by Tim Stannard 

Welcome to another edition of beIN SPORTS Must-See beIN, in which we highlight the best games on the network this week and provide daily updates on team and league news. Oh, and we give you HIGHLIGHTS after the fact. 

JUVENTUS 1 SASSUOLO 0

The form book yells from every page that Juventus will continue on their march towards the Scudetto title with a home win against seventh-placed Sassuolo to continue an unbeaten Serie A streak that currently sits at 18 games. In that run, just two points have been dropped. But before that revival run began, there was a defeat. That loss was against Sassuolo, a side also on a hot sprint of three successive wins, with a previously monolithic Milan as the latest victims of one of the division’s top performers. The form book could be an enormous work of fiction.

68 minutes will be a magic number for Gigi Buffon in Friday’s match, as that is the milestone that the Juve keeper will be looking towards, to keep a clean sheet. If it is mission accomplished against Sassuolo, then Buffon will beat Dino Zoff’s record of 903 Serie A minutes without conceding a goal, leaving Sebastiano Rossi’s all-time record of 929 from the 1993-94 campaign in Gigi’s sights.

A good week for Massimo Allegri could get even better on Friday. The Juve boss won the manager of the year award for 2014-15, on Monday, and announced that any stories linking him to the soon-to-be-vacant and vacant-at-any-time jobs at Chelsea and Real Madrid were pish-posh. “Next year, I will still be the coach of Juventus,” announced Allegri.

An unlikely victory for Sassuolo could be a good news-bad news predicament for the team’s fans. A fine season and wins against Juve, Inter and Milan sees the Sassuolo coach, Eusebio di Francesco, as very hot property. That’s especially the case since the Sassuolo owner, Giorgio Squinzi, is a Milan fan and admitted this weekend, that he would not be averse to di Francesco jumping ship to San Siro.

Head-to-head – Whilst the whole of the Sassoulo starting line-up on Friday will be looking to poop Buffon’s party, the man most likely is Nicola Sansone, the side’s German-born striker who has five Serie A goals this season.

Prediction – 2-0 to Juventus and champagne-on-ice for Buffon to become all-time great  

ALL WEEKEND: INTERNATIONAL DIVING FROM BEIJING - Coverage starts on beIN SPORTS on Friday from 8PM ET 

If you want to catch some current and potential Olympic champions ahead of Rio 2016, then tune into some top class international diving. This weekend, the first of four invitational meets takes place in Beijing, which pools together (pun intended) some of the best competitors in this most challenging and enthralling of sports. 

Five US stars will be in action in China, including a gold medal winner from the London games, David Boudia, who will be competing in both the synchonrized and individual 10m platform dive, the event where the American found Olympic glory four years ago. 

Tom Sykes Beats Jonathan Rea in one of the most exciting races in recent history

Jonathan Rea still the man to beat as Superbikes heads to Thailand for two top races

The format may be new for this year’s Superbikes riders with the two races spread over two days. However, the results from the first meet of the year down under in Phillip Island was all too familiar for Northern Irish rider, Jonathan Rea, with a double-victory in Australia, to start the new season as Rea finished the last - as a winner. The riders have now moved to the Chang International Circuit in Thailand, where stretched supply lines from European home bases as well as the heat and humidity of a strength-sapping environment will separate the men from the boys.

The leading challenger to Rea’s supremacy on the Kawasaki is Michael van der Mark with the Dutchman finishing third and second in the two races, to keep the Honda man within touching distance of the top of the table, in a race that could be one of the most competitive of the campaign. In a trajectory as rapid as his bike-riding, the 23-year-old van der Mark has gone from SBK rookie to title-contender in just a season.

Nicky Hayden showed that he was still the high-flying ‘Kentucky Kid’ in Australia and was just pipped to the podium post in his return to the Superbikes fold. A better performance from his Honda to match the mastery of the rider, could see a terrific time in Thailand from the USA legend, making his debut on the track.

Ducati rider, Chaz Davies, will be hoping that the Superbike gods will give him an easier time in Thailand in 2016. Last year, the British rider crashed out in both races leaving Davies scrabbling for points. It was the same story in Australia in round one of this year’s Superbikes marathon with Davies losing control of his bike on the final lap of race 2, to allow Rea to sweep the board.

Thailand will be another chance to start all over again for Tom Sykes. The Kawasaki teammate of Rea was overtaken by his fellow Brit in last year’s contest and saw his colleague on top of the podium once again in Australia. However, two top six finishes for Sykes will offer hope that the immediate future can be better than the recent past.

Prediction – The Superbikes to get a new superstar with a number one podium finish from the flying Dutchman, van der Mark. 

Inter 2 Bologna 1 

Before the match

Another must-win match for Inter and Roberto Mancini

Inter boss, Roberto Mancini, ruled himself out of the soon-to-be-vacant Italy job after speculation plonked him into the hot seat currently occupied by Antonio Conte. The former Man City man, might want to revisit the chance of a more sedate life after Saturday if his side fail to pick up three points against a stubborn Bologna team. With a five-point gap from third spot – a Champions League play-off place – there is little margin for error for the Nerazzurri.

