2 PSL big guns back in town
Soccer 13 paid a mega R11 million on Saturday and there’s another big pool on the cards tonight when the bet will be boosted by a R4.7-million carryover
By Mark Gleeson
Soccer 13 returned a mega payout of R11 million to each of two winners on Saturday and there’s another chance to win big on the bet tonight, when the pool is to set to total some R9 million as a result of a R4.7-million carryover.
And that’s not all! TAB will boost six soccer pools this weekend with R1 million in carryovers and add-ins, including R250,000 add-ins to two Soccer 10 pools. More about those pools in Friday’s TAB Sports Express Update.
Local soccer tomorrow will be boosted by the return of Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates to DStv Premiership action after successful runs in African club competitions.
Sundowns’ trip to Dobsonville Stadium in Soweto to face hosts Swallows comes almost one month to the day since their last PSL outing, when they were stunned by Maritzburg United in a result that offered some hope for the chasing pack.
But their lead remains formidable and after resting many key players against Al Merreikh of Sudan on Saturday - and seeing others return from injury - Sundowns will be favoured to maintain their current 11-point lead in the log.
Pirates re-enter the race for second place with a short trip to Ellis Park to take on Sekhukhune United and they too are fancied to win.
But then so are second-placed Royal AM, who have home game against Marumo Gallants tonight and third-placed Kaizer Chiefs, who have revenge on their minds against struggling TS Galaxy after losing to them in the first round of the Nedbank Cup.
Chiefs’ home game tonight follows their convincing triumph in Gqeberha at the weekend and there is a sense they might be able to put together a decent run in the closing weeks of the campaign.
The midweek PSL fixtures involve all the teams and much attention will focus on the clubs involved in the relegation battle. Baroka will hope home advantage gives them the edge over AmaZulu, where Brandon Truter takes charge for the first time after sitting out the trip to West Africa at the weekend.
Champions League football in Europe also returns with Chelsea’s home clash with Real Madrid the pick of the first-leg quarter-final ties. Just how holders Chelsea will respond after a crushing home loss to Brentford on Saturday remains to be seen, but Real Madrid suffered similar humiliation just over a fortnight ago in the “Classico” against Barcelona.
Liverpool and Manchester City are banker bets to win their ties, as are Bayern Munich away against Villarreal, but the Chelsea-Real clash is packed with potential drama.
On Thursday TAB soccer customers can bank on Premier League clubs Leicester City and West Ham United to win their matches in the Europa League and Conference League respectively.