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PARIS — Saint-Etienne and Marseille face off in Ligue 1 this weekend as two of French football's most storied clubs prepare to meet twice in the space of a fortnight.

Les Verts, whose 10 French titles is second only to Paris Saint-Germain, were also drawn to face Marseille in the last 64 of the French Cup just before Christmas.

Back in the top flight after two seasons in the second division, Saint-Etienne have relied heavily on their home form to stay afloat this term.

Saint-Etienne have won four of their last five at their Geoffroy-Guichard stadium, where they have collected all but one of their 13 points so far.

Last weekend they crashed to a 5-0 loss at Rennes after being reduced to 10 men before half-time.

"There will be other obstacles, and big ones. We have a very tough season ahead, we know that," said coach Olivier Dall'Oglio in the wake of that defeat.

"When there are challenges of that type, we're going to need to overcome them and not collapse like I saw the team collapse."

Marseille, conversely, have thrived on their travels and have the league's best away record with six wins from seven matches.

Roberto De Zerbi's side climbed above Monaco into second place with a 2-1 win last Sunday and sit six points back of leaders PSG.

Luis Enrique's side face another critical juncture in their season, travelling to Auxerre on Friday before a trip to Salzburg next week in the Champions League.

PSG are unbeaten in their last 30 away games in Ligue 1 but were held at home by a struggling Nantes team last weekend.

With just one win in five in Europe, PSG find themselves outside the 24 qualifying spots for the knockout stages.

"We've made mistakes in terms of our performances in the Champions League but it's a good season," the Spaniard said on Thursday.

"Our problems are good ones because we can push past them. These results don't reflect what I've seen on the pitch."

Luis Enrique also moved to quash talk of dressing room discord, dismissing claims of tensions between himself and some players.

"I'm not going to respond to rumours and lies," he said. "The team is wonderful and I have nothing to add."

Lille and Brest, both of whom are well positioned to advance in the Champions League, meet on Friday before Monaco -- who also have 10 points from five games in Europe -- host Toulouse on Saturday.

Player to watch: Randal Kolo Muani

The France international's stock has dropped alarmingly at PSG, to the extent that he has played a total of 33 minutes over the past six league games -- four of which he has not even featured in.

The 26-year-old was signed from Eintracht Frankfurt for 90 million euros ($95 million) at the start of last season but has not started for the club since the 1-1 draw with Nice on October 6, sowing doubt over his future as the transfer window approaches.

"It's a difficult period for everyone because we'll have to see what we need in terms of buying players and evaluate those who want to leave," Luis Enrique said on Thursday.

"But I hope right up until the end these players will convince me they deserve to play."

AMMAN — The CFI Professional Football League heads into its final stretch in Leg 1 with all clubs playing this week.

Standings shifted as Hussein stayed atop the pack, although together with Wihdat, they had matches postponed due to stage 6 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Champions League (ACL) Two matches. Wihdat lost 3-1 to UAE’s Sharjah Tuesday while Hussein played Kuwait FC in an away match Wednesday as both Jordanian teams booked a spot in the quarterfinals.

The upcoming week will see League titleholders Hussein vs Shabab Urdun,  Ahli vs Sarih,  Salt vs Ma’an, Mughayer Sarhan vs Faisali, Wihdat vs Ramtha, Jazira vs Aqaba.

Sarih are on a high note after a good two weeks during which they eliminated Faisali to reach the  Shield semis before holding them 1-1 in the League to move out of the relegation zone for now. 

Salt was the biggest mover -  up 3 spots to 7th  - after they beat Mughayer Sarhan 1-0 while Ma'an dropped to 11th after losing 3-1 to Shabab Urdun who moved up a spot, as Ramtha beat Ahli 1-0 to stay second for now.

Last week, Salt won their first ever major title when they upset Wihdat to take home the Jordan Football Association Shield Cup – the second major competition on the local football calendar. Salt were the only undefeated team while Wihdat eyed their first season title as they aim for a strong comeback after Ramtha and Hussein won the Pro League in the past two seasons. On their way to the final, Salt eliminated league champs Hussein while Wihdat ousted Sarih.

LOS ANGELES, United States — The New York Knicks and Milwaukee Bucks advanced to the knockout phase of the NBA Cup with emphatic victories on Tuesday, the Knicks hammering Orlando 121-106 in a blowout that still allowed the Magic to grab a quarter-final berth.

