Our Picks: European leagues back with a bang and AFCON kicks off
Major leagues including the Netherlands' Eredivisie and Liga Portugal return to action, while Italy's Serie A and Spain's La Liga continue to warm up after restarting earlier in the week.
The Africa Cup of Nations also kicks off with plenty of familiar faces in action for their countries.
Take a look at the matches Flashscore UK's editors have picked out for your pleasure:
Milan v Roma - Ste Carson
Off the back of two disappointing defeats – perhaps more frustrating for this weekend's visitors, beaten by bitter rivals Lazio in the Coppa Italia – both sides will be raring to go at the San Siro.
Milan, however, are also now out of Italy's premier cup competition, seen off by two come-back goals against Atalanta.
The hosts find themselves seven points adrift from second-placed Juventus and nine points behind leaders and city rivals Inter – a win is a must, should the Rossoneri continue to cling onto a Scudetto charge.
Roma, a team experiencing a mixed run of form lately, are floundering in eighth place and are at risk of dropping into Serie A's top 10 if Jose Mourinho is unable to turn their fortunes around.
Speaking of league form, ignoring their Coppa Italia capitulation, Milan have won three of their last five matches, whereas the Giallorossi have, confusingly, won just one of their last five matches – I say 'confusingly' as their one victory was against champions Napoli while they dropped points against Bologna and the aforementioned Atalanta.
Former Chelsea strikers Olivier Giroud (nine goals, five assists) and Romelu Lukaku (eight goals, one assist) are among Serie A's highest goal-scorers and will be the ones to keep an eye on.
Additionally, Christian Pulisic and Paulo Dybala are proving to be quite the creative goal-getters themselves this term – with both players on 11 goal contributions each.
Milan (35 goals) and Roma (31 goals) are two of Serie A's highest-scoring outfits this season, so with recent pitfalls in the Coppa Italia still large in the rear-view mirror, there's sure to be goals.
The home form of the Rossoneri is something to be mentioned.
They have often struggled to break down defences even on home turf this year, but have often found a way to grind out low-scoring results.
Athletic Bilbao v Real Sociedad - Joel Barnett
It has already been an incredible season for Athletic Bilbao, but can it reach new heights with a win over fierce rivals Real Sociedad in the Basque derby on Saturday?
Athletic go in to the match on a thrilling 12-game unbeaten run across all competitions - a stretch that has seen them into the last 16 of the Copa Del Rey and up to fourth in La Liga - with stirring wins over Las Palmas, Celta Vigo and Atletico Madrid.
Even better, the Lions have won their last four games without conceding. Should they keep another clean sheet on Saturday, it will be the first time they have done so in four consecutive league games for the first time in over 35 years.
Manager Ernesto Valverde was awarded the division’s Manager of the Month for December for their sensational form - they remain unbeaten since their first game of the season against Real Madrid - but how long will the party last? Real Sociedad will need no invitation to burst their bubble at the San Mamés.
The White and Blues go into the match two places behind Athletic in sixth and with a chance to close the gap on the Champions League places to just three points.
With tricky fixtures against Girona and a Champions League showdown with PSG on the horizon, now could be the perfect time for Sociedad to create history of their own and win back-to-back matches against their fierce rivals for only the third time in their history.
Sociedad are on a nine-game unbeaten run in La Liga and have one of the best defensive records away from home in the division, but how much will they miss Take Kubo - and Athletic rue Inaki Williams’ absence - who are both away on international duty?
Twente v AZ Alkmaar - Brad Ferguson
With just a point separating them in the Eredivisie, the Dutch top division's third and fourth-placed sides duke it out in the standout match upon the league's return from its winter break.
Hosts Twente were on a fine run of form before hunkering down for Christmas, with their solitary loss in their last 11 league games coming at the hands of the unstoppable force that is table-topping PSV, and Twente played the bulk of the match with 10 men after young defender Mees Hilgers was sent off after just 25 minutes.
That 3-0 defeat aside - and frankly, who hasn't lost to PSV this season - things are looking bright for The Tukkers.
