Friday

Seven great matches to take you over the long New Year weekend. It's the Sound of Football Weekend Boxset.

All times shown are GMT.

Friday

Scottish Premiership: Hearts v Aberdeen

19.45 on BT Sport 2 (US: Fox Soccer Plus)
This is the last round of fixtures before the Scottish Premiership takes a three week winter break. A comfortable home win over Kilmarnock came as a welcome relief for new Hearts boss, 30 year old Ian Cathro. Their first League games after the break will be against Celtic and Rangers, so they'll need to put in a strong performance against third placed Aberdeen.

New Year's Eve

Scottish Premiership: Rangers v Celtic

12.15 on Sky Sports 1 (US: FS1)
The last time these two teams met at Ibrox was 25 March 2012. Rangers won that game 3-2, Celtic having two players sent off. The victory stopped Celtic from winning the title on their Old Firm rival's home ground. Celtic recovered and took the title two weeks later with five games to go. Rangers would finish second but face liquidation in the summer. Victory for Brendan Rodger's Celtic here will see them go into the break with a 17 point lead and notch their 15th straight win in the league.

Premier League: Liverpool v Manchester City

17.30 on BT Sport 1 (US: NBC)
What a way to prepare for the New Year festivities with two of the most exciting teams in the Premier League at the moment. When Klopp and Guardiola clashed in the Bundesliga, it was Pep who had the upper hand; Klopp's only league success coming after Bayern had already lifted the title. Of course both will say this is like any other game, but hey, come on, narrative.

New Year's Day

Premier League: Watford v Tottenham Hotspur

13.30 on Sky Sports 1 (US: NBCSN)
For the second season in a row, Watford finish the first half of the campaign at home to Spurs. 12 months ago, Heung-Min Son's last minute winner against 10 man Watford started a worrying slide for the Hornets. Of course all eyes will be on Watford mascot Harry the Hornet who did his own worrying slide on Boxing Day as a post-match trolling of Crystal Palace's Wilf Zaha.

Premier League: Arsenal v Crystal Palace

16.00 on Sky Sports 1 (US: NBCSN)
Who can say how much business Big Sam will have completed by the time this match kicks off. Rumour has it that Arsenal's Keiran Gibbs is on the new Palace boss's radar along with Jermain Defoe. For Allardyce, an away trip to Arsenal could be the perfect start to his transfer window - no one expects him to take anything from the game but it will allow him to point out where the club needs investment. For Arsenal, their end of year slump has been looming for a while; they had been winning games with very few chances and that kind of luck doesn't last forever. If (and it's a very big if) Palace can limit the Gunners' chances they might be able to snatch something here.

Monday

Championship: Blackburn Rovers v Newcastle United

15.00 on Sky Sports 1
Boxing Day defeat to Barnsley was Rover's fourth loss in a row and keeps Owen Coyle's side in the relegation positions. Unlike the other teams down there, Blackburn can beat good sides - including today's opponents at St James's Park just over a month ago. Rafa's men continue to slip up just when they look at their best but will be desperate to retake top spot from Brighton.

Premier League: West Ham v Manchester Utd

17.15 on Sky Sports 1 (US: NBCSN)
Jose's side are in their best form all season, everything's fine at Old Trafford now, right? Right? It's difficult to predict what sort of game this will be but if you're looking for an appetiser before the PDC darts final, you won't go far wrong with this one.

Whatever you watch, happy new year!

Graham