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• Van Dijk can keep Haaland quiet, says Keane

  Liverpool centre-back Virgil van Dijk remains a "world-class player" who is as capable as anyone of keeping Manchester City striker Erling Haaland quiet.

  That is according to former Reds striker Robbie Keane, who also told Stats Perform talk of Jurgen Klopp departing Anfield is "absolutely ludicrous".

  Van Dijk's form for club and country has been the subject of much debate, with Netherlands greats Marco van Basten and Ruud Gullit heavily criticising the defender this week.

  On the back of the Netherlands' 4-0 loss to France, Van Basten accused Van Dijk of "making noise but not saying anything" and creating chaos in the side.

  Fellow former Netherlands international Gullit, speaking alongside Van Basten in his punditry role with Ziggo Sport, said Van Dijk "thinks he is better than the rest".

  Experienced defender Van Dijk faces arguably the toughest challenge in world football this weekend when Liverpool travel to City on their return to Premier League action.

  Haaland, who is expected to be fit despite pulling out of Norway's squad, has scored 42 goals at club level this season – 11 more than any player across Europe's major leagues.

  But Keane believes Van Dijk is more than able to keep the prolific striker quiet in Saturday's contest at the Etihad Stadium.

  "The number of goals Haaland has scored is incredible for such a young player," Keane said. "He's certainly suited to this league and he's powerfully strong.

  "When you're playing a team like Man City, who create the chances they do, you know as a striker you've always got a chance to score goals.

  "But then you have someone like Van Dijk, who is a world-class player. If there's anybody that can keep [Haaland] quiet, it's certainly him."

  Liverpool have won just one of their past 13 Premier League away games against City, with that solitary victory coming in November 2015 when winning 4-1.

  The Reds were beaten by Bournemouth last time out in the league and will finish the campaign trophyless following Champions League elimination at the hands of Real Madrid.

  Klopp has been asked numerous times about his future in what has been a poor campaign for Liverpool, but Keane does not expect him to go anywhere at the end of the season.

  "If I'm being totally honest, I think it's absolutely ridiculous people are even questioning Jurgen Klopp, if he should leave this club or not, absolutely no way," he said. 

  "The only person I think should get to decide that is Jurgen Klopp after what he's done for this football club. It's not going to happen. No way. The fans love him. 

  "I know the owners love him being here, so it would be absolutely ludicrous for people to suggest that he would leave."

  Liverpool have taken 12 points from 13 Premier League away games this season, compared to 30 at home – the biggest difference (18 points) between any side in the division.

  They are running out of time to climb into the top four, but Keane is confident Klopp is the right man to rebuild the squad regardless of what happens over the next two months.

  "The team, like any other team, goes through bad spells and that seems to be happening this year," added Keane, who spent one season with Liverpool in 2008-09.

  "Jurgen Klopp, he's very good at rebuilding. So I'm sure he'd be trying to get into the top four the season with 10 games still to go. 

  "He won't be resting. We know what he's like, the character he is. We hope to get into the top four and then I'm sure he already has one eye on next year and ready to go again."

• Predicting Europe's big five leagues: what Stats Perform's supercomputer says

  With the last international window of the season over, domestic club campaigns now enter the final straight.

  Everything is still to be decided – technically speaking. Title races, European qualification, relegation – all will come to a head over the next two months.

  Of course, there are a few outcomes that already look like foregone conclusions, but there's still much to play for in each of the top five leagues.

  With club football returning over the next few days, Stats Perform's Artificial Intelligence team have crunched the numbers using their supercomputer to predict the outcome of each league.

  How's the outlook for your team?

  Premier League

  England is the scene of potentially most compelling title race among the top five leagues this season.

  Arsenal may have an eight-point lead at the summit, but Manchester City still have a game in hand. As such, the Gunners' chances of winning a first league title since 2004 are 56.2 per cent, perhaps smaller than many might have expected.

