USA v Mexico, Nations League, F1 in Malaysia and NFL – follow with us

David Tindall and John Brewin have all the breaking news and more for your essential launchpad to the weekend’s football. There’s bound to be more fallout from the Manchester City furore, but they’ll be fully attuned to the tantalising Nations League feast on offer. First up is England’s next stop in their busy schedule: a meeting in Rijeka with familiar foes Croatia at 5pm. Later, Scotland journey to Skopje for their League B Group 1 clash with North Macedonia, and they won’t be ignoring the other game in England’s group as Spain lock horns with Czechia in Oviedo. Plus Leagues One and Two fixtures. If the National League is your passion and you are travelling to a match, they would love to hear from you. Send your thoughts and observations to matchday.live@theguardian.com. 

Formula One

9amBahrain GP (in Malaysia) qualifying live

F1 fans will be rising early to follow qualifying, with Billy Munday at the wheel of our live blog. The championship battle takes an intriguing twist as Mercedes teammates Kimi Antonelli and George Russell renew their rivalry at an unlikely venue⁠. Although Sepang remains a permanent fixture on the MotoGP calendar, it has not hosted a grand prix since 2017 after the Malaysian government said it could no longer justify the ⁠hosting costs given the declining ⁠returns. But the Mercedes duo will now be fighting for supremacy there after the original Bahrain race was relocated from Sakhir due to the Iran war and ⁠tensions elsewhere in the Middle East. 

Nations League

5pmCroatia v England live

England travel to Rijeka to take on Croatia before rounding off their four-match international splurge against Czechia at Wembley next Tuesday. So far, a defeat by Spain, a 2-0 win over Czechia, and Harry Kane and Anthony Gordon the Three Lions’ standout players. That victory was England’s eighth straight away win in all competitions, so there’s the tantalising prospect of setting a national record. The last time England won nine away games in a row was back in the 1960s when the Beatles, the Bee Gees and Engelbert Humperdinck were topping the singles charts – between December 1965 and October 1967, under World Cup-winning manager Sir Alf Ramsey. There’s a landmark beckoning for England’s No 1 goalscorer too: Kane could become just the fourth England player to score in six consecutive away games. The others? James Windridge (six from March to June 1908), Tom Finney (seven from September 1946 to May 1948) and Stan Mortensen (six from May 1947 to October 1948). Scott Murray helms the blog.

Super League Grand Final

6pmWarrington v Wakefield live

Anyone seeking a sporting fairy tale this weekend can look to events unfurling at Old Trafford. Sporting immortality awaits Trinity’s players if they can complete a transformation from top-flight also-rans to Super League champions. The club’s glory days were back in the 1960s, when the likes of the Fox brothers, Don and Neil, and half-back Ken Rollin were among league’s biggest names. Those times appeared long gone until last week’s seismic semi-final win over Wigan lifted the club’s modern counterparts to within 80 minutes of erasing well over half a century of hurt. Daryl Powell’s Wakefield team have been built around experienced former finalists such as Tom Johnstone and Mike McMeeken, but also bolstered by overseas players like Caius Faatili, Caleb Hamlin Uele and Jazz Tevaga, who arrived as relative unknowns but have helped form a thrilling and free-scoring spirit. It’s been quite a hiatus for title glory too for Warrington, with Sam Burgess’s Wire seeking to end their 71-year wait for a league title. Lee Calvert hosts our Grand Final blog.

Nations League

7.45pmNorth Macedonia v Scotland live

Luke McLaughlin is on clockwatch duty as Scotland fans search for some uplift after the 3-0 defeat by Switzerland at Hampden on Tuesday when an early red card for Jack Hendry effectively rendered Sebastien Pocognoli’s home debut a write-off. The Scots have now gone four matches without a goal for the first time in 55 years but have an ideal opportunity to put that right in their third Nations League B1 encounter. North Macedonia have conceded five goals without reply in their opening two games and have also failed to score in their six matches since a 7-1 defeat to Wales last November. With just one point and no goals from their opening two Nations League fixtures after a 0-0 draw in Slovenia, this match in North Macedonia takes on an added weight for the new manager and his squad.

