Tony Kelshaw 
San Francisco seem to be holding all the aces ahead of Sunday’s NFC Championship clash with Green Bay, having won 37-8 when these teams met here two months ago. However, the Packers have since secured six straight wins and have a wealth of play-offs experience, so this could be much closer.
The Eastern Conference leaders pit their wits against their third-placed rivals as the 2019-20 NBA season enters the second half of the campaign. Milwaukee Bucks sit seven games clear at the top of the table, with Miami Heat’s young stars their closest rivals and Boston Celtics not far behind.
Kansas City have a point to prove when entertaining Tennessee in Sunday’s AFC Championship game and are tipped to sparkle at Arrowhead Stadium. The Titans edged out the Chiefs 35-32 on home turf during the regular season and prevailed 22-21 in a wild-card clash here a couple of years ago.
Tottenham are in need of a fillip following a tough run of results and should be up for Tuesday’s televised FA Cup replay against Middlesbrough. Spurs had over 70 per cent of possession when drawing 1-1 at the Riverside and are again expected to control play for long periods in London.
Bournemouth and Watford played out a goalless stalemate at Vicarage Road in late October and another tight tussle is expected in the return fixture. Four of the Cherries’ last five Premier League matches have produced under 2.5 goals, while the same applies to six of the Hornets’ last seven away games.
Conor McGregor returns to the octagon after over 15 months on the sidelines when taking on Donald Cerrone at UFC 246 and sparks are set to fly. The Notorious will be determined to get back to winning ways after losing his grudge match with Khabib Nurmagomedov via a fourth-round submission.
Dallas Mavericks and Denver Nuggets look pretty evenly matched heading into their showdown at American Airlines Center and a tight tussle is expected. The visitors have won two more matches than their opponents in assembling a 25-11 record, but that is largely down to their impressive home form.
Monaco have enjoyed a decent revival in Ligue 1 this term and new boss Robert Moreno will hope to be competitive when visiting PSG on Sunday. The former Spain caretaker manager began his reign with a dramatic cup triumph over Reims, making it 10 wins in 15 matches for France’s fallen giants.
Brentford are expected to secure a seventh straight home win when entertaining QPR in Saturday’s televised Championship match. The Hoops have lost all of their league games against the current top six in the table this season, including a 3-1 home defeat in the reverse fixture of this West London derby.
David Moyes has been hired to keep West Ham in the Premier League but he won’t shy away from also chasing a good FA Cup run, starting out at Gillingham. The Scot took Everton to the final back in 2009 and will be keen to build on a flying start to his second spell in charge of the Hammers.
Inter Milan are 3/2 favourites to sign Christian Eriksen during the current transfer window after Jose Mourinho admitted the Tottenham midfielder’s future remains uncertain. The 27-year-old Denmark international is free to talk to other clubs after failing to agree on a new contract with Spurs.
Newcastle have a crippling injury list ahead of Saturday’s FA Cup trip to Rochdale and that could make them worth opposing at Spotland. Dale are only 18th in League One but did take Manchester United to penalties in the EFL Cup after a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford earlier this season.
Sheff Utd have a great chance to continue their fairytale campaign by securing a fourth straight Premier League success when entertaining Watford. The Hornets are coming off a win over Manchester United but that was only their second victory of the season and they remain bottom of the table.
Preston will travel to Leeds in good spirits on Boxing Day and we feel it may be worth backing the visitors to get something out of this game. North End have picked up seven points from their last three Championship matches, while United are coming off a couple of patchy performances.