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MANCHESTER, England - Criticized for picking a perceived weakened lineup against Real Madrid in midweek, Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers can justify that controversial selection if his regulars return to hand Chelsea a first Premier League loss of the season on Saturday.Rodgers was accused by some of betraying Liverpools rich European pedigree by dropping his star names for Tuesdays Champions League match in Spain, appearing to show he valued the Chelsea match higher. Liverpool lost 1-0.If the gamble pays off and the likes of rested quartet Steven Gerrard, Raheem Sterling, Jordan Henderson and Mario Balotelli return to inspire Liverpool to victory at Anfield, some of Rodgers critics may fall silent.Chelsea, though, is unbeaten in all competitions, leads the league by four points and has returned from the northwest with draws at Manchester City and Manchester United already this campaign.Liverpool is in seventh place — 12 points behind Chelsea — and showing none of the form that took the team to a second-place finish last season.Here are some other things to watch out for in the Premier League this weekend;___MISERABLE MOURINHOChelsea is undefeated in 14 games this season, top of both its domestic and Champions League standings and has no apparent weaknesses in its squad.You would not know it listening to its manager over the past week.After the 2-1 win over Queens Park Rangers last weekend, a sullen Jose Mourinho said he was not happy with his team and complained about the lack of atmosphere inside Stamford Bridge. Playing here is like playing in an empty stadium, he said.Then after a 1-1 draw with Maribor in the Champions League on Wednesday, Mourinho criticized his players for lacking focus and underestimating opponents.A win at Anfield should cheer up Mourinho, though. After Saturday, Chelsea will have played arguably its three toughest away games at Manchester City, Manchester United and Liverpool and is sure to be in first place.___CITY CRISISMemories of a Premier League-League Cup double last season are fading fast at Man City.City manager Manuel Pellegrini said Wednesday his team was going through a crisis of confidence after a 2-1 loss to CSKA Moscow in the Champions League left the English champions bottom of the group and unlikely to qualify for the knockout stage.City has also stuttered in the Premier League and is six points behind Chelsea going into Saturdays match at Queens Park Rangers.We must find out why (there is a crisis) by talking to the players every day, Pellegrini said. These players are important players so I dont understand why they cannot play in the Champions League.A 1-0 derby win over United on Sunday is the only bright point in a dreadful two weeks that has seen City lose to West Ham in the league, Newcastle in the League Cup and then CSKA in Europe.___DEFENSIVE ISSUESManchester United also has a crisis — in central defence — which is hampering its hopes of bouncing back from its worst 10-game start to a Premier League season with a win at home to Crystal Palace on Saturday.United manager Louis van Gaal is without the injured Marcos Rojo and Phil Jones, the suspended Chris Smalling and also likely Jonny Evans, who hasnt played since Sept. 21 because of injury.United ended the derby with a centre-back combination of central midfielder Michael Carrick and 19-year-old Paddy McNair and could persist with that pairing, although youngster Tyler Blackett could also come into consideration.With 13 points from 10 games, 10th-place United hasnt made such a poor start to a league season since 1986 — when Ron Atkinson was fired and replaced by Alex Ferguson.The 20-time champions will be big favourites against Palace, which has not won in four games.___SUBLIME SANCHEZAfter a slow start, Alexis Sanchez is showing just why Arsenal spent 35 million pounds ($60 million) to buy him from Barcelona this summer.The Chile forward has scored five goals in his last three games, and 11 overall in his debut season at Emirates Stadium.Hes a good leader and something that we havent had in the Arsenal team before, Arsenal winger Theo Walcott said. Hes a dream to play with.With Walcott back after 10 months out with knee-ligament damage and Danny Welbeck settling in quickly after his deadline-day move from Man United, Arsenal is looking a potent attacking force once again, scoring at least two goals in its last five matches.Defensively, the team is suspect, though. Arsenal threw away a 3-0 lead after 60 minutes to draw 3-3 with Anderlecht in the Champions League on Tuesday and is hoping centre back Laurent Koscielny will be fit again for the trip to Swansea on Saturday.Arsenal is fourth in the standings.