Sporting weekend headlined by action from England's national stadiums
Tottenham Hotspur v Arsenal – Premier League football – Saturday 10 February – BT Sport One 4KUHD at 11.30am (kick-off 12.30pm)
Although much has been made of the balance of power finally appearing to shift in north London after Tottenham finished above neighbours Arsenal for the first time in 21 years last season, the gap between the pair could be as slender as a single point by the time the rest of the Premier League fixtures get under way at 3pm on Saturday.
Though Tottenham haven’t lost since 16 December and will go into Saturday’s derby as favourites, Arsenal’s record at Wembley is a formidable one. Arsene Wenger’s side have won their last nine at the national stadium and, though their recent form has been patchy, go into Saturday looking to ensure bragging rights over Tottenham. High-profile new signings Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Henrikh Mkhitaryan will be on show for the visitors and will hope to complete the double, having beaten Spurs 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium in November.
England v Wales – Six Nations Rugby – Saturday 10 February – ITV1 at 4.20pm (kick-off 4.45pm)
Something has got to give as the two maximum point scorers from the first round of this year’s Six Nations go head-to-head in defending champions England’s first home fixture of the 2018 championships.
Wales’s performance against many pundits’ tournament dark horses Scotland was the stand-out showing of the opening weekend. They’ll likely provide the sternest test of England’s unbeaten record at Twickenham under Eddie Jones, given current form.
While Wales boss Warren Gatland names an unchanged side, England have made two changes, replacing centre Ben Te’o with Jonathan Joseph and swapping Ben Youngs for Danny Care – who will become England’s most capped scrum-half with this weekend’s appearance taking him past Matt Dawson’s record of 77.
Scotland v France – Six Nations Rugby – Sunday 11 February – BBC One at 2.30pm (kick-off 3pm)
Both France and Scotland will be looking to get their first championship win on the board at Murrayfield this weekend. Though defeated on home soil by Ireland, France at least have a bonus point to their name and sit in fourth place, while the much-hyped Scots sit in fifth place off the back of a humbling defeat in Cardiff.
Coach Gregor Townsend has made six changes to his Scotland side in response, with scrum half Greig Laidlaw his most high-profile introduction, and are broadly tipped to get their campaign back on track against a French side struggling for form.
Winter Olympics – BBC will broadcast live coverage from Midnight until 8pm across BBC One and BBC Two on both Saturday and Sunday
Twelve medals are up for grabs on the first weekend of action from Pyeongchang, South Korea, including gongs for speed skating, luge, snowboarding and ski jumping as well as the preliminary stages of the games’ curling and ice hockey.
Brits in action include triple world champion speed skater Elise Christie, who begins her bid to finally land an Olympic title in the 500m heats on Saturday, while snowboarder Jamie Nicholls is an outside medal contender in Sunday’s slopestyle snowboarding.
