Football
The A-League is taking advantage of the holiday season with 19 games in 17 days, and it should have been 20 were it for the Leichhardt Oval debacle that saw Steve Corica's next highly anticipated return to Sydney postponed.
Newcastle Jets and Macarthur FC go into their Friday night clash in sixth and seventh place so it'll be a very important fixture for both sides as they look to establish themselves as genuine finals contenders, particularly the home side who have been on the up under Mark Milligan.
Melbourne host Wellington Phoenix at AAMI Park on Monday night in another interesting clash between two clubs that won their most recent outings with some fairly impressive performances but have otherwise underwhelmed throughout the start of the 2025/26 season.
One to follow: Newcastle Jets v Macarthur Bulls
The EPL also jets into the new calendar year with a double gameweek which means plenty of early morning football for those on the east coast eager enough to get up for the 6:30am and 7:00am AEDT kickoffs.
Before then, the highlight of the weekend surely comes from Villa Park. Aston Villa, on a ridiculous run of ten wins across all competitions, find themselves in third place and seven points ahead of Liverpool and upcoming opponents Chelsea.
As always, we've got previews, match reports and news stories of all 380 Premier League games throughout the season.
Our esteemed colleague Matt Billon has tipped Villa to win at an appealing price.
One to follow: Aston Villa v Chelsea
Cricket
At the time of publication, the Aussie opening pair of Travis Head and Jake Weatherald were strapping on the pads and getting ready to bat on a grassy MCG pitch, with Australia pursuing a 5-0 clean sweep and the visitors trying to save some embarrassment from what has so far been a disastrous tour.
England made two changes to their XI by dropping Ollie Pope for Jacob Bethell at number three and bringing back Gus Atkinson for the injured Jofra Archer.
Australia had to find replacements for both Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon, whilst dropping Josh Inglis and backing the under-pressure Cameron Green, and we aren't going to find out until the toss which two fast bowlers will be selected out of Michael Neser, Brendan Doggett and Jhye Richardson in the all-pace attack.
It's such a shame that the thousands of tourists who have flown over to Melbourne and Sydney for the final two games of the Ashes don't get a live series, but the Boxing Day Test always manages to deliver memories.
One to follow: Australia v England
Whilst there's no Test cricket in New Zealand or South Africa for the purists to tuck into (remember having it non-stop from 9am through to 2am the following morning?), there's plenty of Big Bash across the long weekend to keep us sated.
The annual Boxing Day double-header heads to the SCG and then Perth Stadium and the former will be particularly fascinating given how the Melbourne Stars, the only team yet to win a BBL title, have been impressive in winning their opening two matches.
If they can win in Sydney on Friday evening, the Stars would well go 4-0 by the end of Sunday when they then fly to Manuka Oval in Canberra to face the struggling Sydney Thunder in a home game that they have sold to the ACT government whilst their MCG home is unavailable.
One to follow: Sydney Sixers v Melbourne Stars
Basketball
The gluttons' delight of daily Christmas NBL coverage continues with daily games right through to the 5th of January and Round 14 has unfortunately had a couple of ugly blowouts, not that the 36ers or the Kings would be complaining.
Now leading the standings with a three-win buffer, the 36ers next face a Perth Wildcats side beaming from a morale-boosting win over Tasmania, who themselves have an important game on Boxing Day when they face the NZ Breakers - there will either be a three-game or a one-game bridge between sixth and seventh depending on how that one pans out.
The JackJumpers are enjoying a couple of key returnees such as Will Magnay and David Johnson and have won three of their last four games, most recently thumping the resurgent Melbourne United in Sunday's open air game.
One to follow: Tasmania JackJumpers v NZ Breakers
A couple of high-standing Western Conference teams go head-to-head in the middle of the day on Boxing Day to complement the live cricket with two top-six showdowns between Denver and Minnesota as well as the Lakers and Rockets.
The Timberwolves continue to work their way up the standings with ten wins from their last 12 matches, even knocking off one of the title favourites OKC, and Karl-Anthony Towns will be looking to recapture some of his finest after recently notching up 40 points and 13 rebounds against the Knicks.
Check them out at 2:30pm AEDT on Friday. They're playing some fun basketball.
One to follow: Denver Nuggets v Minnesota Timberwolves
American Football
Somebody's winning streak is coming to an end when the LA Chargers (W4) play the Houston Texans (W7) on Saturday, with the Chargers' defence simply outstanding in their 34-17 rout of the Dallas Cowboys and the Texans' offence sluggish when falling over the line 23-21 against the Raiders.
There's also a tasty 12:20pm AEDT game on Monday between two other sides in imperious form when the San Francisco 49ers and Chicago Bears, both 11 and 4 in the NFC, play in the penultimate round of the regular season.
Chicago can clinch the NFC North division with victory here and the 49ers could potentially move level with NFC West leaders Seattle, depending on how the Seahawks fare earlier in the morning, so there's plenty at stake for this one.