Saturday

8am-12pm (all times GMT)

Matchday live

Football

With action from the Premier League, the Old Firm, Afcon and the best of Europe, Saturday’s football has a truly international feel. Our matchday liveblog – brought to you by David Tindall and Yara El-Shaboury – will bring you the latest updates, team news and the snippets from our reporters on the ground to keeps you informed. Whether you are travelling to a game or following at home, feel free to get involved: send your thoughts, hopes and dreams to matchday.live@theguardian.com.

12.30pm

Aston Villa v Nottingham Forest

Premier League

Aston Villa will be desperate to put that heavy defeat at Arsenal behind them and maintain their title challenge as Nottingham Forest travel across from the East Midlands. Having lost the last three, Forest are teetering just above the relegation zone. It’s a vital game for both sides: we have Sarah Rendell on our MBM and Peter Lansley reporting from Villa Park.

12.30pm

Celtic v Rangers

Scottish Premiership

An Old Firm game with a difference, with neither Glasgow club starting the new year on top of the table. Third-placed Rangers can go level on points with second-placed Celtic with a victory here as both try to reel in Hearts, the Scottish Premiership leaders. David Tindall helms our liveblog with Ewan Murray reporting from Celtic Park.

3pm

Wolves v West Ham

Premier League

It’s January and Wolverhampton Wanderers are still without a win in the league. They may not have a better chance than a home game against a struggling West Ham side, also in the relegation zone. The Hammers are set to spend big in January but new arrivals won’t be in place for the visit to the Black Country. Will Unwin reports from Molineux.

3.05pm

Bath v Exeter

Prem Rugby

Third meets second in the Prem table with Bath and Exeter separated by a single point. Exeter travel to the Recreation Ground with the best defence in the division, conceding 47 points fewer than the next best defenders – Bath – and both sides will be hoping to keep things tight as they aim for a seventh win of the season. Michael Aylwin reports.

5.30pm

Bournemouth v Arsenal

Premier League

How will Arsenal fare without Declan Rice at Bournemouth? The Englishman has been at the heart of the Gunners’ title push this season, both in midfield and with his set-piece deliveries, but sustained a knee injury during the win over Brighton and has not yet recovered. Bournemouth are winless since October and now look set to lose Antoine Semenyo to Manchester City. Ouch. Barry Glendenning is manning our liveblog while Ed Aarons reports from the Vitality Stadium.

7pm

Mali v Tunisia

Africa Cup of Nations

Mali squeezed through the group stage with three draws and now face a dangerous Tunisia side in the first knockout round. The north African side finished second in Group C and ran Nigeria close in a 3-2 defeat. This should be a tight game as both nations battle to reach the quarter-finals. Dominic Booth will run our MBM and Jonathan Wilson will send his match report from the Stade Mohammed V in Casablanca, Morocco.

8.15pm

PDC World Championship final

Darts

The 20th and last day of the world championship is finally upon us, with £1m in prize money to the victor. Luke Littler remains the favourite to win his second successive title but has to get past Ryan Searle in Friday’s semi-final. Fresh from thrashing the champion of two years ago, Luke Humphries, in the last round, Gian van Veen faces Gary Anderson. Rob Smyth will guide you through the action on our leg-by-leg liveblog, while Jonathan Liew reports from Alexandra Palace.

11.30pm

The Ashes, fifth Test, day one

Cricket

There is no such thing as a dead rubber in the Ashes. The series may already be in the bag for Australia, but England will be desperate to beat their hosts at the Sydney Cricket Ground and build on their short but sweet victory in the fourth Test. Tim de Lisle and Angus Fontaine helm our over-by-over report, while Ali Martin, Barney Ronay and Geoff Lemon report from Sydney.

Sunday

8am-12pm

Matchday live

Football

Although we are at risk at sounding like a David Mitchell sketch, there is more Premier League, more Afcon and 11 Championship games to sink your teeth into on Sunday and our matchday liveblog will preview it all with the latest news and analysis. Read it or even get in touch with our writer, David Tindall, via matchday.live@theguardian.com.

12.30pm

Leeds United v Manchester United

Premier League

Very much a nostalgic feel to this one as United face in-form Leeds, who are fresh from an impressive draw at Anfield. Manchester United are unbeaten in their last six matches at Elland Road, a record stretching back to September 2002 when a Harry Kewell winner decided the contest. The home fans will be hoping for something of a repeat. Taha Hashim is on minute-by-minute duties for us and Aaron Bower will provide the match report.

3pm

Premier League and Afcon clockwatch

Football

There are four Premier League matches to cover from a 3pm kick-off – Fulham v Liverpool, Everton v Brentford, Newcastle v Crystal Palace and Tottenham v Sunderland – all of which will be covered in our wide-ranging clockwatch, which will also take in Afcon and the favourites Morocco against Tanzania in their last-16 clash. Tom Bassam will keep you abreast of all the above in the liveblog and we’ll have match reports to boot.

5.30pm

Manchester City v Chelsea

Premier League

A penny for the thoughts of Enzo Maresca, who will watch this one at home like the rest of us after the now former Chelsea manager informed the club that he had held talks with figures associated with Manchester City over replacing Pep Guardiola. The Catalan is very much still in charge of a resurgent City, who will hope to swat aside rudderless visitors and close on Arsenal. Rob Smyth will helm our MBM, while David Hytner and Jamie Jackson will provide report, quotes and analysis from the Etihad.

6pm

NFL week 18: Jaguars-Titans, Broncos-Chargers

American football

Wildcard weekend is just a few days away and there is still uncertainty in both the AFC and NFC, including for the seeds. Our NFL liveblog – run by Graham Searles – will take six of the matches, including Jaguars-Titans, Broncos-Chargers, Falcons-Saints, Giants-Cowboys, Vikings-Packers and Bengals-Browns.

11.30pm

The Ashes, fifth Test, day two

Cricket

Here’s hoping that the final Test of the Ashes series lasts longer than two days, but you never know. All eyes will be on the Sydney ground staff as much as the players, and Taha Hashim and Martin Pegan will be our eyes and ears to bring you over-by-over updates, while Ali Martin, Barney Ronay and Geoff Lemon will again file from Sydney.