WEEK AHEAD: A sport lovers delight this week with top class football, cricket, snooker and horse racing all on offer.
This is the sort of week that doesn’t come around often. Full of high-class sporting action there is class in every direction.
The week starts gently before hitting full stride towards the weekend and Monday gets us off the mark with the World Snooker Championships from the Crucible, where the action will be shown daily on the BBC. The IPL is also in full swing and the Kings XI and Kolkata get us started for the week at 15:00, before the Premier League takes evening honours in the shape of Leicester and Crystal Palace.
Tuesday and Wednesday tease the action further with more IPL and Snooker, before in both evenings there is semi-final action from the Champions League as Real Madrid host Chelsea on Tuesday, while PSG welcome Manchester City on Wednesday. Both games will be live on BT Sport at 20:00.
Thursday brings with it the start of the Valspar Championship where all the action will be live daily on Sky Sports. The Europa League is back on Thursday with Manchester United and Arsenal both in action against Roma and Villareal respectively, and like the Champions League the action will be live from 20:00 on BT Sport.
Friday would usually seem a hectic day in a normal week but this week it seems like a day of well-earned rest before a thrilling weekend of action, with the IPL, World Snooker Championship and the Valspar Championship all on display alongside Southampton and Leicester it takes us nicely into a jam-packed weekend.
It’s the semi-final of the World Snooker Championships on Saturday and the action will run throughout the day on BBC. The lunchtime kick-off is between Crystal Palace and Manchester City on BT Sport, which is followed by ITV Racing at 13:30, Brighton hosting Leeds at 15:00 on Amazon Prime, and then Chelsea playing neighbours Fulham at 17:30. Coverage of the Derek Chisora and Joseph Parker undercard begins on Sky Sports at 18:00 before the two heavyweights go head-to-head later in the evening.
Sunday is the day of dreams where a pessimist could argue that there is too much action. IPL starts the day off nicely before a cracker in Scotland at 12:00 with the Old Firm derby between Rangers and Celtic. Coverage of the final in the World Snooker Championships begins at 12:45 and the action from the crucible always guarantees drama until the end. The Portuguese Grand Prix is available from 15:00 on Sky Sports with Lewis Hamilton hoping to continue his fine start to the season, before a titanic clash at 16:30 as Manchester United and Liverpool do battle once again on Sky Sports.
The week is relentless in its non-stop action, but we wouldn’t have it any other way.
