Bristol Bears vs Sale Sharks

Kickoff: 7:45pm, Friday 2nd January

Venue: Ashton Gate

Watch on: TNT Sports

Key to the game: Can Sale save their season? After just 8 rounds of Prem rugby, the Sharks find themselves 11 points behind their opponents this week who sit in 4th place in the league. That makes this a must-win game for Alex Sanderson and his men up against a very tricky opposition. The real test for Sale will be their bench which is still light up front due to several long-term injuries. They'll have to hang tough in the second half in order to win this one. It's worth noting that Sale crushed Bristol 38-0 at Ashton Gate in this fixture last year, so there are some good memories for the away side to draw upon.

Team news

Bristol Bears

Starting XV

1.Ellis Genge 2.Gabriel Oghre 3.Lovejoy Chawatama 4.Pedro Rubiolo 5.Joe Owen

6.Santiago Grondona 7.Fitz Harding 8.Viliame Mata 9.Harry Randall 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.Max Lahiff 18.George Kloska 19.George Taylor

20.Benjamin Grondona 21.Kieran Marmion 22.Sam Worsley 23.Noah Heward

Sale Sharks

Starting XV

1.Bevan Rodd 2.Luke Cowan-Dickie 3.James Harper 4.Ben Bamber 5.Ernst van Rhyn(C)

6.Jacques Vermeulen 7.Sam Dugdale 8.Tom Curry 9.Raffi Quirke 10.George Ford

11.Alex Wills 12.Rekeiti Ma'asi-White13.Rob du Preez 14.Tom O'Flaherty 15.Joe Carpenter

Bench

16.Nathan Jibulu 17.Simon Mcintyre 18.Patreece Bell 19.Tom Burrow

20.Jos Gilmore 21.Gus Warr 22.Marius Louw 23.Gurswin Wehr

Newcastle Red Bulls vs Gloucester

Kickoff: 7:45pm, Friday 2nd January

Venue: Kingston Park

Watch on: Discovery Plus

Key to the game: Can Ross Byrne finally figure things out at fly-half? Replacing Gareth Anscombe was never going to be easy, but Gloucester seemed to have figured things out with the splash signing of Leinster fly-half Ross Byrne. Unfortunately, he has struggled to acclimatise which has led to growing calls for him to be dropped in place of Charlie Atkinson. As it is, George Skivington has stuck with his man and kept Atkinson at fullback. This is a big game for both teams so the Irishman will have to be at the top of his game.

Team news

Newcastle Red Bulls

Starting XV

1.Murray McCallum 2.George McGuigan 3.Richard Palframan 4.Oscar Usher 5.Jamie Hodgson

6.Tom Gordon 7.Tom Christie 8.Ollie Leatherbarrow 9.Simon Benitez Cruz 10.Brett Connon

11.Elliot Obatoyinbo 12.Sammy Arnold 13.Alex Hearle 14.Christian Wade 15.Ethan Grayson

Bench

16.Ollie Fletcher 17.Connor Hancock 18.Luan de Bruin 19.Finn Baker

20.Amanaki Mafi 21.James Elliott 22.Boeta Chamberlain 23.Oli Spencer

Gloucester

Starting XV

1.Val Rapava Ruskin 2.Will Crane 3.Afo Fasogbon 4.Freddie Thomas 5.Arthur Clark(C)

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

11.Ollie Thorley 12.Seb Atkinson 13.Will Knight 14.Jack Cotgreave 15.Charlie Atkinson

Bench

16.George Knowles 17.Ciaran Knight 18.Jamal Ford-Robinson 19.Cam Jordan

20.James Venter 21.Mikey Austin 22.George Barton 23.Josh Hathaway

Bath vs Exeter Chiefs

Kickoff: 3:05pm, Saturday 3rd January

Venue: The Recreation Ground

Watch on: TNT Sports 1

Key to the game: Can Exeter live with Bath's pedigree? The Chiefs have catapulted themselves up the Prem table and now find themselves 2nd in the table and a point ahead of 3rd-place Bath. The latter of those teams was expected to be where they are whereas Exeter are having a surprisingly good start to the season. Both of these teams have: 6 wins, 1 draw and 1 defeat. This is an intriguing test for the away side.

