Stuart Goodwin and Emillia Hawkins kickstart the weekend’s football programme with our unmissable rolling blog that rises early to provide all the breaking news and vibes from around the grounds.There’ll be buildup to Saturday’s five Premier League matches, a full Championship and lower-division programme, plus plenty of swirl around the Bundesliga and La Liga, with Bayern Munich and Barcelona in action.Why not join the conversation by sending your thoughts and observations to matchday.live@theguardian.com?Last year’s final brought heartache for Aryna Sabalenka but her consistency since the start of 2025 has been impressive, with the world No 1 reaching the final at nine of the 16 events she contested.

And yet she won only four of those, with her losses including painful close defeats in Melbourne against Madison Keys and at the French Open against Coco Gauff.Sabalenka did secure her fourth grand slam title at the US Open, beating Amanda Anisimova, and now she faces a rematch of her first grand slam final, when she overcame Elena Rybakina in Melbourne in a 2023 classic.Sabalenka has cruised through to the final but she will have to step up against the fifth seed in what is their 15th meeting.Sabalenka leads the head-to-head 8-6 but they were tied at two apiece last year, with Rybakina winning their most recent meeting, the climax of the WTA Finals in November.Katy Murrells keeps the updates flowing on our live blog, with Tumaini Carayol and Jack Snape our reporting team at Melbourne Park.

Emillia Hawkins picks up the live blog baton for the day’s 3pm kick-offs, with some compelling games on hand.Brighton host Everton, Wolves face Bournemouth but the day’s biggest game is undoubtedly at Elland Road, where the leaders arrive under the cosh.Arsenal’s championship charge suffered a setback with a home defeat by Manchester United last Sunday, their first at the Emirates this season, cutting the gap at the summit to four points.Mikel Arteta’s side – who completed a clean sweep of eight wins from eight in the Champions League in midweek – have failed to win any of their past three league matches, but they remain four points clear of Manchester City and Aston Villa heading into this weekend’s round.They face a Leeds side who sit 16th but have suffered only two home league defeats all season and are unbeaten in five at home, scoring in 10 of 11 home games.

Aaron Bower reports.The Hammers briefly closed the gap to 17th-placed Nottingham Forest to two points last weekend by beating Sunderland, but Forest responded a day later by winning at Brentford to leave Nuno Espírito Santo’s side five adrift of safety going into Saturday’s trip to Stamford Bridge.The hosts are on a roll under Liam Rosenior.Their midweek victory at Napoli secured automatic progression to the Champions League last 16 and was a fourth win on the bounce for the new head coach.Two players to watch: Chelsea’s Enzo Fernández – five goals and two assists from his last nine matches in all competitions – and West Ham’s Crysencio Summerville, who has opened the scoring in each of the Hammers’ last three games.

Billy Munday helms our blog with Jacob Steinberg reporting.Liverpool welcome Newcastle to Anfield in a fixture that carries weight for both sides’ ambitions.Arne Slot’s defending champions are looking to strengthen their position near the top four after a 3-2 loss at Bournemouth last weekend left them sixth and ended a 13-game unbeaten run in all competitions.Liverpool thrashed Qarabag 6-0 on Wednesday to secure a last-16 Champions League spot, and Slot said his team needed to show the same form in their domestic league, adding: “If we can improve in both boxes it’s going to be very hard for any team to play against us, but showing that once is not enough, we have to show this from now on constantly.” Liverpool are two points behind fourth-placed Manchester United, while Newcastle – who have failed to win their past two league matches – are ninth, five points off the top four.

What’s more, Eddie’s Howe’s side have failed to score in either of their past two league games; their 2-0 home defeat by Aston Villa last weekend came after a goalless stalemate at Wolves.Rob Smyth buckles up for minute-by-minute coverage, with Andy Hunter our match reporter.Tom Bassam and Emillia Hawkins clock on as hosts of our live football blog for a Sunday that throws up four cracking Premier League clashes as well as the fast-approaching transfer deadline day.There’s a lively day of women’s football too, with the top two, Manchester City and Chelsea, set for a 2.30pm kick-off.

Then at teatime, Arsenal meet Corinthians in the Women’s Champions Cup final.In Scotland, Rangers and Celtic are in action, while on the continent, Real Madrid host Rayo Vallecano in the day’s eye-catching fixture.Real have had a turbulent season marked by Xabi Alonso’s departure as manager and being knocked out of the Spanish Cup last 16 by second-tier Albacete two weeks ago.They had won their last three games in all competitions under their new manager, Álvaro Arbeloa, but Wednesday’s 4-2 Champions League defeat by Benfica has rocked the Spanish aristos.Carlos Alcaraz produced one of the gutsiest wins of his career as he battled through physical struggles and staged a fifth-set fightback to beat Alexander Zverev in an epic semi-final.

Now the Spaniard must hope he has enough time to fully recover for Sunday’s blockbuster final, when he will take on the 10-times Australian Open champion, Novak Djokovic.The 22-year-old Spaniard who is the top seed, has reached a fourth consecutive grand slam climax, though he is in the final at Melbourne for the first time.On Sunday he will try to become the youngest player ever to have won all four grand slam events while the veteran Djokovic is through to an 11th Australian Open final and seeking a record-breaking 25th grand slam singles title.Daniel Harris rises early for our unrivalled game-by-game live coverage.Sam Curran took a hat-trick as England began their T20 World Cup preparations by easing to an 11-run victory on the DLS method in the series-opener against Sri Lanka on Friday.

That came in the wake of England wrapping up the one-day international series by beating their hosts by 53 runs on Tuesday.The T20 World Cup begins for Harry Brook’s side against Nepal on 8 February.For the second T20, Tanya Aldred is at the over-by-over controls and Taha Hashim reports from Kandy.Manchester United host Fulham at Old Trafford, aiming to extend their impressive unbeaten league run to seven matches.Michael Carrick has made a perfect start as United’s interim head coach, delivering back‑to‑back statement victories over Manchester City and Arsenal, lifting United firmly into the top‑four battle.

Fulham, however, arrive in strong form themselves, with Marco Silva’s side sitting seventh and having lost just once in their last eight league fixtures.Luke McLaughlin hosts our live blog with Jamie Jackson reporting.Chelsea will be feeling the strain if they don’t come away from their top-two clash at pacesetting City with three points.The defending WSL champions slipped nine points behind City after their 2-0 defeat by Arsenal last week.Andrée Jeglertz’s side, meanwhile, keep rolling along, and following their 2-1 win at London City Lionesses – their 12th in a row – are taking giant strides closer to winning their first WSL title in a decade.

City have a formidable attacking record, averaging just under three goals per game, and have scored 10 times in the final 15 minutes of their WSL matches.Emillia Hawkins hosts our liveblog with Tom Garry at the Etihad Stadium.Pep Guardiola’s City face an unpredictable Spurs side knowing that Arsenal’s result at Elland Road on Saturday could blow the title race wide open.Second-placed City were level on points with third-placed Aston Villa before the weekend fixtures, and were buoyed by the January additions of Antoine Semenyo and Marc Guéhi.Erling Haaland also finally ended his goal drought on Wednesday with his first from open play in 10 games.

Spurs, who have not won a league game since beating Crystal Palace 1-0 on 28 December, are stagnant in 14th place.Thomas Frank’s troubled tenure enjoyed a brief uplift in midweek with an encouraging 2-0 victory at Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League, and the Dane will be eager for his side to build on that rare win.Dominic Booth hosts our live blog, while our big hitters David Hytner and Jonathan Wilson provide reports and analysis from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.