WEEK AHEAD: You’ll be excused a spring in your step this week as we march into the business end of the winter competitions.


Starting the week off we have Premier League action from two London stadiums. Chelsea are hosting Everton at the Bridge, while Leeds travel down to West Ham as the Hammers look to continue to punch above their footballing weight near the top of the table.

On Tuesday, we head to Europe on BT Sport as the second legs of the Champions League last-16 get underway: Borussia Dortmund face Sevilla and Juventus play at home to FC Porto with both games starting at 20:00.

Wednesday opens up with ODI action in the Caribbean as the West Indies take on Sri Lanka where the locals will be hopeful of more Keiron Pollard fireworks.

The two remaining games from the Champions League are again on BT Sport with Liverpool hosting RB Leipzig and PSG facing Barcelona in what should be a thrilling contest. Meanwhile, Manchester City welcome Southampton to the Etihad in the hope of extending their lead at the top of the Premier League table.

Thursday sees more European action but this time from the Europa League, Manchester United face AC Milan while Arsenal and Tottenham are in action against Olympiacos and Dinamo Zagreb respectively. Earlier in the day, at 11:30, the Players Championship gets underway on Sky Sports where the action will be covered daily.

Leading us into the weekend we have another West Indies v Sri Lanka ODI on Friday, shortly before a T20 between India and England at 13:30. Premiership rugby gets the evening underway as Bristol host Wasps in a 19:00 showdown.

The weekend is jam packed with top sporting action, starting with Leeds v Chelsea as the midday kick-off on Saturday. More Premiership rugby follows, including Gloucester v Leicester on BT Sport. Everton v Burnley is available on Sky Sports at 17:30, while the Premier League leaders Manchester City travel to Craven Cottage for their fixture against Fulham at 20:00.

Sunday is set to be a classic and it gets started with a south coast derby as Southampton v Brighton is available on BBC at midday, before another T20 between India and England.

Leicester versus Sheffield United takes us into the afternoon before the big game, the north London Derby. Arsenal v Tottenham always delivers and this should be no different, live on Sky Sports at 16:30.

Rounding off the weekend is the concluding action from The Players Championship and a visit to Old Trafford as Manchester United host West Ham at 19:15.

What a week of high-class action we have ahead as things really start to warm up.