Liverpool could move 10 points clear of Arsenal at the top of the Premier League if they beat Aston Villa in midweek, but if they lose then Arne Slot's team could travel to Manchester City on Sunday with their lead cut to four and the first signs of a title wobble developing.

Bigger leads than seven points have been lost in Premier League title races -- Manchester United threw away an eight-point lead with six games to go in 2011-12 -- so Liverpool will be entering hazardous territory if they start to let their foot off the gas.

It's difficult to gauge where Liverpool are at. With a gap at the top, they are seemingly on course for a first title since 2019-20, but recent results and performances have hinted that trouble could lie ahead and the prospect of a much closer title run-in than many had anticipated.

In isolation, their FA Cup fourth-round defeat at EFL Championship strugglers Plymouth Argyle could be dismissed as an outlier result suffered on a day when virtually all of Slot's regulars either watched from the bench or their sofas, having been given a day off. But losing to a team anchored to the foot of the Championship table at the time didn't reflect well on Slot's fringe players and their ability to step in if needed during the run-in now has a significant question mark hanging over it.

The Plymouth defeat was followed by a chaotic and dramatic Merseyside derby against Everton at Goodison Park, which ended in a 2-2 draw after James Tarkowski's 98th-minute equaliser for the home side. Then came the 2-1 home win against Wolves on Sunday which steadied the ship, put Liverpool back on a winning trajectory and restored their seven-point lead after Arsenal had briefly reduced it to four by winning at Leicester City 24 hours earlier.

Yet the Wolves win was edgy and unconvincing. It ended, according to Opta, with Liverpool failing to register a single shot in the second half of a Premier League game at Anfield for the first time since 2003-04.

There are two ways to assess the match: It was either a classic case of a title-winning team grinding out a victory while performing poorly, or it was a sign of things beginning to go awry.

Virgil van Dijk is one of only three outfield players -- alongside Fulham's Antonee Robinson and Brentford's Nathan Collins -- to have played every single minute of every Premier League game this season. Star forward Mohamed Salah has missed only 35 minutes of Premier League football this term, while midfielder Ryan Gravenberch has been absent for only 110 this season. Van Dijk (630), Salah (602) and Gravenberch (585) have also been Liverpool's most active players in their UEFA Champions League campaign this season.

Those numbers -- and similar workloads registered by Alexis Mac Allister, Ibrahima Konaté and Luis Díaz -- are why Slot rested so many players at Plymouth. The FA Cup exit will ease Liverpool's fixture list and give the squad some much-needed breathing space between now and the end of the season, but recent performances have suggested fatigue is already having an impact.

This is why the upcoming period is so crucial for Liverpool. Slot's side travel to face Aston Villa on Wednesday, City on Sunday, then face Newcastle at Anfield on Feb. 26. These are three huge Premier League games that could make or break their title challenge.

If Liverpool win all three, they can start to plan for a Premier League trophy parade, but any defeat would give Arsenal and third-placed Nottingham Forest, who meet at the City Ground on Feb. 26, the belief that the race is still on.

And why shouldn't they still hold out hope of a late surge to the title? Arsenal were 12 points behind reigning champions Manchester United on March 1, 1998, but Arsene Wenger's team still ended the season as Premier League champions. Two years earlier, Kevin Keegan's Newcastle moved nine points clear of Sir Alex Ferguson's side -- having played one game fewer -- with a 2-1 win at Middlesbrough on Feb. 10, but United reeled Newcastle in and overtook them to win the title in the final week of the campaign.

Man United and Arsenal, in 1996 and 1998, sparked their title surge with a win away to Newcastle and United, respectively, during the run-in, but while Forest have already played Liverpool twice -- winning at Anfield and drawing at home -- Arsenal are due to travel to Anfield on May 10 on Matchday 36/38 in what could be a title decider if Liverpool lose momentum in the weeks ahead.

Although Liverpool led from the front to win the title under Jurgen Klopp in 2019-20 -- the club's first title since 1990 -- they have a poor record when it comes to holding their nerve in Premier League title races. Indeed, they have led the table on New Year's Day on seven occasions, but in five of the previous six, they have failed to finish on top.

