By Aaron Doyle

The Carlow senior hurlers continue their push for promotion when they take on London while David Haye takes on Tony Bellew in boxing. These are some of the sporting highlights this weekend.

1 Carlow v London
NHL Division 2A, Netwatch Cullen Park, Sunday

Carlow hurling manager Colm Bonnar will be hoping his team can get the better of London on Sunday

Carlow look to build on their unbeaten run when they take on London who are looking for their first win of the season.
Carlow won their opener against Westmeath in Mullingar before a home draw with Antrim which currently leaves them a point behind league leaders Kildare. In what has been a tight division so far, every point matters as Carlow look to return to Division 1B, having not played in the division since 2013.
London have not been having a good time of it this year, with a draw against Armagh being their only point this season. The Exiles lost to Antrim in their opener by seven points and will be doubly determined to repeat their big win last season against Carlow.
It is normally difficult to analyse a London side with their turnover of players every year but Stephen Bardon is one of their main men this year. He has scored 0-8 in their two league games so far with seven of those coming against Antrim. He is one of the two free specialists, alongside goalkeeper Eoin Kelly, and will look to punish any Carlow ill-discipline.
Colm Bonnar’s men will be looking to make it five points out of a possible six in the league with a win in this one. Throw-in is at 1pm.

2 David Haye v Tony Bellew
The O2 Arena, London, Saturday

David Haye is back in the ring against Tony Bellew

After months of talking, it is finally time for two of Britain’s best boxers to face off in what will hopefully be a fight to match the hype.
Former heavyweight champion of the world Haye will take on current WBC cruiserweight champion Bellew in his first ever fight as a heavyweight. Bellew won the belt back in May after he defeated Congolese fighter Ilunga Makabu in Goodison Park, while you have to go back to 2011 to when Haye was the champion before he lost the belt to Vladimir Klitschko.
Haye has only fought three times since then. He beat Dereck Chisora back in 2012 and fought twice after coming back from retirement in 2016, winning both. Bellew, on the other hand, has been slowly working through the cruiserweight division and he retained his title in his last fight last October when he beat American BJ Flores with a third round knockout.
Both men have similar records with Bellew having one more fight than Haye in his professional career. Haye has more knockouts than Bellew with 26 of his 28 wins ended before the final bell. While Bellew may not have won as many fights by knockout, he has won only two of his last nine by the judges’ scorecard. The opening bell is expected to be at 11pm.

3 UFC 209: Woodley v Thompson 2
Las Vegas, Sunday

Tyron Woodley and Stephen Thompson renew acquaintances this weekend

The UFC returns to action with a packed card as the main event sees the rematch between Tyron Woodley and Stephen Thompson for the UFC welterweight title.
The last time these two fought was back in UFC 205, when Woodley retained the title despite the match finishing in a majority draw. One judge gave the bout to Woodley and that was enough for him to keep his championship.
Woodley is a Brazilian Ju Jitsu exponent and wrestler while Thompson is an accomplished kickboxer, having been a five-time world champion before fully concentrating on MMA. Woodley has fought 20 times in his professional career, winning 16 of those, while Thompson’s 15 bouts have ended with him having his hand raised 13 times. Woodley has shown he is able to end the bout many ways, having won six by knockout and five times by submission while Thompson mostly focuses on his striking, having won only once by submission.
The co-main event of the card sees the unbeaten Russian Khabib Nurmagomedov take on Tony Ferguson for the interim lightweight championship. Conor McGregor will keep an eye on this bout as the winner will more than likely get a shot at his lightweight title. Nurmagomedov has spread his 24 wins around with eight via knockout and eight by submission while Ferguson has a record of 23-3 with nine of his wins coming from knockout.
The pay-per-view begins at 3am Irish time with the main event expected to be some time around 5am.

4 Premier League Weekend
Saturday-Monday

Jurgen Klopp and Arsene Wenger both need a win from their big game on Saturday

The Premier League is back this weekend with all 20 teams in action following last weekend’s EFL Cup final.
The game of the weekend is the Saturday evening clash which sees Liverpool take on Arsenal. Neither side has been in amazing form recently with Liverpool only winning twice in all competitions since the new year while Arsenal have only won two out of their last five. Kick-off for this one is at 5:30pm.
Following their win in the cup last weekend, Manchester United host Bournemouth in the opening game of the weekend. United are currently on a 16-game unbeaten streak in the league while Bournemouth have lost their last four games. It’s a 12:30pm kick-off in Old Trafford on Saturday.
Tottenham have a home game against Everton as they look to hold on to second place in the table. Spurs got 10 out of a possible 15 points in their last five in the league while Everton, who are in the hunt for a place in the Europa League, are unbeaten in their last nine league games with six wins. Kick-off is at 1:30pm on Sunday.
Manchester City are running Spurs close in third position and they will travel to Sunderland, who themselves are looking for a win to drag themselves out of the relegation zone. City have won their last three while the Black Cats have lost three of their last five games. Kick-off is at 4pm.
The Monday night game sees London rivals West Ham and Chelsea face each other for the first time in the Olympic Stadium. Chelsea are unbeaten in their last nine in all competitions while the Hammers have only lost twice in the league since the new year. This is an 8pm kick-off.

5 Leinster v Scarlets
Pro12, RDS Arena, Saturday

Ed Byrne is on the bench for Leinster on Saturday

Leinster are hosting Scarlets as they look to hold on to top spot in the Pro12 table.
With many of the players away on international duty, it is an opportunity for those players looking to make a breakthrough to show what they are made of.
The Scarlets are just in the play-off spots in fourth position and they have only made one change to the panel that beat Munster last week. Welsh U20 scrum-half Declan Smith replaces Aled Davies, who has been called up for the Welsh senior side, on the bench, with the starting 15 unchanged.
There are three changes for the Leinster side who trashed Newport Gwent Dragons 54-22 last weekend. The only change in the back line is at scrum-half, where Luke McGrath replaces Jamison Gibson-Park who goes to the bench. There are two replacements in the forwards with Hayden Triggs taking his place in the second row and Dan Leavy returning to take up his position as a flanker. Triggs replaces Mike McCarthy and Leavy replaces Baltinglass man Peadar Timmins, who is not in the matchday 23 this week.
There are three Carlow men on the bench for Leinster with the Byrne brothers, Bryan and Ed, and Tom Daly in the mix. Both Bryan Byrne and Tom Daly are returning from recent injuries. Ed himself has just come back from a long layoff, having not played for Leinster in over two years, before playing last weekend. The game kicks-off at 7:35pm.