Top sports events of the upcoming week – October 5-11 2020
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic which has limited the sports competition all across the globe, many high-profile tournaments and leagues continue to push through with their 2020 plans. Here we will look at some of the best sports events fans should look forward to the next week.
Also check out our top esports events of the upcoming week, where we listed all the big competitions that no esports fan should miss, including the League of Legends World Championship, which will kick off this weekend.
Soccer
UEFA European Football Championship qualifiers
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, FIFA decided to postpone all 2022 World Cup qualifiers indefinitely. That, however, does not mean we won’t be seeing any international matches next week.
Despite all the uncertainty with the current global situation, FIFA have yet to announce any form of cancellation or postponement of the EURO qualifiers, meaning the 2020 UEFA European Football Championship qualifiers will proceed as planned. The EURO Play-off semi-finals will begin on Thursday, October 8, with a clash between Georgia and Belarus, followed by seven more games that are scheduled to begin at 20:45 CEST.
UEFA Nations League
Adding to the list of international football competitions is the third round of the UEFA Nations League, which will feature a plethora of exciting games played over the next weekend.
The games will begin with two Group C fixtures between Luxembourg and Cyprus and Montenegro and Azerbaijan who will lock horns on Saturday, October 10 at 15:00 CEST. The third round of the UEFA Nations League will conclude on Sunday, October 11, with the final two fixtures from Group C between Greece and Moldova and Kosovo and Slovenia.
Japan YBC Levain Cup semi-finals
The Japanese YBC Levain Cup is set to enter the semi-finals on Wednesday, October 7, with two exciting fixtures featuring the 2019 YBC Cup champions Kawasaki Frontale taking on FC Tokyo followed by a clash between Yokohama Marinos and Kashiwa.
All but one of the quarter-finals matches (between Sapporo and Yokohama) were very one-sided with Kashiwa and FC Tokyo both ending their fixtures with 3-0 win over C-Osaka and Nagoya respectively, whereas Kawasaki Frontale demolished Kobe (6-0) to enter the penultimate stage of the competition as the main favorites to hoist their second trophy.
Major League Soccer
The Major League Soccer (MLS) is slated to continue as intended despite the COVID-19 pandemic, with a plethora of games scheduled from Monday-Wednesday and Saturday-Sunday.
Even 14 rounds in, the standings in both divisions are very tight. The Western Division is led by Seattle Sounders and Portland Timbers, both with 24 points, while Columbus Crew currently lead the Eastern Conference with 30 points – only two ahead of Philadelphia Union and Toronto Crew and four ahead of the fourth-placed Orlando City.
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Basketball
NBA Play-offs
Next week will feature at least two NBA grand finals fixtures between Los Angeles Lakers and the Miami Heat, who will duke it out on Monday, October 10, and on Wednesday, October 10. Due to the changed format of the NBA, both games will be played at AdventHealth Arena in Orlando, as it was the case for the last eight games of the season and the entirety of the playoffs.
Lakers are heading into the second match of the series (Saturday, October 3) with a 1-0 lead after their commanding 116-98 win over Miami Heat this Thursday. Lakers’ strong performances this season, and in their first series against Miami Heat have earned them a tag as the main favorites to win the 17th NBA title, however, we have seen before just how resilient Miami Heat can be, which should make for an interesting series no basketball should miss.
2020/21 7DAYS EuroCup
The 2020/21 7DAYS EuroCup will continue with the second round of the tournament next week when we will see 12 fixtures between the second-division European basketball teams. The action will begin on Tuesday, October 6 and conclude a day later on Wednesday, October 7 with a clash between the 2014/15 finalists Grand Canaria and the French Nanterre.
This season will not feature Fraport Skyliners who have withdrawn from the competition and were replaced by Dolomiti Energia Trento, as well as Maccabi Rishon LeZion who have decided not to participate at 7DAYS EuroCup due to logistical difficulties and got replaced by Mornar Bar.
Tennis
The upcoming week will feature the final stages of the 2020 French Open for both men and women. As the second Grand Slam of the year, the French Open will see some of the best tennis players from all over the globe fighting for the prestigious title in the 124th edition of the competition.
The exact dates of next weekend’s matches are still unknown and will remain as such until Friday when the sixth day of the competition is scheduled to take place. The tournament will run throughout the entirety of next week and conclude on Sunday, October 11.
Cricket
Next week will begin with the second round of women’s One Day International tournament between the Australian and New Zealand women’s cricket teams, who will have already played their first match on Saturday, October 3.
Besides the One Day International, cricket fans will also get to follow the continuation of the Indian Premier League which has nine fixtures scheduled to take place each day of the week. As it stands now Delhi Capitals, Kolkata Knight Riders, Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bangalore are sitting in a four-way tie with a 2-1 record next to their name, which should make for an interesting week of competition with the top dogs looking to break away from the pack and start paving their way into the playoffs.
Snooker
The second Snooker Championship League, also known as the BetVictor Championship League Snooker 2020 will continue on Monday, October 5, with the final fixtures of the first stage, featuring eight players who got seeded into groups 31 and 32. Playing next week will be some of the best snooker players in the world, however, all the spotlight will be on the six-time world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan, who will play his first game of the championship on Monday against Iulian Boiko.
Darts
Adding to the list of high-profile tournaments that are slated for next week, we have the 23rd iteration of Darts World Grand Prix, which is scheduled to begin on Tuesday, October 6 with the first round of the competition. Featuring only the top 32 players (top 16 on the PDC Order of Merit and top 16 non-qualified from the ProTour Order of Merit), the 2020 World Grand Prix will run for only seven days, with the grand finals scheduled for Monday, October 12.
A total of £450,000 will be on the line, with £110,000 reserved for the champion. The competition will take place at Ricoh Arena in Coventry England for the first time in history, and the first time since 2000 that the World Darts Grand Prix won’t be hosted at the Citywest Hotel, Dublin.
Cycling
After a spectacular and fairly unexpected finish of Tour de France, it’s hard to not be excited about the Giro d’Italia, which will begin on Saturday, October 3 and run throughout up until Sunday, October 25. From Monday to Sunday, we will get to see the world’s best cyclist battle through stages 4-9, which will see them travel from Catania to Roccaraso, (1,100 km).
Baseball
The Major League Baseball (MLB) is entering the final stages of the 2020 season with the first quarter-finals match between Tampa Bay Rays and New York Yankees scheduled for Monday, October 5, followed by the second and third game of the series for Tuesday and Wednesday.
As of today, the full schedule of quarter-finals is still a mystery, however, we do know we are in for a whole week of baseball action between eight of the best MLB teams who will be vying for one of four tickets leading into the semi-finals scheduled to begin on Sunday, October 11.
Horse Racing
Horse Racing has a plethora of races scheduled for each day of the week, which will be held at several locations, including USA, France, Ireland, Great Britain and Canada. The biggest and most prestigious horse racing event of next week, however, is the Dubai Future Champions which will take place on Friday, October 9, although behind closed doors.
If you wish to start betting on horse racing, check out our horse racing betting service, where we send daily predictions.