  That comes down in part to the statistical value attached to City's historic results, particularly over the past few years during their Premier League domination, whereas Arsenal haven't come close to that level of success over the same period.

  Therefore, the title race still looks tight.

  A little further back, Manchester United (74.5 per cent) are near-certainties to finish third, while the race for fourth promises to be engrossing – Tottenham (19.3 per cent), Newcastle United (29.1 per cent) and Liverpool (24.5 per cent) look set to tussle it out, with Brighton and Hove Albion (10.7 per cent) considered rank outsiders.

  At the bottom, Southampton's 41.6 per cent likelihood of finishing 20th suggests they've a huge battle on their hands, but the supercomputer reckons West Ham and Leicester City have enough to pull themselves clear of the drop zone.

  The signs are that two of Bournemouth, Everton and Nottingham Forest will join Saints in the Championship.

  Bundesliga

  Germany's top flight may come to rival the Premier League's title race. Ahead of the weekend's Klassiker between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich, BVB are a point clear.

  Yet, Dortmund's probability of finishing top is just 22.4 per cent compared to Bayern's 76.4. Again, it largely comes down to their historic results and Die Roten's dominance suggesting they'll eventually get the job done.

  But it's fair to say Bayern's decision makers aren't so confident given their brutal choice to sack Julian Nagelsmann on Friday, replacing him with former Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel.

  Union Berlin aren't out of it given they are only five points behind Dortmund, though this is obviously uncharted territory for them, hence the 0.9 per cent chance of winning their first top-flight title since 1923.

  Third looks the best bet for them (40.3 per cent), while RB Leipzig are the most likely to fill out the top four (37.2 per cent).

  It's even tighter in the relegation scrap. Only seven points separate 18th from 13th, so even rock-bottom Stuttgart are given a reasonable chance of finishing 14th (10.6 per cent) or 15th (15.2 per cent).

  LaLiga

  Following Barcelona's dramatic 2-1 win in El Clasico before the international break, LaLiga looks done and dusted at the top with the Blaugrana 12 points clear.

  The supercomputer also reckons Atletico Madrid are nearly guaranteed third (80.3 per cent), leaving what is effectively a two-horse race for fourth.

  Real Sociedad have fourth at the moment and are 43.7 per cent likely to finish there, though Real Betis (36.7 per cent) aim to push them all the way.

  At the other end, Elche are given no more than a 0.1 per cent chance of getting out of the bottom three after taking just 13 points from 26 games.

  Otherwise, relegation is difficult to call. Almeria in 19th are only six points behind Real Mallorca in 11th, meaning there are a host of clubs who could yet get dragged into a fight for their lives.

  There are two particularly big names among those potentially in trouble. Valencia are in the bottom three and have a 21.9 per cent chance of being relegated, while Sevilla – who are on their third coach of the season after sacking Jorge Sampaoli – are only two points clear of safety.

  The computer says Man Utd's next Europa League opponents only have a 5.8 per cent probability of going down, however.

  Ligue 1

  Paris Saint-Germain seemingly have little to worry about in Ligue 1, with the supercomputer calculating their title chances at 98 per cent.

  The tiny hint of doubt gives Marseille (1.8 per cent) and Lens (0.2 per cent) a bit of hope – but even then, it's presumably nothing more than a pipe dream.

  There is a similar degree of certainty at the bottom, where four teams will be relegated ahead of the league's size being reduced to 18 clubs next term.

  Angers, with 10 points from 28 games, cannot get out of the bottom four according to the calculations, and the other three positions are currently taken up by Ajaccio, Troyes and Auxerre.

  Brest and Strasbourg aren't out of the woods yet either, though the supercomputer believes those in the relegation zone are the ones most likely to drop into Ligue 2.

  Serie A

  If there's one league in Europe that's got a foregone conclusion at the top, it's Serie A.

