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Nations League football, the Champions League's return, rugby league's Grand Finals and World Cup, three NFL games in London and the MLB postseason.
A weekend-by-weekend guide to the biggest fixtures of October 2026, with the newest weekend at the top. Each weekend is added as its fixtures are confirmed, with kick-off times in UK time.
Comparing where to follow it all? Our guide to the best UK betting sites sets out offers, markets and key terms side by side.
Looking for earlier fixtures? See September's weekend line-up.
Fixtures and kick-off times (UK time) are correct when each weekend is added, but can change. This page is for information only and is not betting advice. 18+ only. If gambling stops being fun, free support is available at BeGambleAware.org.
Premier League Matchday 7, the Rugby League World Cup opening round, NFL Week 6 at Wembley, the NBA preseason finale and ice hockey in three leagues.
Some fixtures carry more weight than others, and the weekend of 16–18 October has several. Leeds host Manchester United at Elland Road and Brighton and Crystal Palace meet in the M23 derby, with Champions League Matchday 3 straight after on Tuesday 20 and Wednesday 21 October.
In the NFL, the Cowboys visit the Packers on Sunday night and the Chargers travel to Kansas City, while the Rugby League World Cup gets going with Australia v New Zealand and England v Tonga.
Matchday 7 comes just before a European midweek, so for the English sides in the Champions League this is the first half of a two-game week. Arsenal play Nottingham Forest on Sunday, then Bayern Munich on Wednesday. Manchester United go to Leeds on Sunday before facing Como on Wednesday.
Liverpool meet Brentford on Saturday and Villarreal on Tuesday, Manchester City play Ipswich on Saturday and AEK Athens on Tuesday, and Aston Villa take on Newcastle on Saturday before Viking on Wednesday.
Saturday 17 October also has Everton v Chelsea and Fulham v Hull City. At 2pm on Sunday 18 October, Bournemouth host Sunderland and Brighton face Crystal Palace in the M23 derby. The round closes at 8pm on Monday 19 October, when Tottenham host Coventry City.
See how ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini call every game in our Premier League AI prediction battle.
The pick of Tuesday 20 October is PSG v Barcelona, alongside Napoli v Bodø/Glimt, Stuttgart v Atlético Madrid and Porto v PSV. On Wednesday 21 October, Real Madrid host RB Leipzig and Inter welcome Shakhtar Donetsk, with Bayern Munich v Arsenal on the same night.
Playzee Sport lists the weekend's Premier League, LaLiga, Serie A, Bundesliga and Ligue 1 games as well as Champions League Matchday 3. To compare it with other bookmakers, see our UK betting sites guide.
Ten nations are competing across Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea, and every match kicks off in the UK morning. The tournament opened on Thursday 15 October with Australia v New Zealand in Sydney.
Samoa v France follows on the Friday morning. Saturday 17 October brings Papua New Guinea v Lebanon in Port Moresby in the early hours and England v Tonga in Perth that morning (UK time). Fiji v Cook Islands in Newcastle on Sunday morning completes the opening round.
The format has changed. Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Cook Islands make up a standard four-team group, while England, Samoa, Lebanon, Tonga, France and PNG all count towards a single six-team table. Each side there plays three games and only the top two reach the semi-finals, so a strong opening result matters.
Jacksonville stayed in London after their game at Tottenham on 11 October. On Sunday 18 October they move across the city to Wembley to host the Houston Texans at 2:30pm, an AFC South divisional game with extra weight in the standings.
The week opens at 1:15am UK time on Friday 16 October with Seahawks at Broncos on Thursday Night Football. Sunday's 6pm window includes Ravens at Browns and Steelers at Buccaneers, and at 9:25pm the Chargers visit Kansas City for an AFC West meeting while the Bills travel to Las Vegas.
Sunday Night Football is Cowboys at Packers at Lambeau (1:20am UK on Monday 19 October), and Monday night has Washington at San Francisco. The Bengals, Lions, Dolphins and Vikings have their bye week.
Friday 16 October (US time) is the final night of the NBA preseason. Teams then have until 19 October to set their opening-night rosters, and the regular season starts on Tuesday 20 October.
The last warm-ups include Boston at Philadelphia, which puts Jaylen Brown up against his old club again, and Denver at the LA Lakers (3:30am UK on Saturday 17 October). From then on, every game counts.
For a game at a friendlier hour, New Jersey at Washington faces off at 6pm UK time on Saturday 17 October. Later that night the Rangers visit Columbus, and the Boston Bruins continue their California trip at Anaheim on the Friday and Los Angeles on the Saturday.
Finland's one-off 17-team season is well into its second month. The league drops to 14 clubs next season, so every point in the fight to stay out of the bottom three matters.
A full programme runs across both conferences, with games from early afternoon UK time.
From early-morning rugby league in Perth to a 1:20am finish at Lambeau, it's a weekend with very few quiet hours.
Premier League Matchday 6, NFL Week 5 from Tottenham, the MLB Championship Series, ice hockey in three leagues and the NBA preseason.
With the international break over, club football is back from Saturday lunchtime on 10 October. Premier League Matchday 6 builds towards Liverpool v Manchester City on the Sunday afternoon, with an evening game at Old Trafford along the way.
