Editors' Picks: Heavyweight football clashes sharing spotlight with WTA Finals
Saturday, November 2nd
The final event of the women's tennis season gets underway this weekend, with the world's top eight players battling it out at the prestigious WTA Finals.
Controversy has surrounded this year's edition, however, with Saudi Arabia hosting the event for the very first time. The decision to allow this has come under scrutiny from many, considering their women's rights record.
World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka leads the packs, with Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Jasmine Paolini, Elena Rybakina, Jessica Pegula, Qinwen Zheng and Barbora Krejcikova all also eyeing the title.
The tournament begins with a round-robin. The purple group kicks off proceedings on Saturday, as Sabalenka faces Zheng in the opening match of the tournament before Rybakina - who is making her long-awaited return from injury - takes on Paolini.
The top two in each group move on to the semi-finals, and the rest is self-explanatory.
Another storyline in the background is the battle to be the year-end No. 1. Sabalenka sits in pole position, and three wins in the round-robin stage or simply just reaching the final would see her take the crown for the first time.
Swiatek needs things to fall her way if she wants to finish the year as the world's best player for a third year in a row. The Pole hasn't played since her US Open quarter-final defeat to Pegula, so will be desperate to end her season on a high note.
Seeing the world's best players clash for one of the biggest prizes in tennis always makes for fantastic viewing, and it will surely be the same this time around in Riyadh.
Tolga Akdeniz
Borussia Dortmund vs RB Leipzig - 18:30 CET
The standout Bundesliga fixture of the weekend sees Borussia Dortmund hosting RB Leipzig on Saturday evening at the Signal Iduna Park. The sides are two of the league’s better-resourced clubs but are currently experiencing rather contrasting fortunes.
Marco Rose’s RB Leipzig side are currently level at the top of the league standings with Bayern Munich on 20 points. They have won four of their last five matches - the exception being a narrow 1-0 loss to Liverpool in the Champions League.
Nuri Sahin’s Dortmund, on the other hand, have lost three on the bounce - losing to Augsburg and Wolfsburg (the latter in the cup) following their dramatic collapse at Real Madrid in the Champions League, which they lost 5-2 from being 2-0 up.
There have been some bright moments for Sahin since taking over Dortmund in the summer, namely two wins in the Champions League. However, in the Bundesliga, they have been patchy, losing three of eight so far including a 5-1 thrashing at the hands of Stuttgart.
For Dortmund, Saturday’s clash with Leipzig is thus shaping up as somewhat of a must-win to get back on track. For Sahin, it’s especially key to avoid another humbling. To make matters worse for the hosts, they are in the midst of an injury crisis that has left the first-team squad so thin that Wednesday’s training was scrapped.
It’s not going to be easy for Dortmund considering the circumstances but they have won five from five at home this season and they will have their passionate fans right behind them. Leipzig will be backing themselves to break Black and Yellow hearts, however, and keep pace with league leaders Bayern.
Pat Dempsey
In the Netherlands this weekend, the nation’s two best sides will face off in the latest edition of 'De Topper', one that could ignite the Eredivisie title race and all but confirm the long-awaited return of one of football’s most iconic clubs.
After two disastrous seasons, Ajax have started to move in the right direction again under new manager Francesco Farioli, winning seven of their last eight games and sitting second in the Eredivisie and fourth in the Europa League as a result.
It was on Wednesday that the Farioli era really sparked into life with the Italian leading his team to a 2-0 victory at the home of arch-rivals Feyenoord and being given a hero’s welcome on his return to Amsterdam.
However, he hasn’t yet faced as big a test as he will on Saturday, when Peter Bosz’s PSV come to town. After storming to the title with just one defeat to their name last season, the reigning champions have picked up where they left off, winning all 10 of their first Eredivisie matches and avoiding defeat against Sporting and PSG in the Champions League.
It will be a clash between the two sides like no other with PSV playing the exciting, attractive football typically associated with Ajax - Bosz is one of the most faithful disciples of Ajax icon Johan Cruyff - and Farioli favouring substance over style in a typically Italian way. That should make for a fascinating clash of styles, and with both methods proving hugely effective, a high-quality affair.
A win for Ajax would put them just five points behind PSV with a game in hand, and perhaps even more importantly, it would draw a line under one of the worst eras in the club’s history and very much establish them as a force to be reckoned with once again, so the stakes could hardly be higher.
Finley Crebolder
Sunday, November 3rd
Manchester United vs Chelsea - 17:30 CET
Under normal circumstances, Manchester United vs Chelsea is one of the standout fixtures on the Premier League calendar. But these aren’t normal times at Old Trafford. Erik ten Hag got the sack on Monday morning after a disastrous start to the Premier League campaign left United down in 14th place.
Club legend Ruud van Nistelrooy is the interim manager for now (Ruben Amorim will take over in mid-November) and the Dutchman will lead United out for a hugely significant game this weekend.
Van Nistelrooy’s first game as interim boss ended in an emphatic 5-2 win against a rotated Leicester City side in the EFL Cup on Wednesday evening as Casemiro and Bruno Fernandes starred. On the same night, Chelsea were knocked out by Newcastle United after they heavily rotated.
However, Ruud’s Reds won’t have such a luxury this weekend - Enzo Maresca will go strong. Chelsea are an in-form side knocking on the door of the top four and in Cole Palmer, they possess someone capable of magic at any given moment.
Having said that, Old Trafford will be rocking on Sunday and with United’s attack firing again, anything can happen.
United and Chelsea may not be going head-to-head for the Premier League title these days, but compared to the last few years, there is more riding on this match than usual.
Chelsea will want to continue their strong start to the campaign while United need the three points to keep hopes alive for the league season.
Harry Dunnett