Team news

Bath

Starting XV

1.Beno Obano 2.Tom Dunn 3.Vilikesa Sela 4.Enoch Opoku-Gyamfi 5.Ross Molony

6.Ted Hill 7.Guy Pepper 8.Alfie Barbeary 9.Ben Spencer(C) 10.Finn Russell

11.Will Muir 12.Cameron Redpath 13.Ollie Lawrence 14.Henry Arundell 15.Santi Carreras

Bench

16.Kepu Tuipulotu 17.Scott Kirk 18.Thomas du Toit 19.Quinn Roux

20.Sam Underhill 21.Tom Carr-Smith 22.Louie Hennessey 23.Arthur Green

Exeter Chiefs

Starting XV

1.Scott Sio 2.Joseph Dweba 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.Will Rigg 13.Henry Slade 14.Immanuel Feyi-Waboso 15.Olly Woodburn

Bench

16.Jack Yeandle 17.Will Goodrick-Clarke 18.Jimmy Roots 19.Rusi Tuima

20.Kane James 21.Charlie Chapman 22.Will Haydon-Wood 23.Dan John

Northampton Saints vs Harlequins

Kickoff: 5:30pm, Saturday 3rd January

Venue: Cinch Stadium at Franklin's Gardens

Watch on: TNT Sports 1

Key to the game: Can Marcus Smith find his magic against Fin Smith? 2 of England's fly-half options will do battle on Saturday afternoon and find themselves in very different positions. Fin has had a superb start to the season which has been aided by the likes of Anthony Belleau stepping up in his absence at the beginning of the season. Marcus, however, has had no such luck and his form hasn't helped the situation either. The Harlequins fly-half is capable of winning a game single-handedly at any point, but he will have a tough time doing so enough this season to avoid another year of mediocrity. 

Team news

Northampton Saints

Starting XV

1.Danilo Fischetti 2.Robbie Smith 3.Elliot Millar Mills 4.Alex Coles 5.JJ Van Der Mescht

6.Josh Kemeny 7.Tom Pearson 8.Callum Chick 9.Alex Mitchell 10.Fin Smith 

11.James Ramm 12.Fraser Dingwall(C) 13.Tommy Freeman 14.Edoardo Todaro 15.George Hendy

Bench

16.Craig Wright 17.Oliver Scola 18.Cleopas Kundiona 19.Ed Prowse

20.Sam Graham 21.Archie McParland 22.Anthony Belleau 23.Rory Hutchinson

Harlequins

Starting XV
1.Will Hobson 2.George Turner 3.Harry Williams 4.Guido Petti 5.Kieran Treadwell

6.Chandler Cunningham-South 7.Jack Kenningham 8.Alex Dombrandt 9.Lucas Friday 10.Marcus Smith

11.Cassius Cleaves 12.Jarrod Evans 13.Luke Northmore 14.Rodrigo Isgro 15.Nick David

Bench

16.Sam Riley 17.Simon Kerrod 18.Pedro Delgado 19.Elliot Williams

20.Joe Launchbury 21.Zach Carr 22.Will Porter 23.Bryn Bradley

Leicester Tigers vs Saracens

Kickoff: 3pm, Sunday 4th January

Venue: Mattioli Woods Welford Road

Watch on: TNT Sports 1

Key to the game: Can Leicester cope with the Saracens pack? Saracens will go into this game with the likes of Rhys Carre, Theo McFarland, Ben Earl and Tom Willis all in the starting XV. They also have Itoje and Gonzalez waiting on the bench to take control of the game in the second half. Leicester will have to rely on Ollie Chessum and some, still impressive, less highly-rated players. The Tigers will have to ensure that they don't get overrun in the physical battle if they are to win this game.

Team news

Leicester Tigers

Starting XV
1.Nicky Smith 2.Jamie Blamire 3.Joe Heyes 4.Cameron Henderson 5.Ollie Chessum(C)

6.James Thompson 7.Sam Williams 8.Olly Cracknell 9.Jack van Poortvliet 10.Billy Searle

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

Bench

16.Charlie Clare 17.Tarek Haffar 18.Will Hurd 19.Emeka ilione

20.Joaquin Moro 21.Ollie Allan 22.Will Wand 23.Gabriel Hamer-Webb

Saracens

Starting XV

1.Rhys Carre 2.Jamie George 3.Marco Riccioni 4.Nick Isiekwe 5.Hugh Tizard

6.Theo McFarland 7.Ben Earl 8.Tom Willis 9.Ivan van Zyl(C) 10.Fergus Burke

11.Max Malins 12.Nick Tompkins 13.Lucio Cinti 14.Rotimi Segun 15.Elliot Daly

Bench

16.Theo Dan 17.Eroni Mawi 18.Marcus Street 19.Maro Itoje

20.Juan Martin Gonzalez 21.Andy Onyeama-Christie 22.Charlie Bracken 23.Alex Lozowski