdych and defending champion David Ferrer.

Arsene Wenger has revealed Mesut Ozil rarely trains between matches as he looks to keep the German playmaker in peak condition for Arsenal's Premier League title charge.

Ozil has been the key figure in Arsenal's rise to the top of the table and has already provided a league leading 16 assists this season.

Aston Villa manager Remi Garde insists he won't quit even if his struggling side are relegated from the Premier League.

Villa are rooted to the bottom of the table as they prepare to face fellow strugglers Sunderland on Saturday.

Guus Hiddink has challenged his Chelsea flops to rediscover the winning formula as they start the new year with a tricky trip to Crystal Palace on Sunday.

Hiddink's side have drawn against Watford and Manchester United since the Dutchman returned for his second spell as Chelsea interim manager following Jose Mourinho's sacking.

African glory-seekers this year include South African Tokyo Sexwale, who wants to be FIFA president, and Ivorian Yaya Toure, bidding for an unprecedented fifth straight CAF Footballer of the Year title.

Another off-field event certain to capture the attention of a continent in which football is the dominant sport will be the 2018 World Cup groups draw with 20 African teams eying five places in Russia.

Klay Thompson scored 38 points and the Golden State Warriors showed they can win without star Stephen Curry Thursday with a 114-110 victory over the Rockets in Houston.

Curry missed his second straight game with a lower left leg bruise.

As a child soldier with Nepal's Maoists, Mira Rai learned to fire guns, disarm opponents and race down trails, little imagining her guerrilla drills would help make her one of the world's top ultra runners.

"It is like a dream, beyond anything I ever imagined. I was just a girl from a village," Rai told AFP.

Nine-time world rally champion Sebastien Loeb will add some extra spice to this year's Dakar Rally in which Qatari Nasser al-Attiyah will bid to defend his title in Argentina and Bolivia.

The Frenchman will seek to follow in the footsteps of Ari Vatanen, who won the Dakar in his first attempt in 1987, back when it was raced in Africa.