The traditional New Year fixtures throw up several intriguing contests in the Premier League on Monday with Chelsea, in particular, desperate to bounce back from their 3-1 home defeat to Aston Villa. Here we preview the games.

Three of the top four in the Premier League are in action on Sunday on what is a pre-festive treat for armchair fans and punters alike. Here we preview the games.

Arsenal may have already secured top spot in Champions League Group F but there is still plenty to play for on match-day six with Marseille, Olympiacos and even a remote chance Borussia Dortmund can qualify in second place.

Despite being at the early stage of his tenure with Chelsea, under pressure manager Andre Villas-Boas has described their Champions League encounter with Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday as a ‘massive game’ (Bayer Leverkusen 5/2, draw 12/5, Chelsea 23/20).

The Premier League throws up two London derbies on Sunday afternoon – at Craven Cottage and White Hart Lane – while 11/2 title shots Chelsea travel to Bolton and new boys Swansea entertain Stoke City.

Arsenal have a huge European test on their hands on Tuesday when they face Borussia Dortmund at Signal Iduna Park in their first Champions League group clash of the season (Dortmund 6/5, draw 23/10, Arsenal 12/5).

That time of the year has come again when football fans up and down the country will gather in front of the television to see whether their teams can pull off a last-minute transfer coup.

It has been an extended weekend of sport with many highs and lows and we will take a look at the stand-out performances and see what can be learnt from the Bank Holiday weekend.

There is plenty of action in the Premier League on Sunday in particular with the two tasty looking ties involving Manchester and North London as the north west giants look to maintain their 100 percent start to the season.

They say it never rains but pours and for Arsene Wenger a deluge of questions await should a worrying start to the new season be compounded by an early exit from the Champions League on Wednesday.