The sparring is done in the FIFA Club World Cup (CWC) in the USA and it’s now onto the knockout stages with four last-16 clashes through the weekend, when there are four added TAB soccer bets and two carryover pools, notably Sunday’s Soccer 13 that is set to total over R4 million. There’s also a guaranteed R18-million jackpot in the event of only one outright winner of Saturday’s Soccer 13.
The round of 16 kicks off at 18:00 tomorrow with a Palmeiras-Botafogo clash that should be a cracker. These are two of the top teams in Brazil with Botafogo the reigning Serie A champions after outgunning runners-up Palmeiras by six points last season.
Neither is doing as well so far this season with Palmeiras in fourth place on the log and four points ahead of eighth-placed Botafogo. But there’s still a way to go and the race for the title will only hit to gear when the CWC is done.
Palmeiras have looked the sharper of the two at CWC and could have the edge in what will be a fiercely contested game.
The other last-16 clash tomorrow sees Benfica up against Chelsea in a tough-to-call encounter. Preference is for Chelsea, but they will need to hold their concentration for the full 90 minutes against a team that defended brilliantly when beating Bayern Munich.
Sunday’s carryover Soccer 13 contains the other round-of-16 games this weekend with PSG taking on Inter Miami and Brazilian outfit Flamengo pitched against Bayern.
Lionel Messi will hope to return to haunt his former club on Sunday. The Argentine superstar is now 38 and enjoying the latter stages of his playing career at Inter Miami in the USA.
Luis Enrique’s PSG came into the Club World Cup as one of the favourites and the reigning European champions boast a team packed with a glittering array of the world’s best talent. There is some irony in that PSG signed Messi from Barcelona in 2021 with the specific aim of winning Champions League. They finally won the trophy last season only after Messi had moved to the USA.
As well as Messi, Inter Miami have other former stars of European club football. Head coach Mascherano played alongside Messi at Barcelona, as did striker Luis Suarez, central midfielder Sergio Busquets and full-back Jordi Alba.
So the MLS side will bring no shortage of experience to their game against PSG. The French giants, however, should have far too much energy and quality for Inter. Expect the USA team to grab a goal or two, but they are a bit shaky at the back and PSG are the perfect team to capitalise on this. Enrique’s side should have learned from their loss to Botafogo and it is unlikely they will take their foot off the pedal in Atlanta.
Flamengo currently head the Serie A table in Brazil but expect them to find Bayern Munich too strong. The German side have looked fluent at this tournament and were unlucky not to score against Benfica, something that looks unlikely to happen against Flamengo.
| M1 | Athlone Town vs Bray Wanderers | ||
| Team A Wins | Draw | Team B Wins | |
| With a R150,000 cash bonus from TAB to get bets rolling, you can bank on a big pool. Athlone, bottom of the Irish second division table, are winless in their last five games, while Wanderers are on a two-game losing streak. Third-placed Wanderers won the last meeting between the sides 3-1 in May. | |||
| M2 | Bohemians vs Sligo Rovers | ||
| Team A Wins | Draw | Team B Wins | |
| Bohemians have won four of their last six games, while Rovers have lost four of their last six. Bohemians won the last meeting between the teams 1-0 in May and have twice as many points as Rovers in the Irish Premier Division table. | |||
| M3 | Cork City vs St Patrick's Athletic | ||
| Team A Wins | Draw | Team B Wins | |
| Bottom-of-log Cork are winless in their last six Irish Premier Division fixtures, while St Pats have lost their last two. St Pats won the last meeting between the teams 3-2 in May and have won 11 of the last 15 encounters over the past six years. | |||
| M4 | Derry City vs Drogheda United | ||
| Team A Wins | Draw | Team B Wins | |
| Derry have failed to win in four of their last five Irish Premier Division matches, while Drogheda are unbeaten in five of their previous six. But they are separated by only a point in the table and drew 1-1 in May when they last met. | |||
| M5 | Dundalk vs Cobh Ramblers | ||
| Team A Wins | Draw | Team B Wins | |
| Irish Second-division leaders Dundalk are unbeaten in their last six games, while second-placed Ramblers are unbeaten in their last five. Dundalk won the last meeting between them 2-1 in May. | |||
| M6 | Galway United vs Shelbourne | ||
| Team A Wins | Draw | Team B Wins | |
| Galway are unbeaten in their last four games, while Shelbourne have lost two of their last three. The teams drew 2-2 when they met earlier this year. Shelbourne are three points ahead of their rivals but have played two games more. | |||
| M7 | Wexford FC vs Kerry FC | ||
| Team A Wins | Draw | Team B Wins | |
| Wexford are winless in their last three matches, while Kerry are unbeaten in their last three. The last meeting between them was a 1-1 draw and only two points separate them in the Irish second-division table. | |||
| M8 | Shamrock Rovers vs Waterford FC | ||
| Team A Wins | Draw | Team B Wins | |
| Rovers are unbeaten in their last six Premier Division games, while Waterford have won only one of their last five. Shamrock top the log with 45 points to Waterford’s 27. | |||
| M9 | Stjarnan vs Breidablik | ||
| Team A Wins | Draw | Team B Wins | |
| Stjarnan are unbeaten in their last five games, while Breidablik are on a two-game winning streak. Breidablik won the last meeting 2-1 and lead Stjarnan by three points in Iceland’s top league. | |||
| M10 | Criciuma vs Avai | ||
| Team A Wins | Draw | Team B Wins | |
| Criciuma are unbeaten in their last four Serie B matches, while Avai are winless in their last two. Criciuma won the last meeting between them 3-0 in February, but are four points behind Avai on the log. | |||
Suggested R72 perm: 3 x 1 x 3 x 2,3 x 1 x 1,2 x 1,2,3 x 1 x 1,2,3 x 1.