Sunday

International friendly

3am (10pm Eastern Time)USA v Mexico live

There’s little love lost between these North American sporting rivals and this international friendly at State Farm Stadium in Glendale sees Mauricio Pochettino’s USMNT measure their progress against Concacaf’s leading nation. The USA are on a hot streak coming out of the World Cup, where they fizzled in the group stage but came to a shuddering halt against Belgium. A 4–1 win over Peru and a 4–2 victory against Chile in St Louis sees Poch’s collective in fine fettle, with teenagers Julian Hall and Mathis Albert making an impact. Rafael Márquez’s El Tri venture to Arizona following a pair of 1–1 draws against Colombia and Peru. We’ll be live-blogging the match, with Jeff Rueter reporting.

Formula One

8amBahrain Grand Prix (in Malaysia) live

With Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton trailing Kimi Antonelli by 103 points in third, the title fight has effectively become a straight duel at the top and George Russell arrives in Malaysia brimming with the momentum. Baku was the Briton’s weekend as he became only the seventh driver on the grid to achieve a grand slam – pole position, leading in every lap, clocking the fastest lap and taking the victory, his third of the season. A championship fight that once seemed to be slipping away from the Mercedes driver has suddenly become a realistic proposition. The question remains, however, whether Russell can turn one extraordinary weekend into a sustained challenge or if Antonelli will respond immediately with eight rounds remaining in the 23-race season. With Red Bull’s four-time world champion Max Verstappen and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc charging hard in practice, a crackling race beckons. Join Yara El-Shaboury for lap-by-lap updates.

Football

8amMatchday live

John Brewin and Rob Smyth share the blogging duties in the buildup to more Nations League fixtures, with the Republic of Ireland, Wales, Germany, Netherlands, Portugal and Norway all engaged in compelling fixtures. Breaking news, fun facts, wildly divergent opinions – join the footballing fray by emailing your notes and queries to matchday.live@theguardian.com. 

Women’s Super League

4.30pmManchester City v Arsenal live

Renée Slegers’s Gunners already trail WSL leaders City by seven points and a defeat would leave last season’s runners-up 10 points off the top after only five games following a 1-0 defeat at Chelsea last weekend. Arsenal let slip a two-goal lead in their midweek Champions League match against Paris FC, the 2-2 draw memorable for a bizarre mistake by Leah Williamson, who gave away a late penalty by putting her hand on the ball from a goal-kick. Slegers’ side did at least score twice for the first time in six fixtures, but they have only registered two wins this season. A win then is vital for Slegers and her side at the Etihad, where the furore around the club’s devastating guilty verdict on more than Premier League 100 charges has cast a pall over the hosts’ season. The women’s team is not implicated in the systemic breaking of financial monitoring rules and impressed on Thursday in their 1-1 Champions League draw with Real Madrid. Rob Smyth keeps the updates flowing.

Nations League

7.45pmClockwatch

Daniel Gallan has his hands full for an evening of Nations League games, and the clash of Republic of Ireland against Israel behind-closed-doors match in Serbia is certain to be dogged by political fallout between the two nations over the conflict in Gaza. The 2-2 draw with Austria leaves the Republic third in their group at the halfway point, three points behind leaders Austria and level on four with second-placed Kosovo after beating Israeli 3-0 in the reverse fixture in Debrecen, Hungary. Wales upset the World Cup finalists Norway 2-1 in Nations League A on Thursday night and next face Denmark in Cardiff, seeking to avenge last weekend’s 2-0 defeat in Copenhagen.

American football

9pmNFL

After covering Indianapolis Colts v Washington Commanders at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (the first of nine games being played outside the United States this season), Graham Searles resumes his blog post for Sunday evening’s clutch of NFL clashes. Winless Miami Dolphins face unbeaten Minnesota Vikings while elsewhere Denver Broncos meet San Francisco 49ers, Kansas City Chiefs take on Las Vegas Raiders and Los Angeles Chargers meet Super Bowl champions Seattle Seahawks.