Live Sport on TV this weekend – November 11th & 12th
Saturday
Football
Premier League
Wolves v Tottenham – TNT Sports 1 – 12.30
Spurs’ shock defeat to Chelsea on Monday evening ended their unbeaten start to the season and meant they slipped to second place in the Premiership. They will now be without their influential defenders Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie, both redcarded on Monday, and Mickey van de Ven hamstrung. James Maddison also limped off to compound their troubles and is out until the New Year. Wolves have lost more games than they’ve won and even gave Sheffield Utd their first win of the season last weekend. A patched up Spurs to get back to winning ways.
Bournemouth v Newcastle – Sky Sports Premier League/Main Event – 17.30
Bournemouth will probably still be slightly shellshocked by their 6-1 drubbing at the feet of Man City last weekend and are still languishing in the bottom three. Newcastle had a controversial win against Arsenal, but they found it hard going in Europe again against Dortmund this midweek. Newcastle should be far too strong for Bournemouth.
Rugby Union
English Premiership – Leicester v Quins – TNT Sports 1 – 15.05
The Tigers were mauled last week by Saracens who had most of their England contingent back, including Owen Farrell and Ben Earl. Leicester had none, so hope that this week it will be different with the likes of Ollie Chessum, George Martin, Dan Cole, Freddie Steward and Ben Youngs available for selection. That doesn’t include Handre Pollard and Jasper Wiese, members of the World Cup winning Springboks and Argentina’s Julian Montoya. Marcus Smith came on as a second-half sub in Harlequins’ decisive defeat of Newcastle last Saturday. Could be close, but Quin’s more established togetherness with less players away at the World Cup should give them the edge.
Cricket
World Cup
England v Pakistan – Kolkata – Sky Sports Cricket – 08.30
To qualify for the semi-finals Pakistan need to win big against England and with the state England are in at the moment, that’s perfectly feasible. England recorded their second win in the tournament thanks to Ben Stokes’ fine century against The Netherlands and are trying to sneak into the top seven to qualify for the Champions Trophy in 2025, They have no divine right to be there and even the West Indies are missing from this year’s World Cup. With Jos Buttler, Johnny Bairstow and Joe Root in no sort of form, they could struggle against Pakistan who have plenty to play for too. Pakistan are coming off a fantastic win against New Zealand last weekend when Fakhar Zaman scored a brilliant quickfire century well supported by captain Babar Azam. I think England will struggle again so a Pakistan win and a dismal end to England’s defence of the World Cup.
Sunday
Football
Premier League
Chelsea v Man City – Sky Sports Premier League/Sky Sports Main Event – 16.30
So Chelsea pulled off a surprise away win last Monday night against table-topping Spurs, helped by two reds cards and injuries to two of Tottenham’s most influential players. Even then they struggled to break down the nine men opposition and only two injury time goals gave the score a rather lopsided look. So can they beat the new table toppers? The answer is a definite no, with Pep Guardiola’s side taking the Londoners apart with their brand of possession football. With Erling Haaland back amongst the goals and either Jeremy Doku or Jack Grealish tormenting them on the wings, another loss for Chelsea and Man City strengthening their grip on retaining their title.
Cricket
World Cup
India v Netherlands – Bangalore – Sky Sports Cricket – 08.30
India should end the league round robin unbeaten against bottom side The Netherlands and confirm their status as red hot favourites to win the World Cup. But the format of the tournament has meant the competition has gone too long with too many half-empty stadiums. The only interest today is to see whether the in-form Virat Kohli can best Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 49 one-day centuries, having equalled it last weekend on his 35th birthday.
Rugby Union
English Premiership – Northampton v Exeter – ITV 1 – 15.00
English Premiership rugby returns to terrestrial tv today and there should be an increased audience after England’s run, albeit rather fortunate, to the semi-finals of the World Cup. Players involved in the World Cup are slowly being re-integrated into their club sides. Lewis Ludlum turned out for Northampton last weekend when they beat Bath. Exeter had a hard fought win against Bristol last weekend and currently top the table. A close game is envisaged with Northampton edging it.
American Football
NFL – Packers @ Steelers – NFL Game Pass 18.00