Liverpool blew a nine-point lead in the 2018-19 season, so their seven-point advantage right now might just feel a little more vulnerable due to previous failures and the fixture list now looming.

This week will be a key moment in Liverpool's title challenge and the next few games could be the ones that make all difference.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- William Byron fortuitously missed the ferocious wrecks down the stretch at the Daytona 500 that knocked out contenders racing for the checkered flag and left him with a repeat victory in sight.

Still, sitting ninth with one lap left in an overtime finish, the odds seemed against the driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet to escape the rest of the race unscathed, or even have enough time to pull off the comeback win.

Thanks to one more crash, Byron used a clean ride on his final lap to escape the chaos and race to his second straight Daytona 500 victory. He dodged a string of late-race wreckage that knocked out a chunk of contenders and sent the Hendrick Motorsports driver into victory lane Sunday night at Daytona International Speedway.

"It's not all luck to win twice in a row," Byron said.

Maybe not. But Byron certainly was in the right place by racing near the outside wall in overtime to become the first back-to-back winner since Denny Hamlin in 2019-20.

Byron took advantage of another major mess on the final lap -- NASCAR did not drop the caution and let the field race to the finish -- and took another, familiar burnout in Daytona International Speedway.

"It's obviously really special," Byron said. "It's an amazing race, and obviously a lot of crazy racing out there tonight and just a lot of pushing and shoving."

The 27-year-old Byron held on to win after two weather delays totaling more than 3 hours, and with President Donald Trump set to watch the rest of the race in Florida, after he earlier led drivers on two laps around the track in his heavily armored presidential limousine known in Washington as "The Beast."

Hendrick Motorsports won its 10th Daytona 500 to break a tie with Petty Enterprises for the record.

"Just obviously fortunate it worked out in our favor," Byron said. "Crazy? Yeah. I can't honestly believe that but we're here."

Byron become the youngest driver to win multiple Daytona 500s, breaking the record held by Jeff Gordon, also in the No. 24. Gordon, a Hall of Famer and four-time NASCAR champion, is now Byron's boss as vice chairman of Hendrick Motorsports.

Gordon flashed a thumbs up when told Byron broke his record for youngest two-time winner by four months.

"I hope he breaks them all," Gordon said. "I'm in full support of that."

Austin Cindric held the lead headed to the white flag when he was wiped out in crash that took out a slew of drivers that included Chase Briscoe, Hamlin and Alex Bowman. It was sixth time in the last eight Daytona 500s the race spilled into overtime, setting up Byron to become the fifth driver to win it in consecutive years.

Byron won for the 14th time in his Cup career, and already set his sights on the championship race in Phoenix after finishing third in the standings in each of the last two years.

"We plan on trying to win a lot of races this year, so we're not going to stop here," Byron said. "We're going to continue to push forward and try to get to Phoenix.

It wouldn't be Daytona without all the flips, slams and skids down the stretch that inevitably send the race into overtime.

With four laps left, Ryan Preece turned upside-down and essentially did a wheelie in his No. 60 Ford. His car flipped onto its roof and turned back onto its tires before hitting the outside wall. Preece dropped his safety net to signal to crews he was OK.

Bubba Wallace, Kyle Larson, Daniel Suarez and Brad Keselowski all had their shots at victory lane spoiled, and the race was red-flagged, just 11 laps after another big one shuffled the field and knocked four former Cup Series champions out of contention.

Reigning NASCAR champion Joey Logano and Ricky Stenhouse started the multi-car melee when Logano moved to the middle and Stenhouse moved to block him. It stacked up Logano, and the accordion effect sent several cars -- including ones belonging to former Cup champs Kyle Busch, Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott -- sliding in every direction.

Busch's car ended up on a wrecker, extending his skid to 0 for 20 in "The Great American Race."

"Looks like the fastest car got in a hurry to get to the wreck," Busch said. "Logano was by far the fastest car today. He could do about anything. The Penske cars were very strong. But we still had 20 laps to go, and he's trying to go through the middle and make a hole that isn't there. Just created chaos."

Tyler Reddick was second and two-time Daytona 500 champion Jimmie Johnson was third. Chase Briscoe was fourth and John Hunter Nemechek fifth.