At Madison Square Garden, the Knicks dominated in the battle to finish unbeaten and win the East Group A, overpowering a Magic team that came in with the third-rated defence in the league.

Karl-Anthony Towns scored 23 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, Jalen Brunson added 21 points, Mikal Bridges scored 19 and OG Anunoby and Miles McBride scored 18 apiece for the Knicks while Josh Hart contributed a triple-double of 11 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists.

Franz Wagner scored 30 to lead Orlando, who were assured of advancing so long as they didn't lose by 37 points or more.

The Magic, who gave up 32 points on 16 turnovers, saw their deficit hit that number in the third quarter but clawed back to grab the East wild card berth on points differential over the NBA champion Boston Celtics, who also finished group play 3-1.

The Magic jumped to a quick eight-point lead but the Knicks, needing a victory to advance, put together an 11-0 scoring run to grab a 17-14 advantage on the way to a 36-27 lead after one quarter and never trailed again.

In Detroit, the Bucks drained 23 three-pointers on the way to a 128-107 victory over the Pistons in a battle of East East Group B leaders that saw the hosts eliminated.

Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 28 points with seven rebounds and eight assists and Damian Lillard scored 27 points for the Bucks, who have won seven straight games -- including a victory over Detroit in which Antetokounmpo dropped a season-high 59 points.

Antetokounmpo made 10 of 11 shots from the floor and sat out the entire fourth quarter.

Lillard drilled five three-pointers and played only the first few minutes of the fourth.

Milwaukee had seized control early, connecting on 69.2 percent of their shots in the first half -- including 15 of 21 from three-point range.

"I thought our ball movement was unbelievable," Milwaukee coach Doc Rivers said. "We just kept finding open guys, played unselfish basketball."

The quarter-finals of the in-season tournament will be held next Tuesday and Wednesday with the semi-finals to be played on December 14 in Las Vegas -- where the final will be held on December 17.

Group stage games count as regular-season games and the Cleveland Cavaliers, eliminated from the Cup, easily improved their league-leading record to 19-3 with a 118-87 victory over the Washington Wizards -- who dropped their 15th straight.

Evan Mobley and Donovan Mitchell scored 19 points each for the Cavs, who had seven players score in double figures.

AMMAN -  Wihdat and Hussein play Round 6 matches in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Champions League (ACL) Two as of Tuesday before the decisive quarterfinals of the competition.

Both Jordanian teams booked a spot in the quarterfinals of the second tier Asian event that has replaced the AFC Cup, as thetop tier Asian clubs competition was rebranded as the ACLElite. Asian clubs played in 8 groups in the 21st edition of the ACL Two competition, with the top two in each group moving to the quarters. 

Wihdat will host UAE’s Sharjah in Amman at 5:00 pm on Dec. 3hoping to end fist stage matches with a win after they were held 2-2 in their first match. Coach Ra’fat Ali has given playing time to many players during the Shield Cup and ACL and has the chance to do so again as his team tops Group C and already looking ahead for the quarterfinals draw.

The team’s goalie, Abdullah Fakhouri, who is also the national squad’s substitute, was the star of the match in last week’s 1-1 draw with Sepahan Isfahan but is booked for Tuesday’s clash, Wihdat will seek to maintain their unbeaten run after they beat Isfahan 2-1 and Tajikistan’s Istiklol 1-o twice. In other group matches, Sepahan upset Sharjah 3-1 after losing 3-1, Sharjah beat Istiklol 1-0 and 3-1 and Sepahan beat Istiklol 4-0.

On the other hand, Jordan league champs Hussein play Kuwait in an away match hoping to repeat their earlier 2-1 win. They last lost their home game against UAE’s Ahli Dubai 3-2 to drop to second in Group D. Hussein had earlier lost 3-1 to Ahli andbeat Uzbekistan’s Nasaf Qarshi twice. In other group matches, Ahli held Kuwait 3-3 after earlier beating them 4-1, Kuwait held Nasaf 0-0 and beat them 2-1 while Nasaf upset Ahli 2-1.  

LONDON — Enzo Maresca says Chelsea can dominate English football over the next decade but insists they are not yet ready for a Premier League title challenge despite their impressive start to the season.

The Blues are third in the English top flight, level on 25 points with Arsenal and nine points behind runaway leaders Liverpool.