Sitting pretty in third and just four points of Feyenoord in second, their somewhat unexpected dreams of Europa League or Champions League football are very much within grasp and they're one of the teams to have truly capitalised on Ajax's disappointing start to the season.
Twente coach Joseph Oosting has been getting the best out of experienced former Norwich striker Ricky van Wolfswinkel, who's racked up seven goals in 16 league appearances this campaign, whilst 22-year Sem Steijn has been catching the eye of Europe's top clubs ahead of the January transfer window with some big performances in the number 10 role - leading the scoring tally for his side with 10 finishes.
Looking to stop Twente in their tracks will be one of the best defences in the Eredivisie.
AZ Alkmaar are hot on their opponent's tails in the league table, just a point behind in fourth but with a slightly healthier goal difference.
Their recent form ahead of the break was slightly ropier, culminating in a group stage exit from the Europa Conference League and a 4-0 home thumping against - you guessed it - PSV, but those results aside, Pascal Jansen will be happy with the way things are generally going domestically.
AZ will be looking to their Greek God Vangelis Pavlidis, who has monstered the Dutch goalscoring charts this season with an impressive 18 goals in 16 appearances.
His club will be hoping they can fend off interest from the likes of Chelsea and Fulham until at least the end of the season, such is his importance to their charge towards the European places, with no other player in the squad registering any more than three times.
Yet despite only conceding 14 goals in the league all season, AZ have failed to keep a clean sheet in their last six outings, while Twente have conceded in each of their last eight - so unless Santa has brought a marked improvement in defending over the festive period, expect some goals in this one.
Porto v Braga - Anthony Paphitis
The standout fixture in Portugal this weekend sees Porto come up against Braga with both sides lingering on the fringes of the title race picture.
Both teams sit in third and fourth respectively, but a win for hosts Porto could take them within a point of leaders Benfica - providing results fall their way.
It's been a solid first half of the campaign so far for Sergio Conceicao's team. However, they came away from their last Liga Portugal game frustrated after being held at Boavista, despite dominating proceedings.
Porto haven't set the world alight offensively, but have still extracted good performances from forward talents Mehdi Taremi and Evanilson, while Canadian Stephan Eustaquio has shone from midfield.
They will have to do without Taremi, who is away on international duty with Iran, which is something visitors Braga will not mind at all.
The current leading scorers in the division, Porto should be wary of the damage Braga can cause them.
Ricardo Horta is capable of producing, but their front line will be dampened by the absence of Simon Banza - the league's top scorer - who like Taremi is away with his country.
Braga were also frustrated in the league last time out, drawing at home to Vitoria de Guimaraes with their concession coming in the eighth minute of stoppage time.
With both sides looking to get back into the win column, it could very well be a free-scoring affair and one that could go either way.
Nigeria v Equatorial Guinea - Ali Pollock
The African Cup of Nations gets underway this weekend, with Nigeria in action on Sunday against Equatorial Guinea in Group A.
Nigeria have won the tournament three times since its inception in 1957 but haven’t tasted success in over a decade – last winning the competition in 2013.
The Super Eagles have a strong squad going into the 2024 AFCON – boasting the likes of Victor Osimhen, Alex Iwobi and Kelechi Iheanacho – and will be hoping to get off to a good start against Equatorial Guinea.
Injuries to players like Victor Boniface and Wilfred Ndidi, though, do cast some doubt over their chances.
Their opponents have far fewer recognisable names in their ranks, with only Huddersfield Town defender Charles Ondo and former Middlesbrough forward Emiliano Nsue sticking out.
Despite the differences in quality between the two squads, Equatorial Guinea are in better form going into the tournament having won five and drawn five of their last 10 games.
Nigeria have won four, drawn three and lost three of their previous 10 including a poor 2-0 defeat to Guinea (not to be confused with Equatorial Guinea) in their last outing.
In a direct head-to-head, however, the Super Eagles have fared much better and won all three encounters.
Expectations are high for the three-time champions heading into the tournament and they will be able to squash any nerves with a convincing win on Sunday.
