Taking place during the men’s international break it will look to build on the record crowds that attended the opening fixtures of the Barclays FA Women’s Super League season.
The highlight of the Women’s Football Weekend will be a north London derby between Spurs and Arsenal at the 62,000-seater Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
On Merseyside Liverpool will play Everton and in west London Chelsea will host Manchester United.
2. Beckham wants Messi in Miami
David Beckham has reportedly approached Lionel Messi about making a sensational move to Major League Soccer (MLS).
Beckham’s Inter Miami will join the MLS in 2020 and the former England captain, president of the Florida franchise, is keen to make Barcelona striker Messi the club’s marquee signing.
Team Europe captain Catriona Matthew says winning the Solheim Cup in Scotland would be bigger than her Women’s British Open victory in 2009.
Europe take on the United States at Gleneagles this week and Matthew told the BBC: “To be a winning captain here [at Gleneagles] would probably rank just above my British Open win.”
5. Video: All Blacks get a ‘mind-blowing’ welcome
Two-time defending champions New Zealand were given a memorable welcome to Japan as they arrived for the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
Schoolchildren in Kashiwa gave a performance of the Haka at the All Blacks hotel. Kiwi head coach Steve Hansen said: “A fantastic welcome, mind-blowing really.”
6. Kompany ruled out of his own testimonial
Vincent Kompany’s testimonial match tonight will see a Manchester City Legends team take on a Premier League All-Stars XI at the Etihad Stadium (7.45pm, live on Sky Sports).
City legend Kompany left the EPL champions at the end of last season and money raised from his testimonial will go towards Tackle4MCR - an initiative he set up with Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham to help the homeless in the city.
Kompany won’t play in his own testimonial though because of injury. The 33-year-old, who is now player-manager at Anderlecht, said: “Unfortunately I won’t be starting tonight or playing. It’s typical of me, right? I’ve got a slight hamstring injury. I couldn’t risk it.
“We’ve got plenty of awesome players to be watching today and in many ways it is about a celebration to say goodbye, it doesn’t need to be on the pitch as such.”
Current City boss Pep Guardiola will manage the City Legends while Belgium head coach Roberto Martinez will be in charge of the Premier League All-Stars.
Manchester City Legends squad: managed by Pep Guardiola
Joe Hart, Costel Pantilimon; Joleon Lescott, Micah Richards, Kolo Toure, Pablo Zabaleta, Richard Dunne, Gael Clichy; Nigel de Jong, Samir Nasri, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Stephen Ireland, David Silva, Dietmar Hamann, James Milner; Craig Bellamy, Sergio Aguero, Mario Balotelli, Benjani
Premier League All-Stars XI squad: managed by Roberto Martinez
Edwin van der Sar, Shay Given; Phil Neville, Gary Neville, John O’Shea, Wes Brown; Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt, Michael Carrick, Ryan Giggs, Rafael van der Vaart, Cesc Fabregas; Thierry Henry, Robin van Persie
7. Roy and Overton dropped for 5th Ashes Test
England have dropped Jason Roy and Craig Overton for the fifth Ashes Test against Australia starting tomorrow at The Oval. Sam Curran and Chris Woakes are named in the team.
Australia are 2-1 up in the series and retained the urn after winning the fourth Test at Old Trafford.
England team for the 5th Ashes Test
Joe Root (captain), Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow (wicketkeeper), Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Joe Denly, Jack Leach, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes
8. Wolff: don’t write off Sebastian Vettel
Sebastian Vettel had a race to forget at the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix last weekend but the Ferrari driver is being tipped to bounce back by Toto Wolff.
Mercedes team principal Wolff said after the race at Monza: “I would just say don’t write him off. Because he’s a four-time world champion and the difference between the great ones and the good ones is that the great ones are able to get back up again. And I have no doubt that he can do that.
“He had a spell of bad races and now it will be about the ability to get himself back where he deserves to be and today for sure is a bad day for him.”
Manchester United have told Real Madrid that they’ll have to stump up £179m if they wish to sign Paul Pogba.
The Daily Mirror reports that the Red Devils “won’t indulge in any business with the Madrid giants in the new year unless their valuation of £179m is met”.
10. Southgate slams England mistakes
Gareth Southgate savaged his players for their “crazy” mistakes despite the fact England put five goals past Kosovo to move closer to Euro 2020 qualification.
Speaking after the 5-3 win the Three Lions boss said: “Ridiculous mistakes, poor decisions, lack of covering back, so we made the game really uncomfortable for ourselves.
“Whether it was the intensity of the game, whether it was the pressure, I don’t know. We’ve got to reflect on that but they were such basic errors, really, that you have to learn from. We’d just made some crazy errors.”
Cautious optimism surrounds plans for the world's first nuclear fusion power plant
2024: the year of Black country artists
Explore new worlds this winter at these 6 enlightening museum exhibitions
Mason Greenwood: footballer arrested on suspicion of rape and assault
Handball: swapping bikini bottoms for tight pants
Cristiano Ronaldo’s second coming
Bank holidays and boycotts: are MPs trying to jinx England?
Weightlifting: Olympic Games set for transgender first
Sport shorts: Champions League expansion plan to be agreed
Sport shorts: Sturgeon slams Rangers fans over title celebrations
Sport shorts: Klopp’s unwanted record as Liverpool lose again at Anfield
