Liverpool eased to a comfortable 3-0 victory away at Bournemouth on Saturday thanks to goals from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Naby Keita and Mohamed Salah.

Jurgen Klopp wrung the changes for the midweek Merseyside derby against Everton and won 5-2 to showcase their strength in depth. However, Salah, Alisson and Roberto Firmino were recalled for this one.

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And their quality was on show again when Oxlade-Chamberlain finished off after being played in by Jordan Henderson on 35 minutes. The former Arsenal man watched the pin-point high ball all the way and beat Nathan Ake top open the scoring.

And it was 2-0 just before half-time when Keita poked home from close range following a superb backheel assist from Salah when surrounded by three Bournemouth defenders.

But it was roles reversed nine minutes into the second half when Bournemouth's Jack Simpson gave the ball away to Keita, who put Salah through to make it 3-0.

There was one sour note for Liverpool as they lost Dejan Lovren to injury in the first half but Klopp said he is hopeful it was not serious, while he praised his players as they stopped the opposition scoring for the first time in nine Premier League matches.

"It was a professional performance, controlled, scoring wonderful goals. We didn't want to make it exciting again so we wanted to control Bournemouth," Klopp told Sky Sports. "The most used word in the dressing room at the moment is clean sheet -- finally!

"Dejan Lovren was hopefully cramp but apart from that it was a perfect game. All round nearly perfect day."

Liverpool were in complete control for the entire 90 minutes despite never going above third gear while Eddie Howe's side have hit an alarming run of form.

The reverse was Bournemouth's fifth consecutive defeat in the Premier League. Liverpool stayed top and provisionally extended their lead over second-place Leicester to 11 points.

PENSACOLA, Fla. – There might not have been a happier person in the Five Flags Speedway pit area on Friday night than Travis Braden following two-lap qualifications for the 52nd annual Snowball Derby.

Braden, who was involved in a practice crash with the slower car of A.J. Wernette that tore the right side of his No. 26 Platinum Motorsports entry to shreds, took the 30th and final guaranteed spot on time into the Derby field.

The Wheeling, W.Va., native and two-time ARCA/CRA Super Series champion was admittedly nervous as his team virtually rebuilt his race car in the hours leading up to qualifying, but all that hard work paid off.

Braden’s lap of 16.590 seconds (108.499 mph) was good enough – by .029 of a second – to lock him into the race.

“Literally, I don’t know if people realized (at the time) what we had to do, but these guys had to completely rebuild the right front suspension and the rear suspension … the whole right side of the body on this car from practice to qualifying,” Braden told SPEED SPORT. “We didn’t get a single lap to see how it was running. We just had to go for it. It wasn’t perfect, but it was actually pretty good considering, obviously, what we went through to get to that point.

“We’re in the show, barely, but we’re in. At this race, in this field, that’s what counts.”

After the incident in practice occurred, Braden’s crew had just a few short hours to turn the car around in time to make their pre-qualifying inspection appearance, which they did even as Braden and his team worked sat in the inspection line waiting to go through tech in order to qualify at all.

“They wouldn’t adjust our in-line time, and we knew that, so we had to work around everything as best we could,” Braden noted. “We barely made it, and we were actually still putting our tires on and setting the swaybar as we were about to go through … but Ricky (Brooks, lead inspector) and everyone worked with us to make it all happen. It was right to the end and as last minute as you can get, but we did it.

“When you think about it, we more or less built a car with no practice and qualified for the Derby,” he added. “It’s pretty cool, in our book at least.”

Despite all the adversity, Braden said he never lost faith in his crew that they could get the job done.

“This has been one of the most up and down days I’ve ever had in my career,” Braden said. “I hadn’t stressed all week coming into this, and then today just … it was what it was, but we got through it. I knew these guys put this thing together as best they could, and they did a phenomenal job, but obviously with the circumstances of destroying it, we were so worried honestly about how things were.

“I’m excited we made it in, and that’s all that mattered tonight after our day.”

Now, Braden can look ahead to Sunday’s 300-lap race and trying to win the Snowball Derby.

“We’ll get the car right in practice on Saturday and then go at it when we get to race day,” he said with a smile. “We got our chance, and now we’re ready to capitalize on it.”

Chelsea suffered the effects of new-manager bounce as Duncan Ferguson's interim tenure at Everton got off to a flying start by beating the Londoners 3-1 on Saturday.

