Spurs on brink of promotion
With a R2-million TAB Soccer 10 pool up for grabs on Saturday, many bettors will bank on Manchester City to win the Champions League and complete the treble against Inter Milan, while Cape Town Spurs look set to secure a Premier League spot tomorrow in midweek playoff action.
By Mark Gleeson
Cape Town Spurs will have history on their side as they prepare for tomorrow’s crunch Premier Soccer League promotion-relegation playoff clash at home to Casric Stars.
On all four previous occasions when a team has won their first two matches in the playoffs, that team has gone on to finish top of the table.
Spurs kicked off their playoff campaign with two 1-0 victories – away at Stars in their first game and then home success over Maritzburg United on Saturday.
Another win for Spurs will not quite ensure a return to the top flight for the first time since the 2017/18 season but would certainly put them in the driving seat. No team has ever reached nine points and not been promoted.
If they do beat Stars tomorrow – and given Spurs’ capacity to buckle under a burden of expectation – then the pressure is on Maritzburg, who return to action away at Casric Stars on Saturday.
If Spurs are victorious tomorrow and Maritzburg fail to win in KwaMhlanga on Saturday, then the Cape Town side will be promoted and Maritzburg’s 15-year stay in the top division will come to an end.
Tomorrow night also sees the Europa Conference League final between Fiorentina of Italy and West Ham United – both of whom last had success in Europe in the 1060s. Fiorentina won the European Cup Winners’ Cup in the inaugural 1960/61 edition to become the first Italian team to lift major European silverware, while West Ham lifted the trophy on their European debut in 1964/65.
Both teams kicked off their first Europa Conference League campaign in the qualifying play-offs, though West Ham have played two games fewer to reach the final as they won their group to bypass the knockout play-offs whereas Fiorentina were runners-up in their section. The Italians put together a run of nine straight wins through to the quarter-final first leg, while their English opponents arrive in Prague unbeaten, having won 13 of their 14 matches and drawn the other.
The Champions League final on Saturday is also an Anglo-Italian affair although there Manchester City are overwhelming favourites against Inter Milan, as the Premier League champions are unbeaten in this season's Champions League, winning seven of their 12 contests on the way to Istanbul.
City could become the 15th side to lift the trophy without losing a game and eighth in the Champions League era.
Inter suffered two defeats on their way to this final, both against Bayern Munich at the start and end of their group stage campaign. They have won four of their six knockout games, keeping five clean sheets.