Andrew McDermott 
Tottenham’s defeat to Manchester United extended their run of Premier League matches without a draw to a whopping 26 but they remain third in the Premier League, so does a lack of draws necessarily mean that there’s a problem? And which managers are most likely to settle for a share of the points?
Sun City hosts the penultimate event of the European Tour this season, with Rory McIlroy and Sergio Garcia the star attractions at the Nedbank Golf Challenge. But we’ll make former Masters champion Danny Willett our first selection as he looks to claim a first victory since Augusta in 2016.
The battle to finish the season as European number one hots up this week with Tommy Fleetwood looking to close the gap on Ryder Cup partner Francesco Molinari. The Regnum Carya Resort hosts the Rolex Series event for the third year in succession.
QPR have put together a good run on form, picking up three wins and a draw with Derby from their last four Championship matches to see them climb to 11th place. New Aston Villa manager Dean Smith tasted defeat for the first time after seeing his side suffer a 2-1 defeat to Norwich at Carrow Road.
The PGA Tour stays in Asia for this week’s CJ Cup in Korea, where the time has come to back a short-priced favourite. It is impossible to ignore the case for Justin Thomas to make a successful defence of his title on Jeju Island, where he defeated last week’s winner Marc Leishman in a play-off.
It’s crunch time on the European Tour with this week’s Andalucia Valderrama Masters representing the last chance to secure playing rights for next season. The top 110 players on the Race to Dubai on Sunday evening earn a full card for 2019.
The PGA Tour enjoys a rare trip away from the US mainland this week with the CIMB Classic in Malaysia. Co-sanctioned with the Asian Tour, the £5.3million event has been dominated by American players in its previous five editions, with Ryan Moore winning the first two, Justin Thomas the next two and Pat Perez claiming victory 12 months ago.
After a case of very close but no cigar last week, attention turns to the British Masters at Walton Heath. Headline tip Tyrrell Hatton looked certain to give us a 16/1 winner in the Dunhill Links before a back-nine collapse in the final round let in Denmark’s Lucas Bjerregaard.
The European Tour heads to Holland this week for the KLM Open in Spijk. The 99th staging of the tournament will be the third at The Dutch, the Colin Montgomerie-designed par-71 course that, while inland, has a strong links feel.
After a frustrating week in Denmark the European Tour moves on to Switzerland for its annual trip up the mountain to Crans-sur-Sierre. Matt Fitzpatrick is the defending champion of the Omega European Masters, the first event since the end of Ryder Cup qualifying.
The BMW Championship is the third event of the FedEx Cup play-offs and presents a number of problems in finding the winner. Tournament venue Aronimink Golf Club returns to the PGA Tour after a seven-year absence, having hosted the AT&T National in 2010 and 2011, events won by Justin Rose and Nick Watney respectively.
Barcelona are expected to begin their La Liga title defence by brushing aside Alaves, but the visitors do not have a bad record at Camp Nou. Babazorros El Glorioso claimed a shock 2-1 win here a couple of years ago and have since been competitive in a 2-1 Copa del Rey defeat and a 3-1 league loss.
Runaway LaLiga winners Barcelona crushed Sevilla 5-0 in the Copa del Rey final but we’re expecting a much-closer contest in Sunday’s Spanish Super Cup clash. Los Rojiblancos drew 2-2 at home to the Catalan giants in league action last March and only went down 2-1 at Camp Nou in November.
Arsenal look well placed to avenge last season’s Europa League loss to Atletico Madrid when they meet in the International Champions Cup in Singapore. Unai Emery will be keen to make an instant impression with the Gunners, while Diego Simeone must do without key players not back from World Cup duty.