WEEKEND SOCCER HIGHLIGHTS: 23 - 25 August

August 2024

WHAT A SATURDAY TO BET SOCCER WITH TAB!

It’s Super Saturday for TAB soccer customers – a R20-million guaranteed Soccer 13 pool, R400,000 in cash add-ins and a carryover, plus a range of must-play pools loaded with alluring matches from the English Premier League, the English Championship and Europe’s top leagues which are all back in action from this weekend.

R100,000 BOOST FOR TAB’S NEW MEGA 10 JACKPOT

And to add excitement to Sunday there’s TAB’s exciting new bet, Mega 10 Jackpot Pool, comprising the pick of the games across Sunday and Monday. The bet is similar to Soccer 10, but costs R3 a line. TAB is adding R100,000 to Sunday’s bet so expect a good pool and big payout.

The second of three Soccer 10 pools on Saturday gets a R200,000 kick-start from TAB with the pool set to top R2 million. It’s a cracker pool with five EPL matches, notably the visit of Arsenal to Aston Villa where the Gunners go up against ex-manager Unai Emery. Arsenal are 3-4 favourites to win, but this is a match that could see the London club fall behind Manchester City early on in their expected title race.

Arsenal looked good in their opening game of the campaign but may battle to penetrate the six-man Villa backline and could easily fall prey to a counter-attack goal arising from long balls to the likes of Ollie Watkins.

Manchester City have a much easier task and face newly promoted Ipswich. Pep Guardiola’s champions beat Chelsea away last Sunday and should add another three points against Ipswich, who are back in the EPL after a 22-year absence and two successive promotions.

City to win is an obvious banker for the R20-million Soccer 13 and other appealing bankers to win at home for that bet are Crystal Palace, Middlesbrough, Blackburn and Watford.

The weekend action kicks off tonight with a Soccer 10 that contains several potential bankers, including Orlando Pirates at home in an African Champions League clash. The Buccaneers are South Africa’s cup kings after back-to-back triumphs in the MTN8 and Nedbank Cup over the last two seasons and take on Disciples FC from Madagascar in the second leg of a first-round tie.

The first leg was played on neutral ground in Mauritius last Sunday and surprisingly Disciples looked sharper for much of the contest which ended goalless. Given that Pirates have stumbled against weak teams in continental cup competitions before, there are concerns they could come unstuck again in Soweto tonight, but home-ground advantage should see them through to the next stage.

Tonight also sees the kick-off of the German Bundesliga with Borussia Monchengladbach at home to champions Bayer Leverkusen, the first club in German history to complete the season without a loss. Coach Xavi Alonso and star players like Alejandro Grimaldo and Florian Wirtz are still on board so expect them to be a formidable force again this season.

Bayern Munich will go all out to regain top spot in the Bundesliga this season and have hired Vincent Kompany, relegated from the Premier League with Burnley last season, to revive their fortunes. How that appointment will pan out remains to be seen because Burnley were rubbish last season after spending a fortune strengthening their squad.

MATCH BY MATCH FOR WEEKEND’S TOP SOCCER 10 POOLS

Friday 23 August S10 V3

SOCCER 10 V3 SUGGESTED BET:

M1: Celta Vigo vs Valencia	TEAM A WINS	DRAW	TEAM B WINS
LaLiga. Celta Vigo have won nine of their last 15 games, whereas Valencia have lost eight of their last 14. Their last clash ended 2-2 with Valencia having won three of the previous five meetings between the two.
M2: Racing Santander vs Eibar	TEAM A WINS	DRAW	TEAM B WINS
Spanish Segunda Division. Santander are winless in their last three games, while Eibar are on a three-game winning streak. In their last six clashes over two years, both teams have won twice with two draws.
M3: Aalborg BK vs AGF Aarhus	TEAM A WINS	DRAW	TEAM B WINS
Danish Superliga. AaB have lost eight of their last 15 games, while AGF have won six of their last nine. AGF won the previous meeting between them 1-0 and have won three of the last six encounters with AaB winning two.
M4: Orlando Pirates vs CS-Disciples	TEAM A WINS	DRAW	TEAM B WINS
Second leg of a preliminary first-round clash in African Champions League. Pirates secured a 0-0 draw in the away leg recently and now enjoy home-turf advantage.
M5: Borussia M'gladbach vs Bayer Leverkusen	TEAM A WINS	DRAW	TEAM B WINS
Borussia are on a seven-game winning streak. Bundesliga champs Bayer Leverkusen are unbeaten in 13 of their last 15 and beat runners-up Stuttgart on penalties in the German Super Cup in their last game. They accumulated 34 points more than Borussia in the Bundesliga last season and have won four of the last six clashes between them with two draws.
M6: Paris Saint-Germain vs Montpellier	TEAM A WINS	DRAW	TEAM B WINS
PSG are unbeaten in their last six games, while Montpellier are winless in eight of their last nine. PSG trounced Montpellier 6-2 in their previous meeting and have won all six clashes with them in the last three years.
M7: Sheffield vs Leeds United	TEAM A WINS	DRAW	TEAM B WINS
English Championship. Sheffield have won six of their last nine and Leeds are winless in their last three. Leeds won the last meeting between the two 2-0 in March and will start firm favourites here.
M8: Farense vs Sporting CP	TEAM A WINS	DRAW	TEAM B WINS
Primeira Liga in Portugal. Farense have lost five of their last seven games, while Sporting Lisbon have won 11 of their last 15. Sporting have won all six encounters between the two in the last three years.
M9: Huesca vs Deportivo La Coruna	TEAM A WINS	DRAW	TEAM B WINS
Huesca have lost seven of their last 15 and Deportivo have won eight of their last 14. Huesca won away in their first game of the season, while Deportivo lost at home.
M10: Sevilla vs Villarreal	TEAM A WINS	DRAW	TEAM B WINS
Both sides drew in the first round of matches in the new LaLiga season. In their last six meetings Sevilla have two wins to Villarreal’s one.

