Take That challenge Band Aid 30 for this week’s Number 1

Take That and Band Aid 30 have a chart battle on their hands, as These Days (2) and Do They Know It’s Christmas? (1) go head-to-head for the Official Singles Chart top spot this week.

Do They Know It’s Christmas? is currently just over 1500 copies ahead of Take That’s These Days - the group’s first release as a trio, following the departure of Jason Orange back in September.

Serving as the lead single from the group’s upcoming seventh studio album III, These Days is also on track to score Take That their 26th UK Top 40 hit.

Band Aid 30’s Do They Know It’s Christmas? – which counts Ed Sheeran, Rita Ora, Sam Smith and One Direction among its ranks - last week became the fastest-selling single of the year so far, ending its first week with bumper sales of over 312,000 copies and a total sale to date of 351,000 copies.

If its sales momentum continues into the weekend, the Bob Geldof led charity single will spend its second week at Number 1, but as we know all too well, anything can happen before Sunday!

Holding firm at Number 3 midweek is Olly Murs’ Wrapped Up FT Travie McCoy. Wrapped Up is the first single from Olly’s new album Never Been Better, which currently sits at Number 1 on the Official Albums Chart Update.

Read: Olly Murs - The Top 10 Of Me: “I wish I’d written Happy!”

Labrinth is set to score a sixth Top 10 single on Sunday with Jealous (4) while McBusted are on track for their first, with debut single as a group, Air Guitar (5).

New releases

Further to Take That’s These Days (2), Labrinth’s Jealous (4) and McBusted’s Air Guitar (5), there are seven new entries in today’s Official Singles Chart Top 40.

British newcomer James Bay is on track to score his debut UK Top 20 single this weekend with Hold Back The River (13).

Years & Years also look set to score their first solo Top 20 with Desire (15), having previously featured on Magician’s Top 10 hit, Sunlight.

New at 16 are David Guetta and Emeli Sande with What I Did For Love (16), trailed by Kiesza with No Enemiesz (19).

American composer James Newton Howard enters at 29 with The Hanging Tree. The track is lifted from The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 soundtrack and is performed by actress Jennifer Lawrence.

Finally, featured on the new Platinum Edition of Beyonce’s self-titled LP, 7/11 enters the Top 40 at 37 today.

The Official Singles Chart Update Top 40 is as follows. The Official Singles Chart Top 100 will be posted in full, here, on Sunday at 7pm.

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