Leicester Tigers vs Gloucester

Kickoff: 7:45pm, Friday 19th December

Venue: Mattioli Woods Welford Road

Watch on: TNT Sports 1

Key to the game: Can Gloucester find their mojo? There have been some back-room changes in Gloucester since their last Prem game with the decision to bring in a new director of rugby and move George Skivington back to the role of head coach. They are still yet to really get going this season but do now have some big players back in the side and are surely ready to earn a win. Leicester have been good overall, but have also been very inconsistent so this game is huge for Gloucester to kickstart their season before Christmas.

Team news

Leicester Tigers

Starting XV

1.Nicky Smith 2.Jamie Blamire 3.Joe Heyes 4.Cameron Henderson 5.Harry Wells

6.James Thompson 7.Tommy Reffell(C) 8.Joaquin Moro 9.Tom Whiteley 10.Billy Searle

11.Ollie Hassell-Collins 12.Solomone Kata 13.Izaia Perese 14.Adam Radwan 15.Freddie Steward

Bench

16.Charlie Clare 17.Tarek Haffar 18.Will Hurd 19.Ollie Chessum

20.Sam Williams 21.Jack van Poortvliet 22.Orlando Bailey 23.Joseph Woodward

Gloucester

Starting XV

1.Val Rapava-Ruskin 2.Seb Blake 3.Nepo Laulala 4.Freddie Thomas 5.Arthur Clark

6.Josh Basham 7.Lewis Ludlow 8.Jack Clement 9.Tomos Williams(C) 10.Ross Byrne

11.Ollie Thorley 12.Seb Atkinson 13.Will Butler 14.Rob Russell 15.Charlie Atkinson

Bench

16.Jack Innard 17.Jamal Ford-Robinson 18.Afo Fasogbon 19.Cam Jordan

20.Harry Taylor 21.Mikey Austin 22.Will Knight 23.Josh Hathaway

Northampton Saints vs Sale Sharks

Kickoff: 3pm Saturday 20th December

Venue: Cinch Stadium at Franklin's Gardens

Watch on: TNT Sports

Key to the game: Can Sale cope with some big absences? Northampton started this season missing almost an entire XV for several weeks due to a combination of Lions being rested and general injuries. Now it seems like they are relatively healthy and Sale are struggling with fitness. This has been a particular problem for the Sharks due to their lack of overall depth that has caused several players to have to start out of position. In this game Ernst Van Rhyn, who is playing in the back row, and Arron Reed, who is starting at fullback, will have their work cut out for them. Sale are also without the likes of: George Ford, Ben Curry Asher Opoku-Fordjour, Joe Carpenter, and Tom Roebuck. The Saints, meanwhile, have George Furbank and George Hendy back as well as some others which puts them in pole position to emerge victorious from this one.

Team news

Northampton Saints

Starting XV
1.Emmanuel Iyogun 2.Craig Wright 3.Trevor Davison 4.Alex Coles 5.JJ van der Mescht

6.Josh Kemeny 7.Tom Pearson 8.Henry Pollock 9.Alex Mitchell 10.Fin Smith

11.Edoardo Todaro 12.Fraser Dingwall 13.Toby Thame 14.George Hendy 15.George Furbank(C)

Bench

16.Robbie Smith 17.Danilo FIschetti 18.Cleopas Kundiona 19.Chunya Munga

20.Callum Chick 21.Tom James 22.Tommy Freeman 23.Ollie Sleightholme

Sale Sharks

Starting XV

1.Si McIntyre 2.Luke Cowan-DIckie 3.Willgriff John 4.Tom Burrow 5.Ben Bamber

6.Jacques Vermeulen 7.Ernst van Rhyn(C) 8.Tom Curry 9.Raffi Quirke 10.Rob du Preez

11.Alex Wills 12.Marius Louw 13.Joe Bedlow 14.Tom O'Flaherty 15.Arron Reed

Bench

16.Nathan Jibulu 17.Tumy Onasanya 18.James Harper 19.Hyron Andrews

20.Dan du Preez 21.Gus Warr 22.Ollie Davies 23.Tristan Woodman

Saracens vs Exeter Chiefs

Kickoff: 3pm Saturday 20th December

Venue: StoneX Stadium

Watch on: Discovery plus

Key to the game: Can Harvey Skinner keep up his good form? There were a lot of questions surrounding the fly-half position in Exeter going into this season but it seems like Harvey Skinner is finally turning into the kind of fly-half that Exeter hoped he would be. Going up against Owen Farrell in a head-to-head battle presents a very real challenge for the developing 10.