Chelsea face bottom-of-the table Southampton on Wednesday, while Liverpool have a testing trip to Newcastle and Arsenal host rejuvenated Manchester United.

Maresca, speaking to reporters on Tuesday, said Chelsea's progress in his first season as manager had exceeded his expectations but he urged caution.

"They [Arsenal] have been there in the last two years very close to City and we were very far from City," said the Italian.

"To be in the title race is a nice pressure for me and for the players -- it's that kind of pressure that you like because you are in the title race -- but it is not our case because Arsenal in the last two years they were very, very, very close to City. Liverpool, they have been there and we were not there.

"Hopefully soon, we can be there."

Maresca, who has fashioned an effective team from a bloated squad, said Chelsea's future was bright.

"Because of the age and because of how good the squad is, for me Chelsea in the next five, 10 years, will be one of the teams or the team that is going to dominate English football," he said.

He added: "I think we are in the right direction and in terms of a personal target, I know from outside you struggle to believe but... I'm focused on Southampton, but I'm not focused about the end of the season, next season, two seasons because it's not real."

The former Leicester boss said he was expecting a tough challenge at St Mary's Stadium despite Southampton's struggles.

"It is the worst game since we started the season for us and will be the toughest game since we started the season and we need to be ready, otherwise it will be a bad day for us," he said.

"If you analyse the results, probably they are there but in terms of performance they were winning against Liverpool, they lost against City 1-0 and they drew the last game against Brighton."

Maresca said defender Wesley Fofana, who reportedly suffered a hamstring injury in Sunday's 3-0 win against Aston Villa, would be out of action for a few weeks and captain Reece James was also weeks away from a return.

LIVERPOOL — Liverpool have been used to second best during Pep Guardiola's era at Manchester City, but a 2-0 victory over the crisis-hit champions left little doubt over who are the team to beat in this season's Premier League title race.

Goals in either half from Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah at Anfield on Sunday did not do justice to the scale of the Reds' domination as City succumbed to a sixth defeat in a seven-game winless run.

Arsenal and Chelsea are now Liverpool's closest challengers, nine points behind, with City 11 back and almost certain to finally loose their grip on the English top flight after an unprecedented four consecutive titles and six in the past seven seasons.

Guardiola reminded the Anfield crowd of that fact by raising six fingers when taunted with chants of "sacked in the morning".

The Catalan's defiance, though, could not mask the fact that City have rested on their laurels, while Liverpool have stepped up a level under Arne Slot.

Slot appeared to have the impossible job of succeeding the much-loved Jurgen Klopp.

The charismatic German brought Liverpool back to the top of English and European football. His title triumph in 2019/2020 was the club's first for 30 years and the only blot on City's dominance in recent times.

In contrast to Alex Ferguson's departure from Manchester United and Arsene Wenger's exit at Arsenal, Liverpool have turned a legendary figure leaving into a positive.

Klopp did much of the groundwork himself, rejuvenating the squad over his final 18 months in charge with the signings of Gakpo, Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai and Ryan Gravenberch.

Slot's only summer signing, Federico Chiesa, has barely featured due to injury.

But the injection of fresh blood, mixed with the experience of title winners in the prolific Salah, captain Virgil van Dijk, Andy Roberson and Trent Alexander-Arnold has proved a winning combination.

Slot has been keen to give Klopp's legacy credit, but the Dutchman deserves his due for the small details that have produced a run of 18 wins from his first 20 games in all competitions.

'A great day' 

Robertson and Alexander-Arnold's narrower positions have left Liverpool less vulnerable in transition and contributed to them having the best defensive record in the league.

Gravenberch has shone since being transformed into a holding midfielder, while Gakpo is finally delivering on his potential under his compatriot.

Slot has also managed to keep Liverpool's momentum rolling despite constant speculation over the futures of Salah, Van Dijk and Alexander-Arnold, all of whom are out of contract at the end of the season.

"City are a fantastic team, four times champions in a row and they have quality to punish any team," said Van Dijk. "So, overall, it has been a great day.

"It's game-by-game and stay calm. But games like this, when you win it like this, is always a good feeling."

It is not just the Premier League that Slot has so far bent to his will.

Liverpool are also top of the Champions League with a perfect record from five games, including a memorable 2-0 win over Real Madrid on Wednesday.