The home side hassled and harried Chelsea all over the pitch and deservedly took the lead when Richarlison evaded Andreas Christensen to score his fifth goal in seven games. Dominic Calvert-Lewin doubled Everton's advantage shortly after the break, and while Mateo Kovacic pulled one back with a stunning side-footed volley, a second Calvert-Lewin goal following a dreadful pass from goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga put the game beyond doubt.

Positives

This was a tight game in which Chelsea were given little time on the ball or space to play. However, Frank Lampard's side showed good character to dominate spells of possession and still managed to carve out a number of good goal-scoring chances.

Negatives

Chelsea haven't won a game after going behind this season, and that run continued at Goodison Park. Lampard will be particularly frustrated with the goals conceded, sloppy mistakes costing his side on three occasions. Space was at a premium and Chelsea were often second in the challenge, with even N'Golo Kante guilty.

Manager rating out of 10

6 -- Lampard was unlucky to face an Everton side eager to please their new manager, and as a result, his side found Everton with their tails up. Chelsea enjoyed spells of possession and created chances, but sloppy defending ultimately cost them. Lampard's two substitutions came too late to make an impact.

Player ratings (1-10; 10 = best, players introduced after 70 minutes get no rating)

GK Kepa Arrizabalaga, 5 -- Another game without a clean sheet. That's now just four shutouts in 24 games for the Spaniard. He could do little about Richarlison's header but saved well from Calvert-Lewin in the first half and Theo Walcott in the second. His ludicrous wayward pass set up Everton's third.

DF Reece James, 4 -- It was a quiet game for James, although he had Chelsea's first chance of the game: a speculative flick from a cross. Struggled to get forward and had a tricky afternoon at the other end. Substituted late on.

DF Andreas Christensen, 4 -- Chelsea's central pairing didn't cover themselves in glory for any of the goals, Christensen second best to Richarlison for the first after allowing the Brazilian to climb over him to head home. Came close to scoring with 10 minutes left on the clock.

DF Kurt Zouma, 4 -- Zouma was also guilty of being wasteful at the back. He let Calvert-Lewin get the wrong side of him to almost double the lead in the first half. Sloppy with the ball at the back at times and invited pressure on the back four.

DF Cesar Azpilicueta, 5 -- The skipper made positive contributions at key moments, his first a crucial block on the dive from Walcott's goal-bound shot. In the second half, it was from his surging run that the ball fell to Kovacic to level.

MF N'Golo Kante, 5 -- Unusually second to the ball at times in the fast half, the Frenchman couldn't stamp his authority on the game. Was able to apply more presence in the second half but couldn't have an impact on the proceedings.

MF Mateo Kovacic, 7 -- Kovacic was caught in possession far too often in the first half but he excelled in the second. He netted his first Premier League goal at a crucial point after Chelsea had just gone two goals down, his clever volley from outside the area hauling the visitors back into the game. He came close to netting a second with a driving run and shot that went just over the bar. He also delivered a delightful ball into the area before Mason Mount blazed over.

MF Willian, 5 -- Was at the centre of Chelsea's attacks when they broke forward in the first half, although he found very little space in front of him. One of his driving runs on the right led to a cross that was almost turned in by Tammy Abraham.

MF Mason Mount, 6 -- Lovely turn in the first nine minutes but had little space or time on the ball, at times having to drop deep. Found most joy in wide areas and at one point broke free to flash across the area, but Abraham couldn't finish. Should have equalised twice. First, he opened up his body too much to shoot high and wide when Kante set him up, and then he saw a shot blocked from close range late on.

MF Christian Pulisic, 5 -- Looked lively on the ball and eager to run at defenders. He had little room to play in, but though he was a source of inspiration going forward on the left, he struggled to deliver. Had a fascinating tussle with Djibril Sidibe.

FW Tammy Abraham, 6 -- Came close on several occasions in the first half. First he made a great run to attack the near post and meet Willian's cross, but he couldn't get enough on it. Then he couldn't quite reach Mount's cross after the half-hour mark.

Substitutes

MF Callum Hudson-Odoi, N/R -- Came on with 19 minutes left on the clock but didn't make a huge impact. Everton's compact and harried approach made it difficult for him to get involved.

FW Michy Batshuayi, N/R -- The striker came on with eight minutes left but didn't get into the flow.

Into its 86th year, the biggest first-class competition in the world - the Ranji Trophy - gets bigger with a 38th team, Chandigarh, added to the roster for the 2019-20 season. Like every year, it gives around 800 hopefuls a platform to establish themselves. Players aside, it is also a true test for ground staff, curators, logistics personnel, scorers, coaches and, of course, match officials. Here is a look at what the key talking points from this season are likely to be.