The sport carries on well past the final whistle at Anfield: the NFL returns to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, baseball's League Championship Series get under way in the US, and there's ice hockey from Finland to Florida plus NBA preseason games as the new season approaches.
Champions Arsenal open the round against Leeds United at 12:30pm. The 3pm group has something for everyone: Aston Villa v Brentford, Chelsea v Bournemouth, Ipswich Town v Fulham and Sunderland v Brighton.
The day ends at Old Trafford at 5:30pm, where Manchester United host Tottenham. It's an early test of how Roberto De Zerbi's Spurs cope with one of the league's toughest away trips, and a chance for United to set the tone for the weeks that follow.
Liverpool v Manchester City kicks off at Anfield at 4:30pm. It's the game of the round and one of the biggest of the autumn, and a point is unlikely to satisfy either side. See how ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini call it in our Premier League AI prediction battle.
All three newly promoted clubs are in action. Hull City host Everton at 2pm on Sunday 11 October, Coventry City welcome Newcastle United, and Ipswich face Fulham in Saturday's 3pm group. Crystal Palace v Nottingham Forest completes the matchday.
LaLiga, Serie A, the Bundesliga and Ligue 1 all resume after the break, with Barcelona starting as Spain's champions for the past two seasons. Full fixture lists for every league are on Playzee Sport, one of the bookmakers in our UK betting sites comparison.
The NFL Sunday on 11 October opens in north London at 2:30pm with Eagles v Jaguars at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Philadelphia have won the last five meetings, including a 2018 win at Wembley, and Jacksonville will want to show last season's playoff run was no one-off.
The 6pm window is busy, with Colts at Steelers, Texans at Titans and Raiders at Patriots among the games. At 9:25pm, Lions at Cardinals, Bears at Packers and 49ers at Seahawks all get going.
The Sunday night game, Ravens at Falcons, starts at 1:20am UK time on Monday 12 October. The Chiefs and Panthers have their bye week.
The Division Series wrap up, with any deciding Game 5s on Friday 9 and Saturday 10 October, leaving four teams chasing one World Series place in each league.
The National League Championship Series starts on the Sunday night (US time), followed by the American League Championship Series on Monday 12 October. Both are best-of-seven, and the World Series begins on 23 October. Series and game markets typically appear once the matchups are confirmed.
Liiga's one-off 17-team format makes for a longer, tighter season than usual, with three clubs relegated at the end of it. Jokerit are back after almost 12 years away, and Tappara, KooKoo and SaiPa are balancing league games with the Champions Hockey League, whose group stage ends on 14 October.
Stanley Cup holders Carolina are into the second week of the NHL's new 84-game season. Plenty of eyes are on the league's last two No. 1 draft picks, Matthew Schaefer and Gavin McKenna, as they settle in at this level.
A busy KHL schedule runs across both conferences, with games spread through the day.
Opening night is 20 October, and preseason is where teams start to see how their summer moves fit together. LeBron James now lines up in Philadelphia alongside Jaylen Brown and Joel Embiid, Jonathan Kuminga has moved to Minnesota, and champions New York build towards their first title defence since beating San Antonio in the Finals.
This year's preseason also takes in games in Canada and China, with markets on selected fixtures.
From the 12:30pm kick-off at the Emirates on Saturday to the early hours of Monday in Atlanta, there's live sport in almost every hour of the weekend.
Nations League Matchday 3, rugby league's Super League and NRL Grand Finals, the NFL in London, and F1 and MotoGP in Asia.
The first weekend of October falls in the international window, and Nations League Matchday 3 brings one of the stranger fixtures of the autumn: England's visit to Croatia goes ahead with no supporters, after UEFA sanctioned the Croatian federation.
Away from football, both rugby league Grand Finals land on the same weekend, the NFL's International Series returns to north London, and motorsport has a long-haul double-header with F1 in Malaysia and MotoGP in Japan.
Croatia v England kicks off at 5pm (UK time) on Saturday 3 October, in an empty stadium because of the UEFA sanction. The setting is unusual, but the stakes in Group A3 are not: Thomas Tuchel's side arrive on the back of wins over Spain and Czechia, and the match itself goes ahead as normal.
In Group C1, Finland host Albania, while France, Italy, Belgium and Türkiye are all in action across the international window. If you're weighing up where to follow the internationals, our UK betting sites guide compares what each bookmaker offers.
Saturday 3 October brings the Super League Grand Final at Old Trafford, where the champions of the British game are crowned. A day later, on Sunday 4 October, the NRL Grand Final settles the Australian season.
That's two titles decided in one weekend, with first try-scorer and winning-margin markets listed for both at Playzee Sport.
On Sunday 4 October the Indianapolis Colts face the Washington Commanders at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. It's the first of three NFL games in London during October, and a rare chance to watch live NFL on a UK Sunday afternoon instead of in the early hours.
Formula 1 heads to Sepang in Malaysia, which stands in as host of the relocated Bahrain Grand Prix, while MotoGP's Japanese round at Motegi runs over the same three days. It's a long-haul double-header for anyone following both championships, with race-winner and podium markets on both events.
Club football returns after the break with Premier League Matchday 6 on 10–11 October, when our AI prediction battle picks up again.
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