Rugby League World Cup finals, ATP and WTA tennis, plus WSL – follow with us

Old Trafford and Selhurst Park watchers aside, the break from Premier League events – on the pitch at least – heralds a day of lively international activity. Emillia Hawkins arises bright and early with all the Nations League buildup as Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland bound into view later. There may well be follow-up from Scotland’s Friday night date with North Macedonia and anticipation for England’s clash with Spain on Sunday. Plus, a host of EFL and WSL fixtures will keep the updates flowing. Join the conversation at matchday.live@theguardian.com. 

Horse racing

11.30amCheltenham November meeting live

Greg Wood saddles up for a cracking ‘Super Saturday’ in the autumn’s best meeting, with the Paddy Power Gold Cup Handicap Chase front and centre and Ben Pauling’s Meetmebythesea hard to ignore. Elsewhere, Old Park Star is poised to make a winning start over fences in the Arkle Challenge Trophy Trial Novice Chase. 

Women’s Super League

1.30pmChelsea v Manchester City live

Simon Burnton helms the blog as the WSL’s two unbeaten sides go head to head at lunchtime. Andrée Jeglertz’s City hold top spot after drubbing West Ham 5-0 while Chelsea were held by Everton last weekend. With two points separating the pacesetters, this is a crucial match for Chelsea – lose and their title hopes will become worryingly untethered even at this stage of the season. Suzanne Wrack reports.

Nations Championship rugby union

4.40pmEngland v Japan live

England welcome their former head coach Eddie Jones’s Japan to Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, after delivering their standout performance of an otherwise poor 2026 by overrunning Australia 45-22 in the autumn opener last weekend. Ranked 12th in the world, Japan are not expected to cause Steve Borthwick’s rejigged XV to stumble before the main event of the Nations Championship pool fixtures against New Zealand. This match is of particular significance for Will Joseph, Max Ojomoh and Cadan Murley, who have been told the second of this month’s four Tests is a World Cup audition. Borthwick already knows the bulk of the squad he will pick for Australia 2027, leaving around five spots up for grabs. These fringe places are the hardest to pick and with Japan offering a rare chance for Test rookies to catch Borthwick’s attention, a strong individual display could tip the scales in their favour. Alex Reid hosts the blog, with Robert Kitson and Gerard Meagher reporting.

Nations League football

5pmNorway v Wales live

Scott Murray bids a hearty noswaith dda as Wales attempt to block Erling Haaland and company for the second time in six weeks. Craig Bellamy’s side stunned the World Cup quarter-finalists at the start of October with a shock 2-1 win in Cardiff. They meet again in Oslo, with the bottom two sides in Group A4 aiming to ward off the threat of relegation to League B. Haaland – the Nations League’s all-time top scorer with 22 goals – drew a rare blank at Cardiff City Stadium. On home turf and temperatures around zero degrees centigrade, Wales must hope the Manchester City striker is frozen out once more.

Sunday

Cricket

3.30amAustralia v England live

So much for the machinations of Sandpapergate, England were duly humbled in the first ODI against their old foes, crashing to a seven-wicket defeat in Perth on Friday morning. They were bowled out for 131 in 33.4 overs ⁠after losing the toss, ⁠and the hosts ​reached 132 for three in 23.3 overs courtesy of a quickfire 50 by captain Mitch Marsh, with a stunning six for 24 from Mahli Beardman on debut stealing the show. Tim de Lisle logs on with over-by-over commentary of the second ODI as the three-match series moves to Adelaide and concludes in Hobart on Wednesday. Ali Martin reports.

Rugby League World Cup finals

5.10am and 8.35amAustralia v New Zealand live

Australia and New Zealand opened the Rugby League World Cup with a humdinger of a contest four weeks ago and hopes are high for another blockbuster when they face off again with ⁠the title on the line in Brisbane. The Kangaroos fullback Reece Walsh ​and his Kiwis counterpart Kalyn Ponga were the stars of the show last month in Sydney, and their pace, footwork and handling should again be vital for their teams in the Lang Park showcase. Australia and New Zealand also meet in the women’s World Cup final earlier on Sunday at the same stadium, where the Jillaroos will be gunning for a fourth straight title against the Kiwi Ferns, who won the first three editions. Join us for live coverage of both finals.

