Valencia announced it has agreed to send French defender Aly Cissokho to Liverpool on a one-year loan deal.

Valencia said Cissokho "has already joined the English team, which will have an option to buy the player."

Defending champion Petra Kvitova recovered from a set and a break down to beat Annika Beck 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the first round of the New Haven Open on Tuesday.

The third-seeded Kvitova dropped the first set and was broken in the first game of the second before staging the comeback in a match that was delayed due to rain on Monday.

The Indians released right-hander Daisuke Matsuzaka on Tuesday at his request, giving the Japanese veteran a chance to catch on with another team after failing to secure a spot in Cleveland's rotation.

Matsuzaka has spent the entire season at Triple-A Columbus after failing to win a spot in Cleveland's rotation during spring training.

It was a frenzied start to FIFA's attempt to fill the stands for next year's World Cup in Brazil as fans applied Tuesday for more than 1 million tickets in just seven hours.

But it will be some time before they know whether they'll be among those lucky enough to get seats to football's signature event. Applicants won't hear back until October, after FIFA holds a random selection draw on all the requests.

Arsenal midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain faces at least three months on the sidelines, dealing a blow to the team's early-season hopes.

The England international injured his left knee in Arsenal's Premier League opener on Saturday which ended in a 3-1 loss to Aston Villa.

The Los Angeles Angels say slugger Albert Pujols will be sidelined for the season because of an injured left foot.

Pujols hasn't played since July 26. He had been saying he wanted to return when his partially torn plantar fascia healed.

Roger Federer is seeded No. 7 for the U.S. Open, his first slot outside the top three at any Grand Slam tournament in a decade.

Federer's ranking dropped two slots to seventh Monday, and the U.S. Tennis Association's seedings followed the ATP standings.

Giovani Dos Santos scored the equalizer and set up the late winner in a four-minute span to lead Villarreal's 3-2 comeback victory at Almeria on Monday, ensuring the club's successful return to Spain's first division.

Promoted Almeria outplayed Villarreal in front of its fans at Juegos Mediterraneos Stadium in the first half, with striker Rodrigo Rios scoring in the 39th minute from a pass from Rafael Ramos.

Manchester City sent a strong message to its Premier League title rivals by thrashing 10-man Newcastle 4-0 on Monday, mixing power with panache to mark Manuel Pellegrini's first competitive game in charge in style.

Yaya Toure scored the pick of City's goals in a sparkling display at Etihad Stadium with a sublime 50th-minute free kick, adding to first-half goals by David Silva and Sergio Aguero and a late strike by substitute Samir Nasri.

Oscar Pistorius was indicted Monday on charges of murder and illegal possession of ammunition for the shooting death of the double-amputee Olympian's girlfriend on Valentine's Day.

A Pretoria court set March 3 as the trial date for Pistorius, who has said he shot Reeva Steenkamp by mistake, believing she was an intruder in his home. Prosecutors, who allege he killed her after an argument, submitted a list of more than 100 witnesses for a trial that will be followed around the world.