Saturday
8am (all times GMT)
Australian Open
Tennis
Day seven at Melbourne sees some big names in action as Jannick Sinner and Novak Djokovic go in the men’s draw, where one of the game’s veterans is enjoying a last hurrah. The former champion Stan Wawrinka, who will retire at the end of the season, is the first player to reach the third round at a grand slam past his 40th birthday since Ken Rosewall at the same tournament back in 1978. The Swiss next faces the ninth seed, Taylor Fritz of the US. In the women’s draw, Iga Swiatek and fashionista Naomi Osaka are the standouts. Luke McLaughlin hosts our liveblog, while Tumaini Carayol and Jack Snape report.
8am
Matchday live
Football
Emillia Hawkins and Rob Smyth kickstart the weekend’s football programme with our unmissable rolling blog that rises early to provide all the breaking news and vibes from around the grounds. There’ll be buildup to five Premier League fixtures, starting with the lunchtime game at the London Stadium as West Ham face Sunderland, and bookended by the 5.30pm clash as Liverpool head south to Bournemouth. As well as a full Championship and EFL fixture list, there’s a formidable London derby in the Women’s Super League to look forward to as Chelsea host Arsenal. Why not join the conversation by sending your thoughts to matchday.live@theguardian.com
9am
Sri Lanka v England live
Cricket
Harry Brook’s tourists go again for the second of three ODIs against Sri Lanka, having fluffed the first on Thursday, when half-centuries from Joe Root and Ben Duckett appeared to have England well placed in their chase of 272 only to collapse from 129 for one to 165 for six. In the wake of a lamentable Ashes, it was hardly an encouraging response. This series is not just about T20 World Cup preparation. England could do with some victories to boost their ODI ranking – currently eighth, raising the embarrassing prospect of missing out on automatic qualification for the 2027 World Cup. Keeping the over-by-over commentary ticking are Tanya Aldred and James Wallace, with Taha Hashim in Colombo.
12.30pm
Chelsea v Arsenal live
Women’s football
A second meeting of the season for these London rivals and Chelsea must be hoping they have at last turned a corner after an uncharacteristically uneven start to the season. In sharp contrast to last season, when they were unbeaten at this stage, Sonia Bompastor’s Blues have already dropped points in four league games, the low point coming with defeat by Everton. That nadir is fast receding in the rearview after seven wins in a row in all competitions. Arsenal have also struggled and, while they have remained unbeaten in the WSL, five draws have left them off the pace. Their Women’s League Cup semi-final defeat by Manchester United keeps the pressure on Renee Slegers’ side. A loss to Chelsea would signal an end to their slim title ambitions. Emillia Hawkins helms our match blog, with Suzanne Wrack reporting from Stamford Bridge.
12.30pm
West Ham v Sunderland live
Premier League
Sunderland travel to Stratford to face West Ham in Saturday’s lunchtime game. Like all this weekend’s Premier League games, this is the reverse fixture of August’s opening round, when the Wearsiders won 3-0 at the Stadium of Light. Régis Le Bris’s side are looking to win consecutive league games for just the second time this season, but are without a victory in six on the road. West Ham seemed destined for the drop until a late Callum Wilson winner floored Tottenham last Saturday to end a 10-game winless streak and offer a glimmer of hope for Nuno Espírito Santo’s hitherto dispirited Hammers. Dominic Booth mans the liveblog while Jacob Steinberg reports from the London Stadium.
3pm
Clockwatch
Premier League
Three 3pm kickoffs offer plenty of lively plotlines and Rob Smyth straps in to keep the updates flowing. Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City look shaky after being frozen out by Bodø/Glimt in the Champions League in midweek on the back of their derby defeat at Old Trafford. But while Wolves are unbeaten in four games and are no longer flatlining, they still look doomed. Tottenham travel to Burnley with the noise around Thomas Frank dialled down from 11 after the Spurs manager enjoyed a timely uplift on Tuesday by beating Borussia Dortmund 2-0 in the Champions League. Their rivals, meanwhile, are scudding along without a win in their last 13 league games but having drawn their last two. Fulham host Brighton in the other mid-afternoon bash.
5.30pm
Bournemouth v Liverpool live
Premier League
Billy Munday is your blog host for what promises to be the match of the day. What to make of Liverpool? Last weekend’s 1-1 draw with Burnley was followed by a convincing 3-0 win at Marseille to go fourth in the Champions League. Arne Slot’s defending champions are on the longest current unbeaten run in the league – 10 games – but have drawn six of them, including each of their last four since the start of 2026. “I can only see positives in this team in terms of progress but we have to adapt so many times in the season,” a bullish Slot said on Friday. “We are already in a good place but this club will be a good place tomorrow and the day after and the day after.” Their hosts, however, are enduring a slump to test Andoni Iraola’s patience: just one win from their last 13 Premier League games, with six of those draws. Ben Fisher is at the Vitality Stadium.
