Gallagher Premiership Round 8: Watch live on BT Sport

As the Autumn Nations Series continues on Amazon Prime, all eyes will be on the Gallagher Premiership as the road to Twickenham continues with round eight.

Here is all you need to know as the English top flight continues this weekend with another stacked slate of domestic ding-dongs.

Read on for all the information you need to know about all six games, including how to watch free highlights of each match on BT Sport.

League leaders Leicester made it eight wins from eight on Friday night with a hard-fought win over bottom side Bath.

The form of the two clubs couldn’t have been more contrasting going into the clash at Mattioli Woods Welford Road, but Max Clark’s early try gave the visitors a surprise early lead.

Matt Scott soon replied for the hosts who led at the break, but it was a similar story in the second period with Bath scoring early through Josh McNally.

Tries from George Ford and Tom Cowan-Dickie ultimately sealed the bonus-point win for the home side who extended their lead at the top of the table.

Last season’s regular-season pacesetters Bristol Bears will be chasing only their third win of the campaign when they welcome Worcester to Ashton Gate this weekend.

The Bears picked up their first win since the start of October against London Irish last time out and head coach Pat Lam will be hoping his side have turned a corner with the Autumn Nations Series set to begin in earnest.

The West Country outfit will be aiming to record back-to-back wins in the Premiership for the first time since May.

With only Kyle Sinckler and Callum Sheedy  away on international duty, Bristol have golden opportunity to make up ground on their rivals with so many key players away with their countries.

Visitors Worcester will be no push, however, after the Warriors turned over play-off hopefuls Sale Sharks at Sixways last weekend. 

Head coach Jonathan Thomas will have to make do without star summer signing Rory Sutherland and Duhan van der Merwe, with the duo making up a key part of Gregor Townsend’s Scotland squad.

Van der Merwe dotted down for two tries, but it was the return of England internationals Ted Hill and Ollie Lawrence that proved crucial as Worcester halted a miserable run that had seen them concede 156 points in three games.

“We’ve really missed him,” admits Thomas. “He’s a heart-and-soul type of player. He’s got huge presence on and off the pitch. He’s extremely motivated.

“The game is also about chemistry and relationships. And, when you lose almost all your leadership group, that is an issue.

“We’re missing their chat on the field. When you’re not performing, it can go a bit quiet.”

Thomas will be hoping for another talismanic performance from his skipper as they prepare to enter the bear pit this weekend.

Five-time winners Saracens will be looking to keep the pressure up on runaway leaders Leicester when they play host to London Irish on Saturday afternoon.

The Men in Black are enjoying a terrific return to the top flight after a season away in the Championship and moved into second place with a victory over reigning champions Harlequins last weekend. 

Club captain Owen Farrell switches attention to England matters this weekend, but Alex Lozowski has proved a more than capable replacement at No10.

The versatile back scored 19 points from fly -half in a peerless display as Saracens laid down a marker to the rest of the league with an away win at the home of the champions.

It all makes for a tall task for Declan Kidney’s Irish, who have every single one of their last eight visits to the StoneX Stadium.

Indeed, Exiles fans have to go all the way back to 2014 for the last time Irish managed to upset Saracens at home.

The hosts will be without England forwards Jamie George and Maro Itoje while Owen Farrell captains the side at Twickenham.

International call ups aside, Sarries director of rugby Mark McCall will also be without his talismanic No8, Billy Vunipola.

Omitted from England’s provisional squad earlier this autumn, Vunipola is facing eight months on the sidelines with a knee injury in a huge blow to Saracens’ title hopes.

How will Sarries far without their heavyweight contigent of internationals and can they avoid becoming London Irish’ latest big-name scalp?

Sale Sharks director of rugby Alex Sanderson will be looking for a positive response from his charges when they go toe-to-toe with Northampton Saints in the first of two evening kick-offs.

Four defeats from their last five Premiership outings has seen Sale slump to 10th in the table.

The Salford outfit risk slipping out of contention for the play-offs altogether with seven points seperating them from fourth-placed Northampton, who they meet on Saturday.

The Sharks will be without Tom Curry and Manu Tuilagi, who both start against Tonga, while scrum-half Raffi Quirke is likely to remain with England despite missing out on a place in the matchday squad.

Saints director of rugby Chris Boyd has his own selection dilemmas as they look their consolidate their place in the play-off places.

The visitors have five first-team regulars away on international duty, with Courtney Lawes, George Furbank, Alex Mitchell, Toby Freeman and Lewis Ludlam all away with England.

Northampton arrive in the north west fresh off the back of a humbling 55-26 defeat to bitter East Midlands rivals Leicester.

Can the 2014 Premiership winners add to Sale’s woes and restore some pride after their round-seven mauling?

Two-time winners Exeter Chiefs are set for a double boost in their hunt for the top four ahead of the visit of Newcastle Falcons on Saturday.

Versatile South African forward Jannes Kirsten is back in contention having been sidelined since September with an ankle injury, while Exeter director of rugby Rob Baxter has revealed Sam Simmonds will feature at Sandy Park.

Last season’s Premiership Player of the Year was dropped from Eddie Jones squad to play Tonga this weekend and Baxter has backed his number eight to use the disappointment of a fresh England setback as extra motivation this weekend.

Baxter said: “He seems a bit frustrated and bit annoyed, which he should be, he wants to play, so I expect those emotions.

“But at the same time he also looks like he completely understands what he wants to do this weekend and what he needs to do to give himself the best opportunity to be involved next week.

“There’s no point in him reflecting too long on this week, he’s got to move forward onto next week.”

Jonny Hill and Henry Slade were both retained by England and will miss the visit of Newcastle, who sat out round seven on a bye.

The Falcons have won three and lost three in their opening six games of the campaign but will be without their star winger Adam Radwan, who has been named in Saturday’s England starting XV.

The visitors have a miserable record at Sandy Park, losing all thirteen previous visits to Sandy Park in all competitions.

Indeed, if Newcastle are able to end their 13-game losing streak in Devon, it will be only their third victory over Exeter in their last 20 meetings.

BT Sport’s round eight coverage concludes on Sunday afternoon as two of the most entertaining teams in the league trade blows at the Ricoh Arena.

Defeat to Saracens last time out saw Quins cede second place to their London rivals as the reigning champions suffered only their second defeat of the season.

The south-west London outfit now sit third in the standings, 10 points adrift of top-of-the-pile Leicester and just three points clear of play-off chasing Exeter in fifth.

Head coach Tabai Matson will have to do without a number of key players as he looks to steer his side back to winning ways.

Harlequins have three representatives in England’s matchday squad to face Tonga, with Marcus Smith and Alex Dombrandt hoping to make an impression from the bench.

Prop Joe Marler, also named as a substitute, will be hoping to make his 73rd appearance for his country.

2020 runners-up Wasps head into round eight slap-bang in the middle of the table with three wins and three defeats from their opening six fixtures.

Having succumbed to back-to-back defeats against Exeter and Saracens in round five and six, Wasps returned to winning ways last weekend with a comfortable victory on the road over rock bottom Bath.

Alfie Barbeary, Malakai Fekitoa, Joe Launchbury, Paolo Odogwu and Jack Willis, all so pivotal in Wasps run to the final of the Gallagher Premiership back in 2020, remain unavailable through injury.