Former Liverpool defender Gary Gillespie has been having his say on Liverpool's plight on Radio 5 live.

"I think there is a total lack of confidence," he said. "The way Liverpool want to play, nice crisp, sharp passing, they are just taking too many touches in the middle of the park. The defence is weak at times and they are getting over exposed."

But he doesn't believe centre-back Dejan Lovren should be dropped. "I quite like Lovren, he's going through a sticky spell, but I think he'll come good," Gillespie said.

Ben Smith
BBC Sport

"Brendan Rodgers's position at Liverpool is not under immediate threat despite the club's poor start to the season.

"It is understood that Tom Werner and John W Henry, the co-owners, remain behind their manager although Liverpool have declined to comment.

"Rodgers was voted LMA manager of the year in May after guiding Liverpool to a second-place finish in the Premier League. The club's targets for this season were to finish in the top four and qualify from their Champions League group."

Image source, @EventsSA

The Cricket World Cup begins on 13 February, and to gear up for the occasion the trophy is on a tour around Australia, which is co-hosting the tournament with New Zealand.

Here's former Australia fast bowler Shaun Tait taking the silverware for a spot of shark-cage diving in South Australia.

Image source, Getty Images

Big news from the world of swimming. Chinese superstar Sun Yang tested positive for a banned stimulant earlier this year, the country's anti-doping agency has revealed.

Sun won gold in the 400m and 1500m freestyle at London 2012, setting the world record in the latter event.

He tested positive at China's national championships in May, but returned to win three gold medals at the Asian Games in August.

Image source, Getty Images

Former New Zealand centre Aaron Mauger has agreed to join Leicester Tigers as their new head coach.

Last week, Tigers director of rugby Richard Cockerill said the club would be looking to add to their backroom staff with the side currently struggling in the Premiership.

Mauger, who played 45 Tests for New Zealand, had three seasons with Tigers player between 2007 and 2010 and will start his new role at the end of the 2015 Super 15 season in the southern hemisphere.

Five players have been included on the shortlist to find the best goalkeeper of 2014.

The nominations are...

Manuel Neuer (Germany / Bayern Munich), Claudio Bravo (Chile / Barcelona), Thibaut Courtois (Belgium / Chelsea), Iker Casillas (Spain / Real Madrid), Gianluigi Buffon (Italy / Juventus).

Image source, AFP

The best goalkeeper will be included in the FIFA FIFPro World XI, the world football team of the year. Neuer won the award last year and had a great 2014 as he helped Germany win the World Cup and was instrumental as Bayern Munich won a domestic league and cup double.

This morning we've been asking you what's going wrong at Liverpool. Here are a selection of your responses so far...

Andrew Priestley:, external Liverpool failed to learn from Spurs' mistakes of 12 months ago. They sold their superstar and failed in the transfer market.

Marque Pierre:, external Only when Gerrard retires will Rodgers be free to manage as best he can. Sad to have an undroppable captain as a passenger.

Kartikay:, external Bad signings, inept defence, liability of a keeper, lightweight midfield, toothless attack and a stubborn manager.

Lewis Hamilton has been on Radio 5 live talking about his world championship victory.

"It's the ultimate dream, winning the world championship, with people putting my name alongside Jackie Stewart, Stirling Moss, all these legends of the sport," he said. "Waving that flag was the proudest moment a sportsman can have."

"Last night, we were sitting at dinner, reminiscing about the different experiences we have had - sitting back with noodle soup and bacon sandwiches and driving in a banged up motorhome with my dad. We left singing we are the champions of England, we had won the British Championship. We don't have to put the England part in now."

News from the women's world boxing championships in South Korea.

Ireland's Katie Taylor has claimed her fifth consecutive world title, while there were silver medals for two British fighters, Lisa Whiteside and Sandy Ryan.

Now, this is sure to cause a bit of controversy. Manchester United may not be top of the league at the moment, but they do lead one table - a new ranking of the Premier League's noisiest fans.

