And so the Ashes reaches its finale in Sydney. Play began in the fifth Test last night and while both sides have batted with all the staying power of a sugar-dosed teenager made to watch a black and white movie at Christmas, we can at least be certain it will go into day two. Surely? (Tonight, TNT Sports 1, 11.30pm)
England have a better record at the SCG than any other Australian ground, but they seldom seem to get there with the series still alive. Playing for pride is a strong motivation and perhaps someone can dredge up a last-gasp glory like Michael Vaughan’s 183 or Andy Caddick’s seven for 94 that set up victory at the end of a hard tour in 2003. But beware the wounded Wallaby: Australia have lost successive home Ashes Tests only once since 1980.
Emma Raducanu is also in Sydney. The British No 1 began her new tennis season against Japan’s Naomi Osaka in the mixed United Cup at 2am this morning. She and Billy Harris will play their second group matches against Maria Sakkari and Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece (tomorrow, Sky Sports Tennis, 9am). Sonay Kartal and Katie Boulter are instead competing at the Auckland Open (daily, Sky Sports Tennis, 10.30pm).
American football’s regular season headed into the final round last night. The winner of the San Francisco 49ers and the Seattle Seahawks, which started at 1am, will be the NFC’s top seed and avoid the first round of the play-offs. The same perk in the AFC awaits one of the Denver Broncos, New England Patriots and Jacksonville Jaguars (Dazn, Sky & 5 Active, 9.25pm). The final piece of the jigsaw comes when the Pittsburgh Steelers host the Baltimore Ravens with the winners going through top of the AFC North (tomorrow, Sky Sports, 1.20am).
Arsenal host Liverpool in the Premier League on Thursday, having built a 13-point lead over last season’s champions by the turn of the year (Sky Sports Premier, 8pm). The next day, Nottingham Forest get the FA Cup third round under way with a trip to Wrexham (Friday, TNT Sports 1, 7.30pm). The Welsh side, who famously beat Arsenal in the Cup in 1992, were in the National League when they reached the fourth round in 2022. Now they are mid-table in the Championship and a win over a wobbly Forest would no longer count as a giant-killing.
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Three teams fly the flag for non-League football. Macclesfield host Crystal Palace (Saturday, BBC One, 12.15pm), while Weston-super-Mare go to Grimsby and Boreham Wood host Burton. Of the four all-Premier League ties, Tottenham v Aston Villa is on terrestrial TV (Saturday, BBC One, 5.45pm).
Photograph via BBC