Xfinity Series champion Justin Allgaier finished ninth driving for team owner and two-time Daytona 500 champion Dale Earnhardt Jr. in JR Motorsports' Cup debut.

Not bad. Not good enough to beat Byron.

Byron, a self-taught racer who used computer equipment to hone his skills, was left standing one more time as a Daytona winner. Gordon was a three-time Daytona 500 winner and noted he still had the edge over Byron.

"Until next year," Gordon said.

Leave a legacy

Johnson and Nemechek gave Legacy Motor Club two top-five finishes. A Hall of Fame driver and seven-time NASCAR champion, Johnson is now the majority owner under an offseason restructuring. It was his highest finish in the race since he won it in 2013.

"I have emotions that I didn't expect to have. I've never been in this position as an owner, and it's really opened up a different set of emotions," Johnson said after his highest finish in the race since winning in 2013.

Early exit

Four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves and 2017 NASCAR champion Martin Truex Jr. were among the drivers whose race ended after they were collected in a wreck before the halfway point.

Castroneves made the Daytona 500 under a new rule that allows for a "world-class driver" to receive a provisional spot. He landed a NASCAR ride as part of Trackhouse's "Project 91," designed to give renowned racers from outside of the series a shot in a stock car.

Truex, who retired from full-time racing at the end of last season, failed to win the Daytona 500 in 21 tries.

Truex finished 38th and Castroneves 39th.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James sat out the NBA All-Star Game on Sunday night -- his first time missing the game in his career -- because of lingering discomfort in his left foot and ankle.

James, 40, sat out the Lakers' win over the Indiana Pacers last weekend because of the same injury.

"I was hoping it would feel a lot better this morning, but it was not where I wanted it to be," James said of his ankle.

The 22-year veteran skipped Saturday's ceremonial practice and media availability, keeping the same routine he kept for All-Star Weekend the past two seasons, with the NBA granting him the reprieve after two decades of service.

James added that he "hoped" he would be available Wednesday in the Lakers' first game after the All-Star break against the Charlotte Hornets.

The game was rescheduled to this week after the Lakers-Hornets game on Jan. 9 was postponed because of the Los Angeles wildfires. The rest of the league will not resume play until Thursday.

The Lakers (32-20) are No. 5 in the Western Conference after winning 12 of 15 games heading into the break.

"With 30 games left and us trying to make a playoff push in the wild, wild West, I felt like it was very important for me to kind of take care of myself and understand what's coming on [down the stretch]," James said.

It was the first All-Star Game that James has sat out in his career after being selected a starter for a record 21st straight year in 2025.

James announced his decision about two hours before tipoff Sunday, meaning there was no injury replacement named in his place. James' All-Star team, Team Shaq's OGs, won the title over Team Chuck.

James is averaging 24.3 points on 51.6% shooting (39.5% from 3), with 9.0 assists and 7.7 rebounds this season, appearing in 48 of L.A.'s 52 games.

Two of those games featured his new teammate, Luka Doncic. James was asked if playing with the 25-year-old Doncic has affected how long he planned to continue to play before retiring.

"I have not given it that type of thought," James said. "Just the excitement of being able to add a caliber player like that, a generational talent like that to our franchise, it's something that's given me energy. I'm looking forward to seeing what we can do. ... I think we could be really good going down the stretch. But we'll see what happens."

James touched on several other topics during his 15-minute news conference:

After Ja Morant, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Zach LaVine took to social media to express their interest in joining next year's dunk contest after Mac McClung won the event for the third straight time Saturday, James was asked if he regretted never participating in it.

"No, there's no part of me that has regrets about not doing it," James said. "Obviously, I had a couple moments where I wanted to do it, and it just never worked out that way."

He added it would be "pretty cool" to see established stars dunk in the contest.

"If those guys do do it, those are superstars in our league, and obviously we know the athleticism [they possess]," James said.

When asked about the current state of the NBA, after he lamented too many 3-pointers being taken across the league earlier this season, James endorsed the NBA product, pointing to its international appeal as a major draw.

"We love our game. The game of basketball is beautiful," James said. "[The NBA is] better from when I entered the league in 2003, and hopefully it continues to be even better when I'm done playing, as well."

