Portadown get the ball rolling in east Belfast

The Ports havent won at this venue in 11 years, can they cause an upset today or will it be business as usual? we are about to find out.

So keeping on an international feel, after that win last night, promotion to League B looks on for Northern Ireland.

A draw on Monday in Luxembourg will be enough to seal that - but what does it mean and how could it help Michael O'Neill's side when it comes to the 2026 World Cup?

Our man Andy Gray got the rule books out and did all the hard work so you don't have to.

All his workings out can be found here

Image source, Inpho

It was a memorable night for former Linfield man Ruairi McConville at Windsor Park.

The 19-year-old made his international debut as an 86th minute replacement for Isaac Price in Northern Ireland's 2-0 win over Belarus.

"To get on that pitch and hear the fans, it was amazing, and it's hopefully one that I will cherish for the rest of my life," the youngster told BBC Sport NI's Stephen Watson after the game.

Image source, Press Eye

Away from the Irish League, what about Michael O'Neill's side hey?

There was ANOTHER win at [Fortress] Windsor Park for Northern Ireland last night as they beat Belarus 2-0 in their penultimate Nations League game.

Now top of the group, a draw against Luxembourg on Monday will seal top spot, promotion to League B and keep NI in the hunt for a back-door route to a World Cup spot in 2026 (that is explained right here so click for more!)

Last night almost marked the end of an era for the Green and White Army.

This was the first time Northern Ireland had named a starting XI which did not feature a single player from that memorable Euro 2016 campaign.

Lauren McCann was at Windsor Park last night and made this assessment on the new, young crop of players at O'Neill's disposal.

Image source, Press Eye

Loughgall, with just three league wins all season - two in their last three outings - host a Coleraine side themselves struggling for consistency.

Manager Dean Smith makes two changes to the team which started in last week's heavy defeat at Crusaders.

Conor McCloskey drops out of the squad completely while Alberto Balde is named among the replacements.

In their place come Jamie Rea and Jay Boyd in what looks an attacking line-up for the Villagers.

Coleraine head coach Dean Shiels also makes two switches to the side that lost at Larne last Sunday.

Teenage defender Senan Devine is on international duty in Albania with NI Under-19s while Connor Murray drops to the bench.

Ciaron Harkin returns in midfield while Jamie McGonigle starts in a front three.

Loughgall: Gartside, McDermott, Rea, Murdock (c), Kelly, Ferris, Norton, Gibson, Cartwright, Francis, Boyd.

Subs: Turker, McAleer, Balde, Harvey, Towe, Kelly, Taggart.

Coleraine: Little, Kane (c), Boyle, Stewart, Campbell, Scott, Shevlin, McClelland, Harkin, Glackin, McGonigle.

Subs: Brown, Murray, Spence, Carse, McLaughlin, Burns, Smith.

Referee: Shane Andrews.

Image source, BBC Sport

It was a dramatic enough week for League of Ireland side Derry City.

After losing the cup final on Sunday, manager Ruaidhri Higgins left his job on Friday and that came after the news that both Shane and Patrick McEleney were on their way to the Irish Premiership.

Patrick has signed for Ballymena while Shane has joined Glentoran. Both will be able to play once the January transfer window opens.

Image source, ArkMedia

Image source, Press Eye

It'll be a repeat of last year's final with Larne set to face Glentoran for the Co Antrim Shield after both sides came through their semi-finals earlier this week.

Tiernan Lynch's side are chasing a fifth consecutive Shield success and booked their spot in the final with a 2-0 win over ten-man Crusaders.

It was the same scoreline for the Glens as they beat Ballymena at the Oval thanks to goals from Dylan Connolly and Jordan Jenkins.

You can watch the best of the action from Larne's win below

After Glentoran's 2-0 Co Antrim Shield success against Ballymena on Tuesday night, it is no surprise that manager Declan Devine has made just two changes to today's line-up.

In come Goalkeeper Daniel Gyollai and striker David Fisher, who were both given bench roles midweek.

Following Portadown's 1-1 draw with Carrick Rangers last weekend, manager Niall Currie makes just the one change for the Oval encounter.

Ryan Mayse is back in the starting 11 in place of Paul McElroy as the Ports seek to bring all three points back down the M1.

Glentoran: Gyollai; Hvid, Kane (capt), Sule, Connolly, Palmer, Donnelly, Fisher, Amos, Wightman, Thorndike.

Subs:Mills; Wassim, Murphy, Lindsay, Douglas, Jenkins, Lyons-Foster

Portadown: McCarey; Altintop, MacKinnon, Chapman, Mayse, McCullough, Fyfe, Ukek, Obhakhan, McCartan, Thompson (capt).

Subs: Ray; Wilson, McElroy, Henderson, Wylie, Riley, Mullan

Image source, BBC Sport

In a bid to bounce back from their crushing 4-1 defeat to Cliftonville, Swifts boss Rodney McAree has opted for changes in wide areas this afternoon.

