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Slot Says Liverpool Will Never Use Jota Grief as 'Excuse' for Poor Form

Liverpool's Dutch manager Arne Slot shouts from the touchline during the English Premier League football match between Manchester City and Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, north west England, on November 9, 2025. (Photo by Darren Staples / AFP)
Liverpool's Dutch manager Arne Slot shouts from the touchline during the English Premier League football match between Manchester City and Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, north west England, on November 9, 2025. (Photo by Darren Staples / AFP)
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Slot Says Liverpool Will Never Use Jota Grief as 'Excuse' for Poor Form

Liverpool's Dutch manager Arne Slot shouts from the touchline during the English Premier League football match between Manchester City and Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, north west England, on November 9, 2025. (Photo by Darren Staples / AFP)
Liverpool's Dutch manager Arne Slot shouts from the touchline during the English Premier League football match between Manchester City and Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, north west England, on November 9, 2025. (Photo by Darren Staples / AFP)

Arne Slot said on Friday that Liverpool would never use their grief over the death of Diogo Jota "as an excuse" for bad results as he seeks to arrest a shocking run of five defeats in six Premier League games.

Forward Jota, a father of three, was killed in a car crash in Spain in July, alongside his brother Andre Silva, with Liverpool retiring the number 20 shirt in his honor.

The champions started the season with seven straight wins in all competitions but are now eight points behind Premier League leaders Arsenal after their dramatic slump.

Liverpool defender Andy Robertson said he could not get Jota "out of my head" in the hours before Scotland's World Cup qualifying decider against Denmark this week, which they won.

Slot was asked on the eve of Liverpool's home match against Nottingham Forest whether his team were being judged fairly, given the raw emotion over Jota's death.

"I think we are always judged, sometimes fair, sometimes unfair, but I saw the interview (with Robertson) as well, live, and I know that it is an issue for us, which is, I think, completely normal," AFP quoted the Liverpool boss as saying.

"But then, at these moments in time, I always think about how much it feels for his wife and his children, because that's so, so, so, so much harder for them than it is for us. But that we miss the player and the person, that is completely clear."

Slot said it was impossible to properly assess the impact of Jota's death on performances or results.

"That's impossible for me to say and we will never use it as an excuse because that doesn't feel right," he added.

Goalkeeper Allison Becker is fit again after weeks on the sidelines but Conor Bradley and Florian Wirtz will miss the Forest match with muscle problems.

Slot, whose team are eighth in the Premier League, said that he was not thinking about Liverpool's title defense.

"Actually, we didn't do this last season as well, when we were top of the league," said the Dutchman. "It's just about the next game.

"And I've said many times last season, and I say this season again as well, the best way to judge a league table is after 38 games, but the next best thing, in my opinion, is after 19 games."

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Elina Svitolina Stays on Track with Another Win in Auckland

Tennis - Wimbledon - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain - July 11, 2023 Ukraine's Elina Svitolina reacts during her quarter final match against Poland's Iga Swiatek REUTERS/Toby Melville
Tennis - Wimbledon - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain - July 11, 2023 Ukraine's Elina Svitolina reacts during her quarter final match against Poland's Iga Swiatek REUTERS/Toby Melville
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Elina Svitolina Stays on Track with Another Win in Auckland

Tennis - Wimbledon - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain - July 11, 2023 Ukraine's Elina Svitolina reacts during her quarter final match against Poland's Iga Swiatek REUTERS/Toby Melville
Tennis - Wimbledon - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain - July 11, 2023 Ukraine's Elina Svitolina reacts during her quarter final match against Poland's Iga Swiatek REUTERS/Toby Melville

Top-seeded Elina Svitolina again relied on her “fighting spirit” Thursday, beating wild-card entry Katie Boulter 7-5, 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals of the WTA tournament in Auckland, New Zealand.

Both players struggled on serve in windy conditions on center court. There were nine service breaks in the match, which the No. 13-ranked Svitolina clinched on her third match point.

“Katie is a great fighter so I was expecting a tough match,” The Associated Press quoted Svitolina as saying. “She can strike the ball very well, as she did today, and it was not an easy match for us with the wind swirling around.”

Svitolina dropped her serve in the third game, immediately broke back but was broken again in the ninth. She won some exceptional clutch points to break Boulter again and take the first set.

Svitolina broke Boulter in the fourth game on the second set but immediately dropped serve. Both players had to work hard to hold in the sixth and seventh games before a series of three consecutive breaks which ended with Svitolina's second singles win in 2026.

“It definitely was very important to me to fight for every point and try to find my way through,” Svitolina said. "I was just pleased with the way I could handle the tough games.”

Svitolina ended her 2025 season in September when she took a break from the tour for mental health reasons.

The Ukrainian star won her opening match in Auckland 6-3, 6-1 over Varvara Gracheva.

“My fighting spirit, I would say it's back,” Svitolina said after that match. "And I would say it's nice to be refreshed and hungry again, to work hard, to face these tough moments.

“So the period of time at the end of the season that I took off, it really helped me to find again this spirit and fighting experience that I've been having for many years.”