___ELSEWHERESecond-place Southampton continues to confound the doubters and will go for a fifth straight win in all competitions when it hosts Leicester on Saturday.Also Saturday, fifth-place West Ham is at home to Aston Villa, which has lost six games in a row, and last-place Burnley seeks its first win of the season at home against Hull.On Sunday, its: Sunderland vs. Everton; Tottenham vs. Stoke; and West Bromwich vs. Newcastle. 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Buy Nike Shoes China .com) - The Los Angeles Kings werent playing their best hockey before the league went on break during the Winter Olympics.CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- NASCAR announced a new rules package Tuesday that will ban all private testing in 2015, including the annual Daytona 500 test, and levy the stiffest penalty possible on any team caught conducting its own sessions. The only testing allowed next season will be sessions conducted by NASCAR or Goodyear. Any team caught testing on its own will receive a P6 penalty, the highest on NASCARs new punishment scale. It carries a loss of 150 points, a minimum $150,000 fine and a six-week suspension for the crew chief and other crew members. "It will be a huge penalty if anyone is caught," said Steve ODonnell, NASCARs executive vice-president and chief racing development officer. ODonnell said NASCAR believes teams will police the testing themselves and report any organization that breaks the ban. The three-day annual Daytona 500 test each January was as much about promoting the season-opening race as it was for teams to shake off any cobwebs from the off-season. ODonnell said that time will now be used to send drivers on a cross-country promotional tour similar to the "Chase Across North America" that NASCAR used this month with its 16 Chase championship drivers assigned to visit various race markets. Scrapping the Daytona test was initiated by NASCAR, ODonnell said, and not a concession to the newly-formed Race Team Alliance, the group of team owners that is pushing for better efficiencies and reduced costs for competition. "Its NASCAR driven," ODonnell said. "Its with collaboration. Its working with the entire industry." Among other changes to the rules package are updated qualifying formats, including at the Daytona 500. The front row will now be set through group qualifying instead of the traditional single-car runs. The rest of the field will be set by a pair of qualifying races later in Speedweeks. NASCAR is also reducing engine horsepower through a tapered spacer from 850 to 725, and cutting the rear spoiler from 7.25 inches high to 6 inches. Thee horsepower reduction should slow cars from 5 mph to 7 mph, ODonnell said, and is aimed to create more passing through the field over the course of a long green-flag run.dddddddddddd "The combination of a lower horsepower package, and a new aero package, which takes about 300 counts of downforce off of the car, we believe will make for an even better racing product," ODonnell said. "I think where you will really see it is in the turns, where drivers need to come off the throttle more, and we believe that will be where we see more passing, in turns." He said the goal is more green-flag passes for the lead and "we believe that will happen with drivers potentially making errors in the corner, and thats not just for the lead, but the entire field." NASCAR will also now use rain tires in the Sprint Cup Series at Sonoma and Watkins Glen. The rain tires are already used in the lower Nationwide and Truck Series races on road courses, to positive fan feedback. "The fans obviously love it," ODonnell said. "If its a complete downpour, obviously we cant race. But Goodyear is able to build a tire for Cup, and we talked to the teams and they said, Lets do it." As for qualifying, the formats will be shortened at all types of tracks, mostly to cut the length of time in the first segment. Teams currently are sitting on pit road trying to time when to run a hot lap, and NASCAR will try to eliminate the waiting. The first segment on short tracks and intermediate tracks will be 15 minutes, followed by a break, then 10 minutes, a break, and a final 5-minute session. At superspeedways, the field will be divided into two groups for the first 5-minute session, followed by two more 5-minute sessions. Road course qualifying will consist of one 25-minute session, followed by a 10-minute session. The Daytona 500 front row qualifying will be done in groups, but the length of the breaks is still being tweaked as NASCAR needs to fill a 3-hour television window. ' ' '