Leo Alves and Thomas Maguire are the duo called upon to replace John McGovern and Leon Boyd, injecting fresh energy into the flanks.

Meanwhile, Stephen McDonnell's response to the 3-0 drubbing by Glentoran is a shift towards experience.

The seasoned duo of Matthew Snoddy and Davy McDaid step in for youngsters Chris Atherton and Paul McGovern, bringing a wealth of know-how to steady the ship.

Dungannon Swifts: Dunne, S. Scott, Knowles, Dillon, Alves, Glenny, McGinty, Maguire, Wallace, Mitchell, Bigiramana.

Subs: Grogan Solis, J. Scott, Curry, King, Boyd, Galvin, Hegarty

Glenavon: Deane, O'Sullivan, Marshall, Snoddy, Malone, McDaid, Campbell, Quinn, McKeown, Carroll, O'Connor

Subs: Byrne, Birney, Doona, Atherton, Ward, Doran, Wilson.

Image source, BBC Sport

Two sides in contrasting runs of form go head to head at Solitude.

After a spluttering start to the campaign, Cliftonville have reeled off four straight wins; conversely, Ballymena’s remarkable run of form has ground to a halt in recent weeks, with four consecutive losses.

Team selection is a straightforward process for Cliftonville boss Jim Magilton, who names the same starting line-up as last week's win at Dungannon.

It's not quite the same for Ballymena boss Jim Ervin who is missing top scorer Ben Kennedy and Johnny McMurray through suspension, while Sean Brown and Kym Nelson miss out after being forced of through injury in the midweek County Antrim Shield semi-final defeat by Glentoran.

In come Donal Rocks, Alex Gawne, Stephen O'Donnell and Ethan Devine.

Cliftonville: Odumosu, Kearney, Newberry, Addis, Conlan, Glynn, Pepper, Pettifer, Hale, Steven, Gormley.

Subs: Ridd, Curran, Donnelly, Doherty, Piesold, Markey, Casey.

Ballymena United: O'Neill, Rocks, O'Donnell, McCallion, Lafferty, Devlin, Carson, Gawne, Scott, McCurry, Devine.

Subs: Johnston, Coates, Moore, Herron, O'Mahony, Loughran, Stewart.

Image source, BBC Sport

Stephen Baxter faces Crusaders for the first time in the opposite dugout and makes two changes to the Carrick Rangers starting XI who drew 1-1 with Portadown with David Cushley and Josh Andrews replacing the suspended Seanan Clucas and Kurtis Forsythe.

There are three switches to the away side's starting line-up from their last league game against Loughgall. Robbie Weir, Ross Clarke and Lewis Barr start with Jordan Stewart, Stewart Nixon and Philip Lowry, who was sent off during the County Antrim Shield semi-final defeat against Larne, unavailable.

Carrick Rangers: Glendinning, Cushley, McGuckin, Maciulaitis, McCullough, Buchanan-Rolleston, Andrews, Crowe, Cherry, Heatley, Gibson.

Subs: McCauley, Surgenor, Gordon, Allen, Given, Kelly, Trimble.

Crusaders: Tuffey, Callacher, Weir, Jewitt-White, Blaney, Forsythe, O'Rourke, Offord, Clarke, Franklin, Barr.

Subs: Kerr, Williamson, Owens, Smith, Walker, Barr, Downey.

Image source, BBC Sport

The former Linfield and Derry player Tommy Stewart joins Michael McNamee in the Sportsound studio today and he's had a go at the now infamous predictions for the weekend.

Here's what he's thinking:

Carrick Rangers 2-3 Crusaders

Cliftonville 3-0 Ballymena United

Dungannon Swifts 2-1 Glenavon

Glentoran 2-3 Portadown

Loughgall 1-2 Coleraine

Larne 1-2 Linfield

You can read all his reasoning for those predictions on our dedicated Irish League page on the BBC Sport NI website

Image source, BBC Sport

Well, this is a rare one isn't it?!

All twelve Irish Premiership clubs are playing today - and we've got you covered with all the twists and turns on what looks to be a fascinating day of football.

Stephen Baxter faces some old friends as Crusaders make the trip to Carrick Rangers and the Jims' of Cliftonville and Ballymena meet at Solitude.

Cliftonville are the league's form side and looking to extend a winning streak of four games while the Sky Blues need to halt a run of four defeats in a row.

Glenavon and Dungannon could both do with a win for differing reasons too at either end of the table, as could Loughgall and Coleraine, and Glentoran and Portadown.

And all that comes before the live clash on BBC iPlayer of the two top sides from the last two seasons - Larne and Linfield.

The gap between the sides is currently 11 points - but Tiernan Lynch's side have three games in hand after their European exploits this season.

So - all in all - we have what looks to be a cracker of a day!

Welcome along!

Image source, BBC Sport