| M1 | New England Revolution vs Colorado Rapids | ||
| Team A Wins | Draw | Team B Wins | |
| Great Soccer 10 comprising only MLS games in the USA. New England have failed to win in five of their last six matches, while Colorado are on a three-game losing streak in MLS. The last time they met, Colorado won 2-1 at home two years ago. They lead New England by two points in the league, having played two games more. | |||
| M2 | New York RB vs Minnesota United | ||
| Team A Wins | Draw | Team B Wins | |
| New York have won three of their last four MLS matches, while Minnesota are unbeaten in five of their last six games in all competitions and lead their rivals by five points in the table. The last meeting between them ended 1-1 two years ago. | |||
| M3 | Orlando City vs Cincinnati | ||
| Team A Wins | Draw | Team B Wins | |
| Orlando have lost three of their last five matches, while Cincinnati have been unable to win in four of their last five. They last met in October last year with Orlando winning 3-1 away. Cincinnati are three points ahead of Orlando in the MLS table. | |||
| M4 | DC United vs Nashville SC | ||
| Team A Wins | Draw | Team B Wins | |
| DC United have lost their last two MLS fixtures, while Nashville are unbeaten in their last six games in all competitions. The last clash between them ended 0-0 in May when Nashville were the hosts. | |||
| M5 | Toronto FC vs Portland Timbers | ||
| Team A Wins | Draw | Team B Wins | |
| Toronto are on a three-game losing streak in MLS, while Portland are unbeaten in their last three matches. Portland have 30 points to Toronto’s 14. | |||
| M6 | Chicago Fire vs Charlotte FC | ||
| Team A Wins | Draw | Team B Wins | |
| Chicago have won four of their last six games in all competitions, while Charlotte have lost three of their last six MLS fixtures. In their last clash Chicago won 4-1 away from home. Both have 25 points with Charlotte having played a game more. | |||
| M7 | FC Dallas vs San Diego | ||
| Team A Wins | Draw | Team B Wins | |
| Dallas are unbeaten in their last three MLS matches, while San Diego have won two in a row. San Diego won the last meeting between them 5-0 in May and are second in the Western Conference with 33 points, 12 more than Dallas. | |||
| M8 | Houston Dynamo vs Saint Louis | ||
| Team A Wins | Draw | Team B Wins | |
| Houston have lost their last two MLS fixtures and St. Louis have lost four of their last six games in all competitions. St. Louis won the last meeting between them 3-0 in October last year. | |||
| M9 | Sporting KC vs Real Salt Lake | ||
| Team A Wins | Draw | Team B Wins | |
| Sporting KC have lost their last two games, while Real Salt Lake have lost three of their last five. Real Salt Lake won the last meeting between them 4-3 away from home last June. Sporting KC are one point ahead of their rivals in the table, having played a game more. | |||
| M10 | Seattle Sounders FC vs Austin FC | ||
| Team A Wins | Draw | Team B Wins | |
| Seattle have lost four in a row, whereas Austin have won two MLS games on the trot. Seattle won the last meeting 1-0 away from home last year. Both have 26 points in the Western Conference, but Austin have played a game more. | |||
Suggested R96 perm: 1 x 1,2 x 1,2,3 x 3 x 3 x 1 x 2,3 x 1,2 x 1,2 x 3.