Chelsea have a gilt-edged opportunity to open up a seven-point lead at the top of the Premier League this weekend and there is nothing their main title rivals can do about it. With second-placed Liverpool having a week off and Arsenal and Manchester City in FA Cup action, all the chasers can do is hope Tottenham Hotspur can end one of the longest jinx's in English football and upset the odds at Stamford Bridge.
The three match-ups which are likely to have a strong bearing on the result in Sunday's FIFA World Cup final.
Inter Milan face Barcelona, Tottenham Hotspur and PSV Eindhoven in Group B which features three former European champions.
Tottenham fell to seventh after winning just one league game in November but have since recovered with a morale-boosting Champions League victory over APOEL Nicosia, followed by two consecutive domestic wins to climb back into the top four.
Jack Wilshere and Harry Kane have been recalled to the England squad for Friday's World Cup qualifier against Scotland and a friendly against Spain, the FA announced on Sunday.
Manchester City's Erling Haaland faces Borussia Dortmund and Barcelona's Robert Lewandowski meets Bayern Munich after the Champions League group-stage draw was made on Thursday.
Norwich had their game at West Ham United postponed due to COVID-19 cases, injuries and illness reported among players and staff, while Leicester had matches against Tottenham Hotspur and Everton postponed due to coronavirus cases among their players.
Arsenal survived a massive scare as they registered a thrilling Premier League win over Bournemouth to remain on top of the table.
Tottenham Hotspur say next week's clash with Monaco will be played in front of the highest attendance for a Champions League game in England, with more than 80,000 tickets sold.
Premier League Leeds United suffered the biggest upset of the FA Cup third round when they fell to a 3-0 defeat by fourth-tier Crawley Town on Sunday
Manchester City moved 11 points clear at the top of the English Premier League after a last-gasp goal from Rodri gave them a 2-1 victory at fourth-placed Arsenal on Saturday in a controversy packed game at the Emirates stadium.
The draw was made on Monday for the Champions League round of 16.
Rashford put United ahead in the seventh minute
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Thursday
If you thought that the fuss over Gareth Bale's transfer to Real Madrid was over and done with, you are wrong. At least that is what Tottenham Hotspurs' coach Andres Villas-Boas wants us to believe.
It was not the free-flowing City of late and Tottenham will rue missing some good chances to salvage something from a disjointed affair on a patchwork pitch at a half-empty Wembley.
"The best team won, we struggled from the beginning and we couldn't deal with their long balls. Usually, you press the ball to win it, but this was different. They defended so deep and so well," City coach Pep Guardiola told the BBC.
Seven-time European champions AC Milan hit back from two goals down against Celtic to claim a 4-2 victory that sent them into the Europa League knockout phase on Thursday as they were among 14 teams to progress in Europe's second-tier competition.
UEFA has moved this month's Champions League final between Manchester City and Chelsea to Porto from Istanbul
Chelsea confirmed on its website that they had parted company with the German coach
'When April arrives we have to be ready and to fight for the trophy'
The league, which is now conducting tests twice per week, did not name the people who tested positive but said they will self-isolate for 10 days.
Darwin Nunez came off the bench to score twice as Liverpool snatched a sensational 2-1 Premier League win at Newcastle United on Sunday.
The Gunners' only league defeat of the campaign was in September away to one of England's traditional top-six clubs, Manchester United, drawing criticism that their strong start to the season was based on wins against lesser opposition.
The focus has very much been on the game between two countries that share a sporting rivalry.
Manchester City secured a dramatic 3-2 win over Tottenham Hotspur to stay three points clear of Manchester United in England.
Real Madrid have agreed to sign Croatia playmaker Luka Modric from Tottenham Hotspur on a five-year contract as the stuttering Spanish champions look to tap into his guile and creativity to get their season back on track.
The Cup did not 'come home' in football, but that did not stop FIFA World Cup Golden Boot winner Harry Kane from wishing luck to Virat Kohli, potentially one of England's biggest obstacles in their quest to win a maiden title in cricket's showpiece.
Kevin de Bruyne has been named the Premier League's Player of the Season for the 2021-22 campaign
Man City set to release skipper Gundogan and Mendy
Andre Villas-Boas was given a chance to make amends for his first failed effort in English football management after being named coach of Tottenham Hotspur on Tuesday.
Defender Luke Shaw, who made a series of defensive errors alongside captain Harry Maguire on Sunday, echoed Ronaldo's comments.
Wales will just want to land a blow on their old rivals, snap a run of six consecutive defeats against them and claim a first win over England since 1984.
World champions France had eight players, one less than former holders Spain, in international players' association FIFPro's 55-name shortlist for its World XI of 2018 award.
Tottenham Hotspur beat local rivals Arsenal with second-half goals from prolific pair Dele Alli and Harry Kane on Sunday to maintain their Premier league title challenge.
A summary of Saturday's action in the Premier League.
Manchester United's hopes of moving second in the Premier League were scuppered as Michael Olise's stunning last-gasp equaliser earned Crystal Palace a 1-1 home draw on Wednesday.
Holders Manchester City were eliminated from the League Cup by West Ham United after a penalty shootout at London Stadium on Wednesday, ending Pep Guardiola's team's four-year domination of the competition.
Tottenham Hotspur defender Michael Dawson will make his first appearance in more than four months against fourth division Cheltenham in the FA Cup on Saturday.
Bento said the 30-year-old, who was injured midway through Tottenham Hotspur's Champions League match at Olympique de Marseille this month, joined the squad only in recent days.