Over the past fortnight Press Association Sport has been using the 'Sound Meter' smartphone app to provide a rough guide to which fans in the Premier League are the loudest - adding figures for home and away support.

United lead the way on 167 decibels, with Stoke second on 161, along with Tottenham and West Brom. Despite Jose Mourinho's complaints, Chelsea are a respectable fifth on 160.

West Ham are currently bottom on 152, with Liverpool just ahead.

Image source, @Rio2016_en

Mascot fans, rejoice! The official creatures of Rio 2016 have been launched.

The as yet unnamed pair were apparently "born out of an explosion of joy" and "feature various pop culture influences, along with elements of animation and computer game characters".

And it gets better - you can even help choose their names. The choices are Oba and Eba, Tiba Tuque and Esquindim, and Vinicius and Tom. You can cast your vote by going to the Rio 2016 official website., external

Aston Villa will be without three injured central defenders, Ron Vlaar, Phillipe Senderos and Nathan Baker, for tonight's home game with second-placed Southampton, reports BBC WM's Daz Hale.

Christian Benteke is still suspended, but the one positive piece of team news is that full-back Alan Hutton is available again after an ankle injury.

Monday night's game, which is live on BBC WM, sees 17th-placed Villa, who have scored just one goal and picked up one point in their last seven games, take on a Southampton side who have won their last five matches.

Now, it may be November, but the cricket season is still alive and well. At least it is in Sri Lanka, where England begin a seven-match one-day international series on Wednesday.

The hosts have just announced their squad and there are a few surprise names in there. Batsman Thilina Kandamby and all-rounder Dilruwan Perera are included despite not having played an ODI since 2011 and 2008 respectively.

Spinner Rangana Herath is also in, but paceman Lasith Malinga is still injured. You can see the full squad here.

While Morgan took to the telephone, another Gunners fan had a more direct means of showing their displeasure at the defeat by Manchester United.

The unnamed individual approached the Manchester United dugout during the 2-1 defeat and flung red wine at the visiting coaching staff., external

Sour grapes indeed.

Image source, Getty Images

Of course, it's only fair to point that Brendan Rodgers is far from the only manager under pressure at the moment.

Arsenal have also suffered an underwhelming start to the season, and last night celebrity Gunners fan Piers Morgan rang in to BBC Radio 5 live to register his anger on the 606 phone in.

"It's a heartbreaking divorce, but divorce it has to be," is Morgan's verdict. You can listen to his rant in full here.

This morning we're asking you to have your say on what's going wrong at Liverpool.

The Reds are closer to the relegation zone than the Champions League qualification places at the moment, and they're only four points ahead of Burnley.

So is it a full-blown crisis, and who, or what, is to blame? Let us know on Twitter at #bbcsportsday, or via the BBC Sport Facebook page., external

Image source, Getty Images

Today's On This Day comes to you courtesy of 2013. You may well remember it - in fact if you're an Irish rugby fan it will be hard to forget.

Yes, it was on this day that New Zealand beat Ireland 24-22 to seal the first perfect season ever recorded by a rugby union side in the professional era.

That was only half the story though - Ireland had led 19-0 at one stage and were only overhauled by an injury-time try by Ryan Crotty.

Image source, Corriere dello Sport

Meanwhile, Italy's Corriere dello Sport leads on the Milan derby, which finished in a 1-1 draw between AC and Inter.

Joel Obi rescued a point for AC Milan against Inter Milan, who are currently managed by Roberto Mancini.

Image source, Sport

Federer wasn't the only sporting legend securing his place in the pantheon over the weekend.

Barcelona striker Lionel Messi broke the record for La Liga goals as he scored his 251st against Sevilla on Saturday. And his 252nd. And his 253rd.

The headline on the front page of Spanish daily Sport says it all: 'Messi: the legend'.

Image source, The Times

The Times also leads on Lewis Hamilton's second world title, but the picture is of a man who makes Hamilton's mantlepiece look positively bare.

Roger Federer captured the one trophy missing from his illustrious CV by helping Switzerland to the Davis Cup, by beating France's Richard Gasquet in the reverse singles yesterday.