  Napoli have more than a 99.9 per cent chance of winning a first Scudetto since 1990, with the unrelenting Partenopei a whopping 19 points clear of second already.

  The race for Champions League qualification promises to be a little more tense.

  Eleven points is the gap between Lazio in second and Juventus in seventh. While the Bianconeri are very much outsiders, the other five teams have at least a 15 per cent chance of finishing in the top four.

  Lazio, Inter and Milan appear to be the most likely to take those spots, though Roma and Atalanta will fancy their chances of putting a cat among the pigeons.

  In the relegation fight, there's a rather clearer picture.

  Cremonese and Sampdoria look doomed, while Hellas Verona in 18th are five points adrift of safety, giving them just an 18.8 per cent probability of avoiding relegation.

• Harden leads 76ers' late run as Mavs suffer playoffs blow, Durant returns and Kings end 17-year drought

  The Dallas Mavericks' playoff hopes suffered another setback after James Harden inspired the Philadelphia 76ers' fourth-quarter charge on Wednesday.

  The Mavs, who had lost seven of their previous 10 games coming into the contest, led 91-89 at three-quarter time at Wells Fargo Center before the home side rallied to triumph 116-108, clinching their 50th win of the season.

  Harden provided the assists for all of Philadelphia's points during a 10-0 run that flipped the contest, condemning the Mavs to a 37-40 record and leaving them in danger of missing the playoffs and play-in tournament in the Western Conference. Dallas failed to score in the final 3:18 of the game.

  Joel Embiid returned from a one-game, calf-injury-enforced absence to boost his MVP aspirations with 25 points and nine rebounds, while Harden had 15 points and 12 assists.

  Harden's partnership with Embiid was on full show, with the pair holding the NBA's best single-season record over the past 25 years for assists by one player to another, averaging 4.8 per game, ahead of Sacramento Kings duo Rajon Rondo and DeMarcus Cousins (4.0 in the 2015-16 season).

  For the Mavs, Luka Doncic had 24 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, while Kyrie Irving added 23 points.

  Philadelphia's 50th win from their 76th game of the campaign marks the fewest amount of games required to reach that mark in franchise history since 2001.

  The 50-26 76ers are third in the East, behind the Milwaukee Bucks (55-21) and the Boston Celtics (52-24).

  The Bucks routed the Indiana Pacers 149-136 led by Jrue Holiday's career-high 51 points and a Giannis Antetokounmpo triple-double.

  Kings end NBA's longest playoff drought

  Sacramento ended their 17-year playoffs wait, the longest drought in NBA history, thanks to a 120-80 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers.

  The Kings pulled away with a lopsided 70-34 second half, led by Domantas Sabonis (15 points and 12 rebounds) and De'Aaron Fox (18 points and six assists), while Keegan Murray passed Donovan Mitchell for the most threes made by a rookie (188) in his 13 points.

  Sacramento clinching their playoff spot came amid a chaotic night in the West, with Jalen Williams' buzzer-beating tip-in earning the 10th-placed Oklahoma City Thunder a 107-106 win over the Detroit Pistons. OKC occupy the final play-in spot.

  Russell Westbrook scored 36 points as the fifth-placed Los Angeles Clippers ended the second-placed Memphis Grizzlies' seven-game winning streak with a 141-132 victory, while the taunts continued as the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Chicago Bulls 121-110.

  Durant returns as Suns firm up fourth seed

  Kevin Durant made his long-awaited home debut as he returned from a 10-game absence due to a sprained ankle, but he was rusty as the Phoenix Suns overcame the Minnesota Timberwolves 107-100.

  Durant shot five-of-18 from the field for 16 points with eight rebounds and four assists. Devin Booker top-scored for the Suns with 29 points on eight-of-18 shooting from the field.

  The 2014 MVP Durant shot two-of-four from three-point range, both in the fourth quarter, holding off the Timberwolves who drew level in the final period, with the win helping the Suns improve to 41-35 to sit fourth in the West.