Sport on the Sofa: US Open, NFL, Glasgow City and Billy Gilmour - don't sleep in

Sport on the Sofa’s viewing suggestions quickly became watching competition under covers last week with Andy Murray's exploits at Flushing Meadows keeping us all awake.

The NFL is back on British screens this week (Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images)

Well, maybe Andy was only half to blame given the length of Stefanos Tsitsipas’ toilet breaks which were opportune moments for a quick cat-nap before the return of serve.

The United States was a fitting description for those of us on the morning after the night before after staying up on a school-night to watch until the angry end. And beware, more bleary eyes – and transatlantic tournaments – are on the way this week.

Emma Raducanu is still in it to win it and back on court this Monday night. But it’s pretty likely if you’re tuning in to Amazon Prime on Sunday you’ll be seeing Novak Djokovic, again. It’s a £7.99 monthly subscription and there’s plenty other sports options if the tennis isn’t your bag – or just too late – though matches can be watched on demand too.

Novak Djokovic celebrates a point against Kei Nishikori during his Men's Singles third round match in Flushing Meadows, New York City. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)

Also on Prime is the All or Nothing documentary series focusing on NFL franchises. The cameras will already be rolling and preview coverage is reaching a crescendo right about now. Sky Sports, who have the UK rights to the NFL, have rebranded one of their channels dedicated to America’s game this month and they’ll be showing the first matches.

Be warned. Tuning in live is another late one too.

The first game of the American football season starts at 1.20am on Friday morning when Dallas Cowboys travel to Superbowl winners Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sky Sports NFL. Then it’s Sunday for Pittsburgh Steelers at Buffalo Bills and Cleveland Browns v Kansas City Chiefs.

Now speaking of football (real football!), it’ll be back to domestics for the mens’ game after the internationals finish up this week.

Tom Brady #12 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during warm ups before playing the Houston Texans in a NFL preseason game at NRG Stadium on August 28, 2021 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)

Scotland face Austria in Vienna on Tuesday live, as usual, on Sky Sports and Kris Boyd, James McFadden and Eilidh Barbour are afforded longer build-up from 7pm until kick-off at 7.45pm – a much more suitable time for Harvey Gilmour to make school in the morning after watching big brother Billy boss it.

England will also be on terrestrial against Poland with ITV showing their qualifier 24 hours later. Northern Ireland and Wales are on Sky.

A free-to-air alternative on Wednesday comes on BBC Alba when Glasgow City face Servette at Broadwood in the women’s Champions League, second round second leg. Never mind staying up late, you might need to stop work early because it’s a 3.10pm kick off.

The women’s game has been given a broadcasting jump-start this season with Sky showing action from England and here, highlights of the SWPL will be on BBC Scotland every Monday at 7pm.

Billy Gilmour in action for Scotland during a World Cup qualifier match between Scotland and Moldova at Hampden Park, on September 04, 2021, in Glasgow, Scotland (Photo by Alan Harvey / SNS Group)

There's also plenty of regular season men’s football on screen. Sky Sports have Rangers at St Johnstone on Saturday lunchtime, while Napoli v Juventus at tea-time on BT Sport looks the best from the rest of Europe.

From New York, Florida, Vienna, Warsaw and Naples – there’s another big event being televised throughout this week too – although not quite as close to home as Perth and Cumbernauld, yet.

ITV4 is showing various stages of the Tour of Britain throughout the week. Starting in Cornwall it will progress north over the coming days with the peloton travelling from Hawick to Edinburgh on Saturday. Perfect timing for Sunday’s final reaching Aberdeen just in time for the tennis.

Sweet dreams.

Aberdeen’s Chloe Gover. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)

David Oliver’s five TV highlights this week, and how to watch

US Open: The finals major of the tennis calendar concludes at Flushing Meadow this weekend. Preceding rounds can be watched via Amazon Prime, live or on demand, with subscriptions costing £7.99 per month. The Ladies’ hardcourt final is on Saturday at 9pm BST. The men’s final is the same start time on Sunday.

World Cup qualifiers: Scotland are in Austria while England are in Poland for two big qualifiers this week. Sky Sports Main Event have the Scotland game at 7pm on Tuesday (kick-off 7.45pm) while the England game will be shown by ITV 24 hours later. Sky Sports will also show Wales host Estonia and Northern Ireland vs Switzerland at the same time, with Gareth Bale on Main Event (Sky 401) and Steven Davis on the Football channel (Sky 403).

NFL: Kick off in America comes at 1.20am on Friday morning with Dallas Cowboys v Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Build-up throughout the week on Sky Sports NFL (Sky 407) and more games on Sunday from 5pm.

Women’s football: Sky Sports are showing several games from south of the border live, but BBC Scotland (Sky 115) will screen SWPL highlights at 7pm on Monday. Glasgow City’s Champions’ League second leg at Broadwood will be shown live on BBC Alba (Sky 116) at 3pm on Wednesday.

Tour of Britain: Coverage of the peloton’s progress north is shown on ITV4 at various times throughout the week. The penultimate leg from Hawick to Edinburgh comes on Saturday with the broadcast beginning at 10.30am (Sky 120).

Robin Carpenter of United States has been leading the early stages of the Tour of Britain. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

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