James said he was "looking forward to seeing" the All-Star Game's revamped format, which featured three teams of eight NBA All-Stars and one team of eight first- and second-year Rising Stars players competing in a round-robin tournament.

James' team, coached by Shaquille O'Neal and featuring vets such as James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant on the roster, played the Rising Stars group, including rookies Stephon Castle of the San Antonio Spurs and Dalton Knecht of the Lakers.

"I know we've got a lot of great -- calling us the OGs, that's hilarious," James said. "I saw the quote the other day with DK [Knecht] say he was going to play against me. So I guess I'll see him in practice and we can go at it then."

SAN FRANCISCO -- Victor Wembanyama has already gone up against the U.S. in international events, most notably last year's Paris Olympics when he led France's march to the gold medal game against the Americans.

He'd like to be in that position more often - maybe even annually. And Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo loves that idea as well.

In the ongoing search for the right NBA All-Star format, there was plenty of talk this weekend in San Francisco about an idea that has picked up some momentum in recent years: The U.S. on one side, the world on the other side.

Count Wembanyama - San Antonio's 7-foot-4 All-Star center from France - as a fan of that notion.

"I would love to. My opinion is that it's more purposeful," Wembanyama said. "There's more pride in it. More stakes."

Antetokounmpo was even more succinct when asked if he'd be on board with such a move.

"I would love that. Oh, I would love that," said Antetokounmpo, a native of Greece who is of Nigerian descent. "I think that would be the most interesting and most exciting format. I would love that. For sure, I'd take pride in that. I always compete, but I think that will give me a little bit more extra juice to compete."

The latest format for the All-Star Game -- a four-team, three-game mini-tournament with all games being of the first-to-40-points-wins variety -- debuted Sunday night, with Shaq's OGs winning the title.

The NBA decided to try the tournament approach, which mimics what was already in place with the Rising Stars event for first- and second-year players, after years of openly asking for more competitive games.

And the 211-186 final score in 2024 was the last straw.

"I think that when you get events like this, All-Star Weekend, we don't worry about the competition," said 15-time All-Star Kevin Durant of the Phoenix Suns. "It's just more about celebrating the basketball family and the community around this time. It shows how united we are as a group, as a basketball community, and how we can unite the rest of the world with what we do, as well. It's a cool time."

There is some evidence that a midseason matchup between the best American players and the best international players might work, and it's happening right now in another sport.

The 4 Nations Face-Off hockey tournament, which opened last week in Montreal and concludes Thursday in Boston with the U.S. assured of a spot in the championship game, is obviously not meaningless to the players involved. There's been fighting -- three brawls in the first nine seconds of USA vs. Canada in Montreal on Saturday alone -- and a ton of physicality, much to the delight of fans.

"Mayhem," Canada coach Jon Cooper said.

The NBA -- at least some in the NBA -- are watching the hockey, and taking note of how it seems to be working as a potential idea for basketball's midseason showcase going forward.

"Sometimes things just get old and kind of need a facelift," Golden State forward Draymond Green said. "I know they've done different things to try to get it going. I think what'll be interesting to see is how this 4 Nations thing turns out in hockey. If that turns out great, might have to peek an eye."

Had it been an U.S. vs. The World this season for an All-Star format, here's what the international team might have been:

Wembanyama, Antetokounmpo, Denver's Nikola Jokic, Oklahoma City's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Indiana's Pascal Siakam and Houston's Alperen Sengun were All-Stars already.

New York All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns plays internationally for the Dominican Republic, his mother's homeland, so it would make sense to add him to that mix. Luka Doncic, now of the Los Angeles Lakers, is almost always an All-Star lock as well, so that would be eight players.

And here's where it gets challenging.

If such a U.S. vs. The World All-Star matchup had the traditional 12-man rosters, four more players from the world pool would be needed - and that would mean four fewer American players would get the All-Star nod.

"The USA has more talented players than the rest of the world," said Jokic, the three-time MVP from Serbia who led Denver to the NBA title in 2023. "Europe and the rest of the world has talented players, I think, but the majority of the players are coming from USA."