Victory over City capped a dream week, but the former Feyenoord boss was still keen to use the English and European champions as the benchmark for his side's aspirations.

"Real Madrid and Manchester City have been and are so good, with managers that have won so many trophies, so it is always nice to come out of those situations as a winner," added Slot.

"But they were able to win every single three days. We understand what we want to achieve is more than this winning once or twice, even against these big teams, if you want to win big things."

December may only be a day old, but already it is hard to see beyond Liverpool matching Manchester United's record tally for 20 English top-flight titles come May.

KILLINGTON, United States — Mikaela Shiffrin’s bid for a milestone 100th alpine World Cup victory was on hold after the US superstar crashed out of the Killington giant slalom won by Sweden’s Sara Hector on Saturday.

Shiffrin, already the owner of the most World Cup victories in history, was poised to claim a once unimaginable century after topping the first-run times.

She looked on course for the win when she crashed heavily in the second leg and Sweden’s Olympic gold medallist Hector emerged with the victory with a total of 1min 53.08sec.

Shiffrin said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that the damage was not too bad.

“Not really too much cause for concern at this point,” she said in a video from a clinic bed.

“I just can’t move. I have a pretty good abrasion,” she added, indicating an area near the front of her left hip, where, she said “something stabbed me”.

“I am so sorry to scare everybody, and it looks like all the scans so far are clear,” said Shiffrin, who added in the post that she would be “cheering from the sidelines” on Sunday.

Shiffrin, who led after the first leg, had a lead of 17-hundredths of a second over Hector when she appeared to catch an edge heading into the steep final section of the course.

She hit a gate and somersaulted into another before sliding into the catch-fencing, but gave a wave to fans as she was taken off the hill.

She was taken from the course on a sled, offering a wave to fans on her way.

Shiffrin, 29, already has 13 more World Cup wins than the most successful man, Ingemar Stenmark, and 17 more than the second woman, compatriot Lindsey Vonn.

Needing three wins to hit 100 to start the season, she bagged her 98th and 99th career titles with back-to-back slalom wins in Levi, Finland, and Gurgl, Austria.

That gave her a chance to complete her century in front of home fans in Killington, not far from where she attended Burke Mountain Academy as a youngster.

Shiffrin — who has won six slaloms at Killington but never a giant slalom — was greeted by ecstatic cheers as she crossed the finish line of the first leg atop the times by 32-hundredths of a second.

But her day ended not in celebration but in a rare “Did Not Finish” — just her 21st in 274 career starts and her first in giant slalom since January of 2018.

Shiffrin was sidelined six weeks last season after suffering a knee injury when she crashed in a downhill on the Olympia delle Tofane course in Italy, which will be used for the 2026 Olympics.

She returned to finish the season, but ruled out competing in speed events.

Hector quiets doubts 

Hector was delighted with her sixth World Cup victory after what she described as “a little period when I doubted myself”, at the start of the season.

“I had a period where I was not skiing good in training and I really had to work a lot mentally,” she said. “The last weeks I would say have been a rollercoaster.”

But she was full of sympathy for Shiffrin.

“It’s just so sad, of course, to see her crash like that. She was skiing so well. It breaks my heart.”

Croatia’s Zrinka Ljutic finished second, 54-hundredths of a second behind Hector, and Switzerland’s Camille Rast was third, 1.05 seconds back.

It was a first-ever podium finish for both and Rast, in third as Shiffrin started her second run, wasn’t expecting it.

“I was down [in the finish area], looking at Mikaela and [thinking] ‘OK, fourth place again and it’s fine in GS,” she said. “I hope she is hurt not so bad ... I hope she will be back soon.”

After Sunday’s slalom the women’s schedule is up in the air after two giant slaloms scheduled for Tremblant, Canada, next weekend were cancelled because of lack of snow.

BARCELONA — Las Palmas claimed a surprise 2-1 victory at La Liga leaders Barcelona on Saturday, spoiling the hosts' 125th anniversary celebrations.

Sandro Ramirez sent the visitors ahead early in the second half and although Raphinha hammered home an equaliser, Fabio Silva struck to claim three points and take his team up to 14th.

Barcelona still lead champions Real Madrid by four points but Los Blancos, who host Getafe on Sunday, have played two fewer games than Hansi Flick's team.

The Catalans have now gone three league games without a victory, after a run of 11 wins in 12 prior in the top flight.

