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Blaine Roberts-McNally
Sports Reporter
9:41 AM 27th January 2025
sports

Sport: What's On This Week? January 27th - 31st, 2025

And just like that, the first month of 2025 comes to an end this week. We have seen excitement in a whole host of sports thus far and the fun does not stop as we say goodbye to January. Here’s to hoping the rest of the year maintains the same relentless fixture schedule and that you can enjoy the final week of the month engrossing yourself in some sporting dramas like these…

Monday 27th January: Burnley v Leeds, 20:00pm

The week kicks off with a six pointer and potentially one of the most important fixtures in the race for automatic promotion with Burnley sitting three points and two places behind league leaders Leeds. Both have managed to return from crushing setbacks last year; for the Clarets, the task was how to row back from relegation and the loss of manager Vincent Kompany to Bayern, and for Leeds, how to go one better this season following the crushing defeat to Southampton in the playoff final last year.

Although they sit in the bottom two of the current four horse race for automatics, The Clarets have proven themselves worthy against their running mates. With a 1-0 win at Elland Road in the reverse fixture earlier on in the season proving to be an impressive feat, considering The Whites have the best home record in the league.

In fact, their only home loss this season was that Burnley defeat. Since then, The Whites have only gone on to lose two matches in the league, both being away from home which could spell bad news for Farke’s side.

However, Leeds are top for a reason and have hit somewhat of a good patch - not conceding in the previous three fixtures is a healthy sign, and they will be hoping to take that momentum into this match, where they have the possibility to capitalise on Sunderland’s draw at Plymouth and Sheffield United’s shock thrashing at the hands of Hull.

With the play-off final fresh in the memories of the Leeds players and fans, the club will need to take chances like these to avoid another heart break at Wembley, and get the job done earlier this campaign with automatic promotion.

Date: 27/01/2025
Time: 20:00pm
Venue: Turf Moor, Burnley

The match will be shown on Sky Sports Football, Sky Sports Main Event

Tuesday 28th January: Huddersfield v Birmingham, 20:00pm

We drop into League One now in the heat of another promotion race involving a Yorkshire club. Huddersfield’s relegation from the championship was the end of a tumultuous time for The Terriers, involving races for promotion and efforts to avoid the drop. Eventually succumbing to their poor form and being relegated, has given them a chance to reset, and as things stand they look poised to make a challenge for the playoffs or even the automatics.

Their automatic dreams may be faltering slightly, being seven points from second place Wycombe but they still remain firmly in fourth spot on 48 points, which is already a higher tally than they accrued over the whole of last season.

Although this is a respectable position, they are still under pressure to get over the line with them being the second highest spenders in the league this season in terms of transfer expenditure and payroll with an estimated £5.17M spent on new recruits.

That tally is only beaten by the behemoth of an expenditure laid out by Birmingham and their new Tom Brady backed wealth. They have smashed the League One spending record with a whopping estimated £35.46M spent. Unsurprisingly, following this spending The Blue’s find themselves top with only two losses so far.

Their position remains precarious with Wycombe breathing down their necks, but with the second best away and home records, and a squad boasting in-form players such as nine million pound man Jay Stansfield and Scotland international Lyndon Dykes, their time in the Third division looks to be short lived barring a disastrous second half of the season.

Huddersfield will be no pushovers though, and do have their own stars that they hope will shine against the leaders. In particular, midfield maestro Ben Wiles, who has been racking up goal involvements with four assists and six goals in the league, as well as striker Dion Charles who has seven goals and three assists (albeit for Bolton before signing for The Terriers in this transfer window).

All signs lead to a high-scoring dramatic affair, with two of the best teams going toe to toe to help shape the promotion landscape, but when these matches come along, they do not usually end up as expected, so get ready for a scoreless draw…

Date: 28/01/2025
Time: 20:00pm
Venue: John Smith Stadium, Stadium Way, Huddersfield, HD1 6PG

Tickets can be purchased here.

The match will be shown on Sky Go, Sky Sports Football, Sky Sports+

Photo: Tim Bastian
Photo: Tim Bastian
Thursday 30th January: PDC World Masters, Luke Humphries v Joe Cullen

The country has been gripped by the darts over the Christmas period with the PDC World Championships serving excitement, and the continuation of the already impressive exploits of winner Luke Littler.

The darts calendar has only ramped up since the 17 year old’s famous victory. January alone has already seen two more champions crowned with Stephen Bunting lifting the trophy at the Bahrain Darts Masters before narrowly missing out on back-to-back championships at the Dutch masters, where he was beaten by Rob Cross in the final last week.

One man hoping to get back to winning ways in 2025 is Luke Humphries. The 2024 world champion and world number one was in the form of his life last year, winning seven titles and cruising past greats of the game. His form so far in the new year has been hit and miss; a respectable semi-final exit in Bahrain to eventual champion Bunting is nothing to be ashamed of, but a 6-3 first round bow to Jermaine Wattimena in Den Bosch at the Dutch Masters leaves much to be desired from the world number one.

Joe Cullen stands in the way of Humphries’ redemption, but the 23rd ranked ten-time ranking PDC title winner has some redemption to complete himself, following his 4-3 loss to Gerwyn Price in the last sixteen of the World Championships. Cullen has had significantly more time away from the oche than Humphries as he did not compete in any of the championships this month. This could prove to be a stumbling block against a more practiced and potentially in rhythm Humphries, but Cullen will be hoping that this first round exit is still playing on Cool Hand’s mind.

Date: 30/01/2025
Time: 19:00pm
Venue: Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes

The match will be shown on PDC TV

Friday 31st January: France v Wales, Six Nations 20:15pm

The end of the month signals the start of the 2025 Six Nations, and it kicks off with last year’s runner up and bottom side facing off. Wales failed to win a single match at the last Six Nations, including being soundly beaten by eventual champions Ireland 31-7, and their opponents in this year’s opener France, 24-45.

The Dragons only won a single match in 2024, a 36-35 win over Queensland Reds in July that put an end to an eight-match losing streak. The remainder of the year was marred with losses to Fiji, Australia and South Africa. With this being the first fixture of the year, it would do the world of good for the Welshmen to get started on the right foot and stop the rot of 12 straight losses in test matches.

Les Bleus have had a much more positive time of late, picking up wins against Argentina, New Zealand and Japan in the Autumn Nations series, meaning they will be full of confidence as their attempt to knock Ireland off their Six Nations throne gets underway.

If the new year is to bring a new version of Warren Gatland’s Wales, it will be put to the greatest of tests against an Anton Dupont fronted French side, fuelled by a desire to take home the trophy and a cascade of French fanatics behind them at the Stade de France.

Date: 31/01/2025
Time: 20:15pm
Venue: Stade de France, Paris

The match will be shown on ITV 1, ITV X