Sunday
8am
Australian Open
Tennis
Sunday’s fourth-round Melbourne highlights in the women’s draw include the world No 1, Aryna Sabalenka, and the No 3, Coco Gauff, on court, while on the men’s side, Carlos Alcaraz, who continued his smooth Australian Open progress with victory over Corentin Moutet, takes on the world No 19 Tommy Paul. Katy Murrells keeps the day-eight updates flowing.
8am
Matchday live
Football
Tom Bassam and Daniel Harris clock on as hosts of our live football blog for a Sunday that throws up a crackerjack meeting between Arsenal and Manchester United to cap a fixture list that also throws together Brentford v Nottingham Forest, Crystal Palace v Chelsea and Newcastle v Aston Villa. In the Championship, there’s bound to be plenty of sturm und drang as Portsmouth host their south-coast rivals Southampton at Fratton Park for the first time in six years. In Scotland, Hearts meet Celtic, with Andy Hunter reporting from the top-two clash.
11.55am
Women’s Super League clockwatch
Women’s football
John Brewin is ringmaster for a lively set of fixtures – Aston Villa v Manchester United, Leicester v West Ham, Liverpool v Spurs and London City Lionesses v Manchester City – that all kick off five minutes before noon. The standout sees City, the runaway leaders, travel to the capital, and with the visitors losing their Women’s League Cup semi-final against Chelsea in midweek, the hosts’ Eder Maestre is expecting a backlash. The London City manager is weighing up whether to pitch his new signing Delphine Cascarino into the fray. “When you face the first team in the standings, you need that experience in the match because it’s not only about bringing that energy, it’s how you are going to manage some situations because sometimes you are going to struggle,” says Maestre. Tom Garry reports.
2pm
Clockwatch
Premier League
Daniel Harris returns with updates from the three 2pm kick-offs. Eddie Howe hopes Bruno Guimarães’s injury is “not serious” as Newcastle take on Aston Villa, who sit third in the table, 10 points ahead of the Magpies. Guimarães limped off with an ankle problem during the 3-0 Champions League victory against PSV Eindhoven and the Brazilian is unlikely to face Villa, who booked a spot in the last 16 in the Europa League after Jadon Sancho’s first-half header secured a 1-0 victory over Fenerbahce in Turkey. Howe’s side are unbeaten in their last eight home Premier League matches. In a London derby, Crystal Palace welcome Chelsea to Selhurst Park after a rocky spell that featured a disgruntled Oliver Glasner confirming he would leave Palace at the end of the season, the sale of their captain, Marc Guéhi, to Manchester City and Jean-Philippe Mateta being strongly linked with a move. Brentford v Nottingham Forest is the other match.
4.30pm
Arsenal v Manchester United live
Premier League
Arsenal are chasing a fifth straight Premier League home win against old “pizzagate” rivals Manchester United and, while the Gunners have been held to 0-0 draws in their past two league matches, their rivals Manchester City and Aston Villa have failed to take advantage. Mikel Arteta will be wary of United’s new-manager bounce under Michael Carrick after they were a team transformed in last Sunday’s 2-0 derby victory, Carrick’s first game in his second spell in temporary charge. United’s attacking numbers have been impressive since Ruben Amorim was sacked earlier this month, but the Gunners have not conceded a single shot on target in their past two league matches. Arsenal are surging headlong to a long-awaited 14th league title but United – who still harbour enmity from 2004’s Battle of the Buffet among other confrontations between these clubs – would dearly love to see the north London club choke again. Rob Smyth hosts our liveblog, with David Hytner and Jonathan Wilson filing from the Emirates Stadium.
8pm & 11.30pm
NFL playoffs live
American football
The Denver Broncos face a big challenge against the New England Patriots in the AFC championship game without their injured quarterback, Bo Nix, who has been nixed for the rest of the postseason after breaking his right ankle late in last Saturday’s 33-30 victory over Buffalo in the divisional playoffs. Jarrett Stidham, who last started a game in 2023, will take his place against the Patriots for only the 29-year-old’s fifth career start at the Broncos. Stidham is not an unknown quantity for New England, however, having started his career as Tom Brady’s backup in 2019 and spent three seasons at the Patriots. Graham Searles buckles up for minute-by-minute coverage of the game, before Beau Dure takes the baton for the late Seahawks v Rams NFC decider. The Rams (14-5) have won two straight playoff games on the road to reach the conference title game. They dispatched Carolina 34-31 and then Chicago 20-17 in overtime last Sunday, while Seattle beat the San Francisco 49ers 41-6 in the divisional round.