Suggested R216 perm: 1 x 1,2,3 x 2,3 x 1 x 3 x 1 x 1,2,3 x 3 x 1,2 x 1,2,3.

Saturday 24 August S10 V2

SOCCER 10 V2 SUGGESTED BET:

M1: Crystal Palace vs West Ham United	TEAM A WINS	DRAW	TEAM B WINS
London derby kicks off this R200,000-added pool which should total over R2 million! Both sides went down 2-1 in the opening round of games in the 2024-25 English Premiership. Home- ground advantage puts Palace in the driving seat here.
M2: Fulham vs Leicester City	TEAM A WINS	DRAW	TEAM B WINS
Fulham went down 1-0 away to Manchester United in their first EPL game of the new season, whereas newly promoted Leicester came back from 1-0 down to draw 1-1 with Spurs. Interesting clash between two clubs several pundits expect to be relegated this season.
M3: Southampton vs Nottingham Forest	TEAM A WINS	DRAW	TEAM B WINS
Newly promoted Southampton lost away to Newcastle in their first game back in the EPL, while Nottingham Forest drew with Bournemouth in a game in which they should secured three points.
M4: Tottenham Hotspur vs Everton	TEAM A WINS	DRAW	TEAM B WINS
Spurs have lost eight of their last 14 games and could only draw with Leicester in their first game of the new season after dominating the first half. Everton had one of the best defences in the EPL last season, but were trounced 3-0 by Brighton in their first game of the new term.
M5: Osasuna vs Real Mallorca	TEAM A WINS	DRAW	TEAM B WINS
LaLiga. Osasuna are winless in 12 of their last 14 games, while Mallorca have won seven of their last nine. The teams drew 1-1 in their previous meeting this year with the last six games between the two yielding two wins each and two draws.
M6: Lyon vs Monaco	TEAM A WINS	DRAW	TEAM B WINS
French Ligue 1. Both teams have won nine of their last 15 games. Lyon beat Monaco 3-2 in April, their four victory in the last six clashes between the two.
M7: Aston Villa vs Arsenal	TEAM A WINS	DRAW	TEAM B WINS
Villa have lost eight of their last 13 games but made a winning start to the new term by beating West Ham 2-1 away. Arsenal have won 10 of their last 12 and looked slick in their first-round EPL match, beating Wolves 2-0. Big clash for both teams.
M8: Parma vs AC Milan	TEAM A WINS	DRAW	TEAM B WINS
Serie A. Parma are unbeaten in 11 of their last 14 games and Milan are unbeaten in their last six. Milan were sixth in Serie A last season with Parma 14th.
M9: Udinese vs Lazio	TEAM A WINS	DRAW	TEAM B WINS
Udinese have avoided defeat in 12 of their last 14 games and Lazio are unbeaten in their last 15. Udinese won the last meeting between them 2-1 in March, but Lazio have won three of the last six clashes between the two.
M10: Barcelona vs Athletic Bilbao	TEAM A WINS	DRAW	TEAM B WINS
Barcelona have won 10 of their last 15 games, while Bilbao are winless in their last three. In last five meetings Barcelona have won three times and Bilbao once.

Suggested R162 perm: 1 x 1 x 1,2,3 x 1 x 1,2,3 x 1,2,3 x 3 x 3 x 1,2,3 x 1

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