The NBA says about 70% of players in the league are American and 30% aren't. It's simple math: it would be easier for international players to make the All-Star roster if the traditional format was being utilized.

"Not to say we couldn't figure out a way around this, but to the extent we want to have a fair process for picking All-Stars, if you're picking half the players from a 30% pool and the other half from a 70% pool, it might not be fair to the players," NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said last month. "So, that's one thing we're looking at."

Silver sought input from current players like Golden State star Stephen Curry before the league went to the tournament format this year.

If he asks Wembanyama or Antetokounmpo their thoughts about 2026 and beyond, it's pretty clear what the answer will be.

"Having Shai, Jokic, Luka, Wemby, Towns, Sengun, I know those players - obviously I'm missing some guys that I cannot think from the top of my head - going against the best U.S. players, I think it would be fun," Antetokounmpo said. "I think that would be the best format."

SAN FRANCISCO -- The new tournament format for the NBA All-Star Game on Sunday night drew mixed reviews, with several players taking issue with the breaks during and between games.

The NBA eschewed the traditional East vs. West setup in favor of a four-team, single-elimination tournament, with a target score of 40 points for each round. Three of the teams were drafted by TNT "Inside the NBA" analysts Charles Barkley (Chuck's Global Stars), Kenny Smith (Kenny's Young Stars) and Shaquille O'Neal (Shaq's OGs). The fourth team, named for Candace Parker (Candace's Rising Stars), was comprised of the winning squad from Friday night's Rising Stars event.

Players expressed satisfaction with the action on the floor, but pointed out Sunday's tournament featured too many stoppages, as comedian Kevin Hart entertained the crowd at Chase Center with commentary and banter that halted play.

"To be honest, I didn't like it at all," said Trae Young, a member of Chuck's Global Stars. "I didn't like the breaks. The games were so short. Obviously, we can score. So, they're trying to, I feel like, trying to extend the game, extend the TV time with the breaks and things like that."

The championship game -- in which Shaq's veteran-laden squad that featured players such as Stephen Curry, Jayson Tatum and Kevin Durant defeated Chuck's team of international talents such as Nikola Jokic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Victor Wembanyama -- had a break of nearly 20 minutes due to a tribute to the TNT broadcast crew, which is in its final year covering All-Star Weekend.

"I would rather play without breaks," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "But I had fun, nonetheless. I feel like it was a little bit more towards the competitive side tonight, which is a good feeling, a step in the right direction. I guess it's up to the guys that handle all that stuff to figure out what's next and how to keep making it more and more interesting. Hopefully, we get there one day."

Added Jaylen Brown: "I would say it's not ideal to stop like that if you want guys to be physical. I think guys were still out there having fun. All the OGs, team old knees and old backs, we came out on top, so I don't think anyone else should have had any excuses. It's definitely not ideal."

Curry, who scored 12 points in the championship game en route to earning the All-Star Game MVP, said he "did have some input and a lot of conversations with [NBA commissioner] Adam [Silver] and the rest of the leadership on where we were last year."

"We needed to change, needed some new life, new juice in the game, something kind of unexpected," Curry said.

Durant said the format "took some getting used to," and Warriors forward Draymond Green criticized the decision to include first- and second-year Rising Stars players.

"I had to work so hard to play on Sunday night of All-Star Weekend," Green said on the TNT broadcast. "And because ratings are down, because the game's bad, we're bringing in Rising Stars? I never played in the Rising Stars game. My first two years, I didn't touch that game. And these guys get to touch the All-Star floor? On Sunday night?"

The absence of injured stars such as LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Anthony Edwards also put a damper on the game.

Chuck's Global Stars bested Kenny's Young Stars in the first semifinal matchup of the evening as Gilgeous-Alexander scored a game-high 12 points on 5-for-5 shooting to fuel a 41-32 victory. Shaq's OGs advanced to the championship with a 42-35 win over Candace's Rising Stars.

Damian Lillard scored a team-high nine points in the semifinal win and Curry contributed eight as Shaq's OGs closed the game on a 14-7 run. Lillard drilled the game-winning 28-footer off a Durant assist.

"Once we got into the flow of things, it was pretty good," Durant said. "The first game we played against the Rising Stars I thought was pretty good."