The tournament in Auckland is an important tuneup event for the Australian Open, the season-opening major that starts in Melbourne on Jan. 18.

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Sabalenka to Skip Events in 2026 to Prioritize her Health

Sabalenka to Skip Events in 2026 to Prioritize her Health
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Sabalenka to Skip Events in 2026 to Prioritize her Health

Sabalenka to Skip Events in 2026 to Prioritize her Health

Aryna Sabalenka expects to skip events again this year rather than put her health at risk over the course of an "insane" season, even though she knows she is likely to be sanctioned by the WTA Tour for doing so, the world number one said.

Top players are obliged to compete in all four Grand Slams, 10 WTA 1000 tournaments and six WTA 500 events under WTA rules, with the punishment for missing them ranging from rankings points deductions to fines, Reuters reported.

In 2025, Sabalenka competed in just three WTA 500 events - Brisbane, Stuttgart and Berlin - making her one of a number of high-ranked ⁠players, including world number two Iga Swiatek, to be docked ranking points.

Asked if she would change her plans for 2026, the four-times Grand Slam champion told reporters: "The season is definitely insane, and that's not good for all of us, as you see so many players getting injured ...

"The rules are quite tricky with mandatory events, but I'm still ⁠skipping a couple events in order to protect my body, because I struggled a lot last season," the Belarusian said after beating Sorana Cirstea at the Brisbane International.

"Even though the results were really consistent, some of the tournaments I had been playing completely sick or I've been really exhausted from overplaying. This season we will try to manage it a little bit better, even though they are going to fine me by the end of the season.

"But it's tricky to do that. You cannot skip 1000 events. It's ⁠really tricky, and I think that's insane what they do. I think they just follow their interests, but they're not focusing on protecting all of us."

The men's and women's circuits have faced criticism due to their 11-month seasons, and both tours came under fresh scrutiny during the "Asian swing" towards the end of last year with injuries piling up.

In September, the WTA told Reuters that athlete welfare is a top priority and that it had listened to views on the calendar, both through the players' council and their representatives on the WTA board, to improve the circuit structure in 2024 and boost compensation.

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Tougher Test Awaits Anxious Hosts Morocco at Cup of Nations

Morocco's Brahim Abdelkader Diaz, right, celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the Africa Cup of Nations round of 16 soccer match between Morocco and Tanzania in Rabat, Morocco, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026. (AP)
Morocco's Brahim Abdelkader Diaz, right, celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the Africa Cup of Nations round of 16 soccer match between Morocco and Tanzania in Rabat, Morocco, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026. (AP)
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Tougher Test Awaits Anxious Hosts Morocco at Cup of Nations

Morocco's Brahim Abdelkader Diaz, right, celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the Africa Cup of Nations round of 16 soccer match between Morocco and Tanzania in Rabat, Morocco, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026. (AP)
Morocco's Brahim Abdelkader Diaz, right, celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the Africa Cup of Nations round of 16 soccer match between Morocco and Tanzania in Rabat, Morocco, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026. (AP)

Hosts Morocco can expect the first proper examination of their ability to go on and win the Africa Cup of Nations when they take on a feisty Cameroon in the quarter-finals at the weekend.

The top-ranked Moroccans were not stretched in the group phase of the tournament, where they finished top of the standings, nor in their last-16 clash against Tanzania on Sunday.

Yet they delivered only one convincing performance when they beat Zambia in their last of their group matches and against Cameroon in Rabat on Friday there will need to be a marked improvement if they are to advance towards ‌the target ‌of a first continental title in 50 years.

The ‌home ⁠side were ‌heavy pre-tournament favorites but have looked anxious and nervy at times, feeling the intense pressure and will be cautious of the threat that Cameroon pose.

"We will try to disrupt them," said Cameroon coach David Pagou, promising a physical battle.

The game will be one of the highlights of a blockbuster set of last-eight ties, with Algeria meeting Nigeria on Saturday and Egypt's clash ⁠against defending champions Ivory Coast later on the same day also eagerly anticipated.

Only Senegal, who ‌take on Mali in the first quarter-final in ‍Tangier on Friday, are expected to ‍ease through to the semi-finals, up against opponents who have made ‍it to the latter stages of the tournament without winning a game.

Mali have drawn four successive matches in Morocco, advancing on post-match penalties over Tunisia in the last 16 despite being down to 10 men for most of the match. Their fighting spirit is not expected to be enough to hold out against Senegal's attack, which has scored 10 ⁠goals at the tournament.

Algeria and Nigeria are the only teams to have won all four of their matches in Morocco and both have given strong indicators of their ability to take the title.

Ivory Coast were also in impressive form in the last 16 as they brushed aside Burkina Faso 3-0 on Tuesday and are set to reignite a Cup of Nations rivalry with Egypt, who are looking to give talisman Mohamed Salah international success to go along with his numerous achievements at club level with Liverpool.

"We'll simply try to impose our rhythm (of play) on Egypt," said Ivorian ‌coach Emerse Fae.

The quarter-final winners advance to the last four to be played in Rabat and Tangier on January 14.