From football to F1 and everything in between, there's always tons to watch over the weekend, often too much. As a result, our news editors have gone through the calendar to highlight the best of the sporting action from Friday evening through to Sunday. Here's what we'll be watching.
Friday, August 21st
Arsenal vs Coventry City - 21:00 CET
The Premier League is back, with the 2026/27 campaign getting underway on Friday evening as reigning champions Arsenal kick off their title defence with a home clash against newly-promoted Coventry City.
Having swept aside Manchester City in last weekend’s Community Shield, the Gunners will be full of confidence heading into the season-opener, as Mikel Arteta’s men look to become the first Arsenal side to win back-to-back top-flight titles since the 1930s.
Remarkably, the Gunners are unbeaten in their last 45 home games against promoted sides (W40, D5), highlighting the scale of the task facing Frank Lampard’s Coventry, who are back in the Premier League after 25 long years.
The Sky Blues cruised to the Championship title last season and have invested heavily in their top-flight return, breaking their record transfer fee four times already this summer, as they bid to stave off the threat of relegation.
With both teams eager to lay down an early-season marker, albeit for completely different reasons, it promises to be a fascinating curtain-raiser at the Emirates Stadium.
Read our full preview of the clash here!
Danny Clark
Saturday, August 22nd
Borussia Dortmund vs Bayern Munich - 20:30 CET
The German season will begin on Saturday with the country's most iconic clash, Der Klassiker, and there will be a trophy up for grabs.
Reigning Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich head into the Super Cup looking as formidable as ever. Over the summer, they've reinforced with the big-money signings of midfielder Ismael Saibari and defender Nathaniel Brown, and despite being linked with Real Madrid and the Saudi league respectively, star men Michael Olise and Harry Kane are staying put.
That being said, Borussia Dortmund have had an excellent transfer window themselves, bringing in young Greek talents Giannis Konstantelias and Konstaninos Karetsas as well as Dutch playmaker Joey Veerman, who will be looking to kick on after three sensational years as the best player in the Netherlands.
These two sides facing off in the Super Cup is very much a familiar scenario. They've done so five times in the last decade, with Bayern winning four of those clashes.
They're the favourites for this one too, as well as the Bundesliga season that will follow, and whether or not they're caused problems by their rivals will tell us a lot about how the campaign to come is likely to pan out.
Finley Crebolder
Espanyol vs Real Madrid - 21:30 CET
The 2026/27 LaLiga season kicked off last week, but it was what you might term a ‘soft launch’ with only 12 of the 20 sides having featured so far. This weekend, top dogs Real Madrid and Barcelona play their first fixtures of the new campaign, but all eyes will be on the former...
We don’t have a Clasico to kick off the season, but Real will be in Barcelona this weekend, taking on Espanyol on Saturday evening for the first competitive match of Jose Mourinho's second stint as Los Blancos boss.
It’s been a huge summer for the capital club. Coming off back-to-back trophy-less seasons, president Florentino Perez made the bold, and somewhat surprising, move of handing the reins to Mourinho 13 years since he was first at the club, even though the Portuguese hasn’t lifted a major trophy since 2022.
The Merengues' squad has also been bolstered with the arrivals of record-signing Yan Diomande, plus experienced pros in Bernardo Silva, Marc Cucurella and Denzel Dumfries. However, it remains to be seen whether the superstar trio of Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham can all thrive in the same XI.
We won’t find out all the answers this weekend, but it’s guaranteed to be fascinating viewing. And don’t write off Espanyol from spoiling the return of the so-called 'Special One': Los Periquitos are coming off a big win last week and an encouraging mid-table finish last season.
Pat Dempsey
Sunday, August 23rd
After the summer break, Formula 1 returns this weekend in Zandvoort. There is always something going on in the world of F1 and the lead-up to this sprint weekend has been no different.
All the big news has come from Red Bull as Isack Hadjar was forced to pull out of the race weekend after picking up a wrist injury, meaning Liam Lawson will make a brief return to the hot seat of Red Bull and Yuki Tsunoda is coming in to take Lawson's seat at Racing Bulls. And the headline news is that Max Verstappen has officially extended his contract at Red Bull until 2030 and will head into his home race with even more talk about him than usual.
In terms of the actual racing this weekend and aside from all eyes being on Verstappen at his home track, this feels like a make-or-break stage of the World Championship. Will Kimi Antonelli continue the hot form that saw him race into the lead of the Championship, or will George Russell return refreshed and ready to challenge his 19-year-old teammate?
Russell will be hoping his team helps him to mount a challenge this weekend since Mercedes' reliability issues plagued the first half of his season. This sprint weekend also feels like an opportunity for Lewis Hamilton to build some momentum ahead of Ferrari's home Grand Prix at Monza next weekend and reignite his title challenge after a difficult final few races before the summer break.
There are always so many storylines in the world of Formula 1 and with the added drama of the sprint race, this really promises to be a box-office return to one of the world's most trending sports.
Harry Dunnett
Newcastle vs Liverpool - 17:30 CET
Emotions will run high on Sunday as Newcastle United face Liverpool after a summer where both clubs lost a legend - Kevin Keegan.
The striker was one of the world's best footballers in the 1970s and '80s, adored by both sets of supporters when he was their player. He would also manage the Magpies in the 1990s, with his now-famous slump over the advertising hoardings, as Stan Collymore stole in to score a late winner at Anfield, written into Premier League folklore.
After the tributes, the best way to celebrate Keegan will be to have a thriller, just like that special 4-3 two decades ago. We may well get it, too. Uncertainty clings to both of these sides heading into the season, with two new managers set to prowl the touchline.
Adoni Iraola has stepped in to replace Arne Slot, with the Spanish manager set to bring more expansive football to Liverpool after a torrid time in their last campaign. Eddie Howe also left in the summer, and he was replaced by the less experienced Matthias Jaissle. The German coach joined from Al Ahli in the Saudi Pro League, and he has had to contend with a summer of upheaval at St James' Park with plenty of their big stars leaving.
With so much to still find out about the two teams, this will be the perfect opportunity for fans to see what they are in for this season, and given all that unpredictability on the eve of the season, this is one not to miss. Let's hope for another thriller, just as 'Keggy' would have wanted.
Josh Donaldson