Three victories from the last 10 in Serie A reflect a tough run for form from Inter, in stark contrast to the first half of the season when Mancini’s side was unbeatable and almost impenetrable. Problems arose when a lack of goals from the forwards, previously covered by a water-tight defense, continued whilst the back-four crumbled. But there are signs of a recovery from Mauro Icardi and co with nine goals scored in the team’s last four games, including three stuck past Juventus in the Italian Cup, last week.

Under the tutelage of Roberto Donadoni, Bologna have become the revelation team in Serie A, since the experienced manager took over in October 2015, having defeated Napoli, Milan and been the team to stop Juve’s winning streak with a goalless draw. However, that furious form has dried up a little of late with Bologna having three successive goalless draws in Serie A, much to the frustration of Donadoni. “We lacked a bit of malice,” was the complaint of the former Parma boss, after a goalless draw at home against relegation-threatened Carpi last Sunday.

The tides are high that the goal-scoring dam for Bologna will be broken in San Siro as Inter have kept just the single clean sheet in the past 10 Serie A games, in stark contrast to a run that saw Inter concede just the single goal in six games in a parsimonious run, last August.

Head-to-Head – Roberto Mancini has said that his playmaker, Adem Ljajic, could be as good as David Silva after a wonder strike against Palermo. Whilst the Inter man is still promise, Bologna’s Emanuele Giaccherini is delivering with six goals, the side’s second top scorer in Serie A.

Prediction – A high-scoring affair, but an improving Inter to come out on top

England Conquer Triple Crown After Wales Demolition

Before the match

First against second in the Six Nations as England looks to put one hand on Six Nations trophy

When England appointed the no-nonsense Eddie Jones as the coach – an Australian no less – and the very bad boy captain, few thought that the fallen giants would become so solid, so quickly. But three wins from three has put England within touching distance of winning the Six Nations crown for the first time since 2011 and only the second time since 2003.

The Grand Slam – winning all five matches in the tournament – is now on the cards, although England boss, Eddie Jones, says that there still an awful lot of work to be done by his England players and coaching team, with 

England still working hard to turn possession and power into points.

The clash against second placed Wales is set to be the toughest so far, with attacking coach Rob Howley ruling out “Champagne rugby” in Twickenham in front of 82,000 fans. Supporters used to free-flowing attacking rugby were less than delighted by a gritty display against France, that still ended in a victory for the Welsh, and could continue a tremendous record for in the heart of England with three wins in the past five game.

The stand-out player in what will be a fiercely fought clash could be the returning Manu Tuilagi. The Leicester center, has been out of action for 15-months due to injury and disciplinary issues, and could be an impact substitution for England or a starter to shake things up.

Prediction – Fists to fly and sin-bins to be in service, but a narrow win for England

SATURDAY: beIN BOXING - Terry Flanagan vs Derry Mathews - Tune in to beIN SPORTS from 9PM ET 

The world of boxing sees another mighty match-up between Liverpool and Manchester, aside from the Europa League clash in football, as Terry Flanagan and Derry Mathews face each other in the ring for a WBO lightweight clash in Flanagan's home city on Merseyside. 

Flanagan, the undefeated Liverpool lad is making just his second defence of a belt won in December, against the challenge of Mathews, who is looking for his first world title win in a 13-year career. 

Las Palmas 1 Real Madrid 2

Before the Match

A potential banana skin for Real Madrid against an in-form Las Palmas

It will be a case of “Danger Will Robinson!” as Real Madrid take one of the longest domestic away trips in Western Europe to Las Palmas, a side that plays off the coast of Western Sahara, a distance of 1080 miles. Madrid’s away record has potentially cost Zizou’s side the league title this season with points being dropped in seven grounds from El Madrigal to El Molinon.

The last league fixture between these two teams in the Canary Islands ended with a famous 4-2 win for Las Palmas back in October 2001. It’s a match that Zinedine Zidane will remember all too well, as the Frenchman was on the losing side but at least got onto the score-sheet in the game. That season ultimately ended in third-placed finish for Madrid, a worrying omen for the Madridista fraternity.

The clash could be a fine opportunity for Cristiano Ronaldo to increase his newly-won lead in La Liga’s top scorer chase. Five goals in the two games against Levante and Celta Vigo, put the Portuguese poacher at the top of the Pichichi table with 27 strikes, one goal ahead of Luis Suarez.

A fortnight ago, this particular clash looked like an easy one for Madrid, despite iffy away form. But a remarkable revival for Las Palmas has seen the Canary Islanders winning three Primera games in a row for the first time since 2001. Victories over Eibar, Getafe and Villarreal, has manager, Quique Setien, admitting that the team are now looking towards a considerably brighter future, rather than a swift return to the second division, playing a brand of fast, fizzy football.

Head-to-head – Las Palmas captain and veteran defender, David Garcia, scored the winner against Villarreal and has helped hold the back-four together with experience and leadership. But stopping the returning Bale and in-form Ronaldo will be another challenge to plonk on the stopper’s in-box.

Prediction – A high-scoring affair. But more lost points for Madrid in a 2-2 draw.