REUTERS SPORTS SCHEDULE AT 7:30 p.m. GMT/2:30 p.m. ET

Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal urged organisers of the ATP Cup and Davis Cup Finals to consider a possible merger, saying it makes little sense to have two men's team competitions on the tennis calendar.

SOCCER-SPAIN/PREVIEW Soccer-Vidal bonus dispute clouds Barca's derby preparations

BARCELONA, Jan 2 (Reuters) - La Liga leaders Barcelona will be looking to preserve their two-point lead over Real Madrid when they visit local rivals Espanyol on Saturday but their preparations have been hit by a legal battle with their own midfielder Arturo Vidal. UPCOMING

SOCCER SOCCER-ENGLAND-LIV-SHU/REPORT (PIX)

Soccer - England - Premier League - Liverpool v Sheffield United Liverpool play Sheffield United in the Premier League.

2 Jan 15:00 ET / 20:00 GMT SOCCER-ENGLAND-ARS-MUN/ (PIX)

Soccer-Xhaka to stay at Arsenal, says Arteta Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta has said Granit Xhaka will stay at the club after the Swiss midfielder produced a gritty performance to help his side to a 2-0 win over Manchester United on Wednesday.

2 Jan 16:30 ET / 21:30 GMT SOCCER-ITALY/PREVIEW

Soccer- Italy - Serie A preview Preview of the weekend's Serie A matches

3 Jan 06:00 ET / 11:00 GMT TENNIS

TENNIS-ATPCUP/ (PIX) (TV) Tennis - ATP Cup

Sydney, Brisbane and Perth host the inaugural ATP Cup - a new team competition featuring 24 countries in the buildup to the Australian Open. Stefanos Tsitsipas, Nick Kyrgios and Alexander Zverev are expected to feature on day one. 3 Jan 19:00 ET / 00:00 GMT

GOLF GOLF-SENTRY/

Golf - PGA Tour: Sentry Tournament of Champions second round Second-round coverage from the Plantation Course at Kapalua on the Hawaiian island of Maui.

Jan 3 CRICKET

CRICKET-TEST-AUS-NZL/ Cricket - Australia v New Zealand - Third test

Cricket - Australia v New Zealand - Third and final test at Sydney Cricket Ground Jan 3

CRICKET-TEST-ZAF-ENG/ (PIX) Cricket Cricket - South Africa v England - Second Test

South Africa host England in the second test at Newlands in Cape Town 3 Jan 11:00 ET / 16:00 GMT

NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE FOOTBALL-NFL-NOTEBOOK

Field Level Media-NFL notebook Wrapping up the day in NFL news and notes

3 Jan, expect by 8:45 p.m. ET NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIAION

BASKETBALL-NBA-NOTEBOOK Field Level Media-NBA notebook

News and notes from around the NBA 3 Jan, expect by 9 p.m. ET