"We had a bad game, we have to look at what we're doing badly to try and improve and win games," Raphinha told Movistar.

"We lowered the level we were playing at and that is making games hard for us. We have to keep working and improve...

"I don't care about my goal, I care about winning, we didn't win and I'm not satisfied with the game."

Barcelona wore white shorts as part of their anniversary celebrations, as they used to back at the start of their history.

They held a gala in the city on Friday night to mark the occasion, having been founded on November 29, 1899, but came undone on Saturday afternoon.

The Catalans were able to name teenage starlet Lamine Yamal on the bench after recovering from an ankle problem.

Former Barcelona goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen made a solid save to deny Fermin Lopez in the opening stages, with Las Palmas showing enterprise on the counter-attack.

Barca defender Alejandro Balde was forced off with concussion in the first half after a clash with Sandro, to be replaced by Gerard Martin.

Las Palmas came close when Alberto Moleiro teed up Javi Munoz, who drilled wide, while Jules Kounde lashed an effort over at the other end.

Raphinha came closest to breaking the deadlock in the first half, scoring from an offside position, after Cillessen denied Pedri, and hitting the crossbar after being played through by Gavi.

Flick threw on Yamal at the break for Pablo Torre, hoping the winger would give Barca the advantage after an even first half.

'Giving their all'

Las Palmas took a surprise lead early in the second half when Kirian Rodriguez played in Ramirez, who drilled home from the edge of the box.

Raphinha hit back quickly for Barcelona with a thumping long-range effort, but Las Palmas were soon ahead again.

Silva ran onto Munoz's probing long ball and fired past Inaki Pena to restore the Canary Islanders' advantage with his fifth goal in eight league matches.

Cillessen saved well to deny Yamal as Barca sought a leveller and Viti made a brave block to thwart Pedri.

Las Palmas survived eight minutes of stoppage time, with Dutch stopper Cillessen again saving from Yamal and two defenders desperately scrambling to block a late Robert Lewandowski chance to lock in the visitors' victory.

"It was a very important win, we worked hard for it, Barca put you under a lot of pressure," midfielder Moleiro told Movistar after Las Palmas sealed their first away win at Barcelona since 1971.

Since coach Diego Martinez's arrival in October when they were bottom, the minnows have improved drastically and this win helped them climb five points clear of the relegation zone.

"Everyone is giving their all, and that's the key," added Moleiro.

AMMAN — It was a good week for Jordan on both the football and basketball scenes.

Wihdat and Hussein moved to the quarterfinals of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Champions League (ACL) Two after two crucial Round 5 matches, while Jordan qualified to the FIBA Asia Cup in basketball.

Wihdat held Sepahan Isfahan 1-1 to top Group C maintaining an unbeaten run after they had earlier beat them 2-1, Tajikistan’s Istiklol 1-o twice and held UAE’s Sharjah 2-2. In other group matches, Sepahan upset Sharjah 3-1 after losing 3-1. Sharjah beat Istiklol 1-0 and 3-1 and Sepahan beat Istiklol 4-0.

For Jordan league champs Hussein, their home game against UAE’s Ahli Dubai wastough. They led 2-0 but lost 3-2 to drop to second in Group D but nevertheless qualified to the quarters.

Hussein had earlierlost 3-1to Ahli, beat Uzbekistan’s Nasaf Qarshi twice as well as Kuwait Club 2-1. In other group matches, Ahli held Kuwait 3-3 after earlier beating them 4-1, Kuwait held Nasaf 0-0 and beat them 2-1 while Nasaf upsetAhli 2-1.  

In Round 6, Wihdat will host Sharjahon December 3 and Hussein will play an away match against Kuwait on December 4.

Basketball qualifies to FIBA Asia Cup

In basketball, Jordan qualified to the 31st FIBA Asia Cup 2025 after playing Window 2 Group D matches, managing a below par 87-81 win over Palestine after beating  Iraq 73-64 to maintain an unbeaten streak after scoring two wins in window 1, with wins over Palestine 73-46 and Saudi Arabia 79-64.

It will be Jordan’s 17th time at the FIBA Asia Cup (formerly FIBA Asia Championship) with their best position finishing runner-up in 2011. The Kingdom is  2023Asian Gamessilver medalist and three-time qualifier to the World Cup, 2010, 2019 and 2023.