Team news

Saracens

Starting XV
1.Rhys Carre 2.Theo Dan 3.Marcus Street 4.Nick Isiekwe 5.Hugh Tizard

6.Juan Martin Gonzalez 7.Ben Earl 8.Tom Willis 9.Ivan van Zyl 10.Owen Farrell

11.Max Malins 12.Nick Tompkins 13.Lucio Cinti 14.Noah Caluori 15.Elliot Daly

Bench

16.Jamie George 17.Eroni Mawi 18.Marco Riccioni 19.Harry Wilson

20.Andy Onyeama-Christie 21.Charlie Bracken 22.Fergus Burke 23.Rotimi Segun

Exeter Chiefs

Starting XV
1.Will Goodrick-Clarke 2.Jack Yeandle 3.Bachuki Tchumbadze 4.Dafydd Jenkins(C) 5.Andrea Zambonin

6.Tom Hooper 7.Ethan Roots 8.Greg Fisilau 9.Stephen Varney 10.Harvey Skinner

11.Campbell Ridl 12.Len Ikitau 13.Henry Slade 14.Immanuel Feyi-Waboso 15.Olly Woodburn

Bench

16.Julian Heaven 17.Scott Sio 18.Jimmy Roots 19.Lewis Pearson

20.Kane James 21.Charlie Chapman 22.Will Haydon-Woods 23.Will Rigg

Harlequins vs Bristol Bears

Kickoff: 6pm Saturday 20th December

Venue: Allianz Stadium

Watch on: TNT Sports

Key to the game: Can Marcus Smith find his best form? For all of their collective efforts, the fate of Harlequins is determined by Marcus Smith alone. If he continues to be inconsistent from game-to-game, Harlequins will go nowhere. This is the first opportunity for Smith to make his mark after the European break and he will be highly motivated by playing in front of a huge crowd at the Allianz Stadium. This has the makings of a Marcus Smith masterclass. If that happens, the Bears are in trouble.

Team news

Harlequins

Starting XV

1.Fin Baxter 2.Jack Walker 3.Harry Williams 4.Guido Petti 5.Kieran Treadwell

6.Zach Carter 7.Jack Kenningham 8.Chandler Cunningham-South 9.Will Porter 10.Marcus Smith

11.Cadan Murley 12.Luke Northmore 13.Oscar Beard 14.Cassisus Cleaves 15.Nick David

Bench

16.Sam Riley 17.Will Hobson 18.Pedro Delgado 19.Joe Launchbury

20.Will Evans 21.Lucas Friday 22.Ben Waghorn 23.Rodrigo Isgro

Bristol Bears

Starting XV
1.Ellis Genge 2.Gabriel Oghre 3.Lovejoy Chawatama 4.Pedro Rubiolo 5.Joe Batley

6.Joe Owen 7.Santiago Grondona 8.Fitz Harding 9.Kieran Marmion 10.Tom Jordan

11.Kalaveti Ravouvou 12.James Williams 13.Bernhard Janse van Rensburg 14.Aidan Boshoff 15.Louis Rees-Zammit

Bench

16.Harry Thacker 17.Jake Woolmore 18.George Kloska 19.George Taylor

20.Benjamin Grondona 21.Harry Randall 22.Sam Worsley 23.Noah Heward

Newcastle Red Bulls vs Bath

Kickoff: 3pm, Sunday 21st December

Venue: Kingston Park

Watch on: TNT Sports

Key to the game: Can Newcastle continue their European form? The Red Bulls won both of their Challenge Cup matches, registering wins over the Lions and Lyon. This group is gelling well and will be targeting a game against a rotated Bath team to get their inaugural league win this season.

Team news

Newcastle Red Bulls

Starting XV
1.Adam Brocklebank 2.George McGuigan(C) 3.Murray McCallum 4.Oscar Usher 5.Sebastian de Chaves

6.Ollie Leatherbarrow 7.Tom Christie 8.Amanaki Mafi 9.Simon Benitez-Cruz 10.Brett Connon

11.Elliott Obatoyinbo 12.Sammy Arnold 13.Alex Hearle 14.Oli Spencer 15.Ethan Grayson 

Bench

16.Ollie Fletcher 17.Connor Hancock 18.Richard Palframan 19.Finn Baker

20.Tom Gordon 21.James Elliott 22.Boeta Chamberlain 23.Mex Clark

Bath

Starting XV
1.Francois van Wyk 2.Dan Frost 3.Archie Griffin 4.Ewan Richards 5.Ross Molony 

6.Josh Bayliss 7.Ethan Staddon 8.Miles Reid(C) 9.Tom Carr-Smith 10.Santi Carreras

11.Louie Hennessey 12.Will Butt 13.Chris Harris 14.Joe Cokanasiga 15.Tom de Glanville

Bench

16.Tom Dunn 17.Beno Obano 18.Thomas du Toit 19.Ted Hill 

20.Sam Underhill 21.Ben Spencer 22.Cameron Redpath 23.Alfie Barbeary