Football

8amMatchday live

Xaymaca Awoyungbo has breaking news and buildup at the helm of our unbeatable football live blog. He’ll be looking ahead to Spain v England: La Roja have a 100% record in Group A3 but Thomas Tuchel’s side head into Sunday evening’s Madrid meeting with a chance of toppling them after securing a 2-1 victory against Croatia at Wembley. With Italy travelling to Belgium and France facing Turkey elsewhere, there’s plenty on his radar, notwithstanding three cracking WSL fixtures.

ATP Finals tennis

1pm (and 8pm)Zverev v Jódar live

Turin hosts the world’s best eight men’s players, with the world No 1 Alexander Zverev getting the tournament under. way on Sunday. He faces Spain’s Rafael Jódar, the first man to reach the ATP Finals in the same season he made his full ATP Tour debut. The German took top spot in the men’s rankings earlier this month after winning Roland Garros and the US Open – his first grand slam titles – and he is gunning for a third Finals triumph. He is expected to win the four-man John McEnroe Group, while seven-time grand slam winner Carlos Alcaraz heads up the Ivan Lendl Group after winning the Paris Masters. Tom Bassam live blogs the opener, and we’ll be back later to cover the evening’s matches.

American football

2.30pmNFL Week 10 live

Graham Searles tunes in to events unfurling in Munich, Bavaria, as the New England Patriots face the Detroit Lions. Sunday’s game will be the sixth regular-season match-up in Germany, a key market for the NFL in its aggressive international push. The Patriots (5-4) have lost two of their past three games and have many injury concerns, including running back Rhamondre Stevenson. Meanwhile, the Lions, despite a 6-2 record and four straight victories, are trying to keep pace in the tight NFC North. He’ll then move on to the seven 6pm fixtures.

Nations Championship rugby union

3.10pmScotland v Australia live

While the Wallabies try to fix their porous defence, their hosts are trying to shore up their own rearguard as Murrayfield prepares for two sides in dire need of uplift. The problems faced by Les Kiss’s leaky mob were highlighted in the 45-22 thrashing at Twickenham by England. Australia, once the scourge of northern hemisphere sides, have now conceded 176 points in their past four Tests, the most ever over any equivalent quartet of matches in the Wallabies’ annals. Yet the same urgent repair job is being undertaken in the Scotland camp after Gregor Townsend’s side shipped 43 points to the All Blacks at their Edinburgh fortress last weekend. Daniel Gallan dons his scrum cap for live blog coverage.

Women’s Super League

4.30pmArsenal v London City live

Draw specialists Arsenal step up their hunt for a European berth after last weekend’s vital defeat of Liverpool and spirits lifted further by a creditable 1-1 draw in Barcelona in midweek. By contrast Eder Maestre’s side are unbeaten in their last three away league matches, scoring 12 goals along the way. John Brewin is our MBM blog host, with Tom Garry reporting from the Emirates.

Nations League football

7.45pmSpain v England live

England wind up 2026 with the chance to top their Nations League group in Sunday’s collision with world champions Spain. Thomas Tuchel’s Three Lions were minutes away from securing a place in the World Cup final against Spain, who ran out 3-2 victors when they eventually did meet in September’s Nations League opener at Wembley. England will attempt to win the group, having secured their place in March’s Nations League quarter-finals with last month’s results. Harry Kane’s spot-kick settled things against Croatia on Thursday evening at Wembley after Petar Sucic cancelled out Morgan Rogers’ opener on a night when the England skipper became the most capped Englishman in history. Daniel Harris buckles up for the blog, with David Hytner and Sid Lowe reporting from Madrid.