Vidarbha have won two back-to-back seasons. They must be favourites again?

Barring the great Bombay side of the 1960s - they won 15 successive titles from 1958-59 to 1972-73 - no team has won three back-to-back titles. Vidarbha have a rare chance to jump into the pool having successfully defended their crown in 2018-19. But Karnataka are in some serious form, having waltzed their way to the Vijay Hazare Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy titles. They're going for a treble, and it will need an incredibly good team to stop them.

But won't KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal be away on national duty?

The draw is such that Karnataka will have at least one of them right through the campaign, unless of course Agarwal earns a limited-overs call-up. With the New Zealand tour coming up in February, Rahul has the incentive to score big runs to put himself back on the Test selection radar. Then they've also got Manish Pandey, Karun Nair and Devdutt Padikkal, this tall 19-year old left-hander who has made heads turn by finishing as the highest run-getter in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Bowlers from other teams - good luck.

What about the other Indian players - will they feature in the Ranji?

Well, Tamil Nadu, who finished runners-up in the Hazare and Mushtaq Ali, will have M Vijay, R Ashwin and Dinesh Karthik available in the initial rounds. In the early stages, Mumbai will feature Ajinkya Rahane and Prithvi Shaw, who is on a comeback trail after his six-month suspension for a failed dope test. Cheteshwar Pujara will turn up for Saurashtra like he always does when free of national commitments, while Shubman Gill is set to feature for Punjab, and Hanuma Vihari for Andhra. So, a big part of the cream of India's Test batting line-up will be available. Shikhar Dhawan, who is recovering the freak knee injury, might also fancy playing the odd match for Delhi.

What about the mean fast bowlers?

The Indian team management is monitoring workloads carefully. Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma have been asked to skip the first round at least. Mohammed Shami, meanwhile, is with Indian limited-overs squad. Don't be surprised if you see Jasprit Bumrah return to play a Ranji Trophy game for the first time in three years. He's on the recovery path and could well feature for Gujarat in the first week of January, to prove his match fitness and get overs under the belt ahead of the Test series in New Zealand. Ditto with Hardik Pandya, who is recovering from a back injury, and could turn up to play for Baroda, who are led by his brother Krunal.

What are the rewards for a good Ranji performance?

India are playing just one Test series before the Ranji Trophy gets over - the away series in New Zealand in February-March. But immediate rewards are unlikely considering the Indian Test unit is fairly settled. That said, the BCCI has carefully managed to schedule shadow tours for India A, to get their players acclimatised ahead of every big overseas assignment. That is the tour a lot of players should aim to make. After that, it could just be that one X-factor performance or a series of them, like the kind Vijay Shankar came up with in November 2018 in New Zealand - albeit in the shorter formats - to force his way into the World Cup squad.

Do any names stand out?

Shaw, Gill along with Priyank Panchal and Abhimanyu Easwaran will all be vying for that third opener's spot. The competition has gotten tougher with Rahul returning to his run-scoring ways, and in some style.

With Hardik Pandya still injured, the assumption is that India will go back to Hanuma Vihari at No. 6 to fortify their batting. Partly, the reason for that is the absence of a genuine seam-bowling allrounder. But Vijay Shankar's improved bowling and his solidity with the bat could just translate into a Test call-up, should the new Tamil Nadu captain churn out runs and pick up wickets. His calmness stood out under pressure in a tense Syed Mushtaq Ali final. Can he replicate that in the long form?

What of India's spin stocks, beyond the three currently in the Test squad?

Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja remain the top two spinners, but there are question marks suddenly over Kuldeep Yadav. Shahbaz Nadeem, at 31, proved what years of picking wickets here can do, when he was rewarded with a Test debut against South Africa in Ranchi. There's Jalaj Saxena, another consistent domestic match-winner, waiting to get noticed while Yuzvendra Chahal and Rahul Chahar are looking to fill the legspinning void.

Tell us something about new entrants Chandigarh

For starters, while they are "newbies", they have a lot of players from Punjab, who have had a solid culture of cricket. So unlike the new sides from the north east that had to build from scratch, Chandigarh had a solid talent pool to choose from. They've got former India fast bowler VRV Singh as head coach. Among their key players are Manan Vohra and Barinder Sran. Watch out for the young Under-19 batsman Arjun Azad.

What about the format?

Like last year, the five teams from Groups A and B combined - consisting nine teams each - will qualify for the knockouts. It is entirely possible that all five teams could qualify from the same group. So topping one's own group may not be enough, and this will keep teams on their toes because they'll constantly be watching what is happening in the other group too.

