Five days to the weekend

Published on 29/10/2012 03:16

IT looks to be a quiet start to the week on the sporting front, although the latest financial fallout from Tynecastle will almost certainly keep fans of the Edinburgh club talking.

On the football field there’s a solitary npower League One clash on the fixture list, with Sheffield United hosting Portsmouth, where the home side will be looking to draw level on points with league leaders Tranmere if they can take three points. In tennis, the Paris Masters, featuring US Open champion Andy Murray’s return to Europe, gets under way.

Tuesday

• ON the football front, the Scottish Communities Cup quarter-finals get under way, with Aberdeen hosting St Mirren and St Johnstone travelling to face a Celtic side who are likely to be more fired up for this game than they might otherwise be following a dismal showing against Kilmarnock in the SPL last time out. There’s Capital One Cup fourth round action in England, featuring Leeds v Southampton, Reading v Arsenal, Sunderland v Middlesbrough, Swindon v Aston Villa and Wigan v Bradford.

Wednesday

• HEARTS are likely to come up against former fans’ favourite Rudi Skacel as they travel to face Dundee United in the quarter-finals of the Scottish Communities League Cup, while Third Division Rangers will hope to take the scalp of another SPL club in this competition as they host Inverness – managed by former Rangers captain Terry Butcher. In England, Chelsea host Manchester United in the Capital One Cup fourth round, a repeat of Sunday’s Premier League clash, and Swansea travel to Liverpool – managed by their former boss Brendan Rodgers.

Thursday

• GOLF’s World Championships tee off in Shenzhen, China, with a host of top stars and European Ryder Cup heroes in action, including Open champion Ernie Els, Masters winner Bubba Watson, Phil Mickelson, Lee Westwood, Luke Donald and Scotland’s Paul Lawrie. In cricket, there’s a one-day international between Sri Lanka and New Zealand in Pallekele, while snooker’s International Championship in Chengdu continues. There’s racing at Hereford, Kempton, Lingfield and Stratford.

Friday

• BOTH Scottish pro rugby union sides are in RaboDirect Pro12 action, with Glasgow hosting Newport Gwent Dragons and Edinburgh travelling to face Ulster. In the evening’s other cup game, Cardiff host Munster, while in the Aviva Premiership it’s Sale v London Irish. In football, there’s an npower Championship clash between Brighton and Leeds which will see both sides eager to keep in touch with the play-off places. Practice for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix gets under way at Yas Marina, while there’s racing at Newmarket, Uttoxeter, Wetherby and Wolverhampton.