Liverpool loses 1st EPL match since January ’19

Liverpool’s hopes of going through the Premier League season unbeaten ended Saturday with a 3-0 loss at Watford, marking the runaway leaders’ first loss in 45 top-flight matches since January 2019.

All of Watford’s goals came in the second half as Liverpool’s record-tying 18-match win streak was snapped by a team languishing in the relegation zone.

The loss came after a 1-0 loss to Atletico Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 match and a sloppy display in beating West Ham 3-2 in the league last Monday.

“There is no reason for panic,” Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk said.

■ Five Serie A soccer games in Italy were postponed in an attempt to contain the spread of a viral outbreak. The biggest match affected was league leader Juventus’ home game against Inter Milan, rescheduled for May 13.

Auto racing: Harrison Burton earned his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series victory in Fontana, California. The 19-year-old is the son of NASCAR veteran Jeff Burton.

Baseball: Rays LHP Blake Snell will not make a scheduled spring training start this week due to elbow discomfort, MLB.com reported. Snell received a cortisone shot Saturday. Snell, 27, missed almost two months last season after having elbow surgery. He won the AL Cy Young Award in 2018 . ... Yankees slugger Aaron Judge has undergone an MRI and further tests to determine the cause of his ailing right shoulder.

College football: Colorado WR Laviska Shenault Jr., a top prospect available in this year’s NFL draft, will have surgery this week to repair a core muscle injury and be sidelined from four to six weeks, a source told ESPN.

Running: Ethiopia’s Birhanu Legese won a scaled-back version of the Tokyo Marathon on Sunday. Legese finished in 2 hours, 4 minutes and 15 seconds. The race was expected to have 38,000 participants but was limited to just over 200 participants due to coronavirus concerns.

—News services