Then we've got two teams making the cut from the 10-pool Group C and the one entrant from Plate Group, also consisting of 10 teams. Uttarakhand have been promoted to Group C after securing a quarterfinal berth last year, while Goa have been relegated to Plate division.

And finally, is there anything interesting from the transfer window?

Robin Uthappa is now with Kerala, but won't lead after their failure to make the knockouts in the limited-overs competitions, with Sachin Baby back as captain. Smit Patel, the India Under-19 World Cup winner from 2012, is now with Goa, after moving in from Tripura to replace CM Gautam. His captain from that U-19 World Cup edition, Unmukt Chand, is leading Uttarakhand. Vinay Kumar, the Karnataka stalwart, has moved to Puducherry, while Stuart Binny, Vinay's one-time team-mate, is now with Nagaland.

December 8: India v West Indies, 2nd T20I in Thiruvananthapuram

NOTE: We might not always be able to tip you off about late injury (or other relevant) updates

Captain: Rohit Sharma

Rohit rarely fails to perform through an entire T20I series. He had an off day in Hyderabad, and is likely to make amends.

Vice-captain: Yuzvendra Chahal

In a high-scoring first T20I, Chahal was India's most successful bowler, even coming back at the death to pick up two crucial wickets.

Hot picks

Virat Kohli

After that 50-ball 94..

Kieron Pollard

Pollard got going in the first game with the bat, finding his range and clearing some of the longer boundaries in Hyderabad. Why not one more time?

Deepak Chahar

An early wicket is almost always assured with Chahar, but he took quite a beating in the first game. It should be worth backing him one more time.

Value for money

Nicholas Pooran

He's been striking it at 147.73 in T20s over the past two years, and can clear the boundary against both pace and spin.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Among the most experienced T20 bowlers going around, he had a decent first outing on return from injury.

Sheldon Cottrell

His angle from around the wicket, swing, and variations all make him a solid proposition. More salutes = more fantasy points.

Point to note

• Thiruvananthapuram was not among the higher-scoring venues in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, with an average first innings score of 127. That was due in part to some weaker domestic sides playing there, so a total in excess of 180 on Sunday can't be ruled out.

The New York Knicks fired head coach David Fizdale Friday, continuing the revolving door of coaches for the franchise in recent years. While assistant Mike Miller (not that one) will take over in the interim, one former Knicks player has already begun his campaign to get the full-time job: Metta World Peace.

World Peace, who was known as Ron Artest when he played at St. John's, was a favorite of Knicks fans, who were heartbroken when the team passed on him in the 1999 NBA draft. Fourteen years and a name change later he finally played a single season for the Knicks in 2013-14. He retired after a final two-year stint with the Los Angeles Lakers, with whom he'd won an NBA title earlier in his career.

Friday, after the news of Fizdale's firing broke, World Peace took to Twitter to throw his name into the ring as a possible Knicks coaching candidate.

If the @nyknicks is available, I definitely want to head coach there. I will absolutely bring that street mentality to the garden. Red brick , hard nose , let's get it popping. QB . This would be epic for all people like me. Straight from the jungles to win a title in NYC. Blaat

— Metta World Peace (@MettaWorld37) December 6, 2019

Actually. Wanna give a shoutout to coach fiz. Good job. Definitely deserved the opportunity. Whoever gets the @nyknicks , good luck. It's one of the best jobs in sports. Block out the fans . They act hard , but really , they just want to win. They absolutely pose no pressure.

— Metta World Peace (@MettaWorld37) December 6, 2019

If I ever got the @nyknicks job , my first message would be direct to fans and media. It wouldn't be nice.But I'm a straight shooter.Pinpoint straight. I'm not happy how you guys put pressure on every coach and star.Shut up and enjoy the game. Be supportive and let's win a title

— Metta World Peace (@MettaWorld37) December 6, 2019

People can say I'm not ready. I tell them eat 50 rocks without water. I'm 40 years old. Caught in to triangle in my first year as a laker. Adjusted from averaging 22 points in playoffs with @HoustonRockets to 8points as a role player with @Lakers . This ball stuff is fun. Easy

— Metta World Peace (@MettaWorld37) December 6, 2019

Mic check!! @nyknicks pic.twitter.com/MGfwUCrmwD

— Metta World Peace (@MettaWorld37) December 6, 2019

World Peace does have some coaching experience. After his retirement, he worked as a player development coach with the South Bay Lakers, the G League affiliate of the Los Angeles Lakers. He also has tweeted his interest in coaching in the past, campaigning for the St. John's job this past April after Chris Mullin stepped down.