Sports lovers are in for a treat this weekend. We have SuperRugby, the Barclays Premiership, MotoGP, La Liga, the Masters and more rugby.
Here are some of the biggest sporting events to watch this weekend on DStv's SuperSport.
Golf: The Masters
So of course the second day of the 79th Masters Tournament, like the first, was all about the phenomenal Jordan Spieth. His 66 was arguably better than Thursday’s 64, a little more controlled, a little less hectic and reliant on the odd lucky bounce. The young man’s a genius. And most likely this year’s champion. But there are enough big names hovering around in case of any dramatic slip. You never know in golf. You just never know. Join the action today and tomorrow to witness the spectacular.
-14: Spieth
-9: Hoffman
-7: Rose, D Johnson, Casey
-6: Mickelson
-5: Els
-4: Na, Streelman, Haas, Moore
-3: Cabrera, Oosthuizen, O’Meara, Day, Scott, Matsuyama, Schwartzel
-2: Woods, Garcia, Willett, Henley, Blixt, Reed, B Watson, McIlroy
Verdict: I think Spieth will win if he manages to maintain his composure.
La Liga: Sevilla vs Barcelona
A hyper moralized Barcelona will travel to Andalusia to measure forces with Sevilla at the emblematic Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan for round 31 of the Spanish Liga BBVA.
Will Sevilla be able to put an end on Barça’s winning streak?
Barcelona continued with their fantastic streak when they hosted Almeria last Wednesday. Luis Enrique’s boys sealed their 24th win of the season thanks to another excellent performance by the erratic Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez, who scored twice against the Andalusian team at Camp Nou. Barça’s Asturian manager implemented some changes in the team’s lineup against Almeria by giving some more playing time to young players, such as the centre back Marc Bartra and the talented deep-lying playmaker Sergi Roberto.
The unpredictable home defeat against Málaga in the end of February was an excellent eye opener for the Catalan team, who from that moment on embarked on a fantastic streak of seven consecutive wins for La Liga and two for the UEFA Champions League.
Verdict: Barcelona appear very strong and might just snatch it. Sevilla will aim for at least a point.
Barclays Premiership: Manchester United vs Manchester City
A motivated Manchester United will measure forces with their neighbours and rivals, Manchester City, at the emblematic Old Trafford for round 32 of the English Premier League.
Will City be able to return to winning ways against such a highly motivated United on Sunday?
The current EPL champions, Manchester City, have not yet managed to find a way to get back on tracks and keep collecting unimpressive results as we enter into the season’s final countdown. After an easy home win over a ten-men West Brom almost three weeks ago, the Citizens have once again been defeated last Monday’s night at Selhurst Park by a mighty Crystal Palace, who in the end were the fair winners of the match. A goal from Glenn Murray in the first-half and another one at the expenses of Jason Puncheon from a superbly placed free-kick right after the break, proved to be enough to impose the sixth defeat of the season to a deeply fragilized Manchester City, which has dropped to the 4th place of the table after their recent unimpressive results.
The defeats against Barcelona and the respective elimination from the UEFA Champions League had a major impact on the team and, if to that we add the EPL’s setbacks against Liverpool, Burnley and Crystal Palace, one can say that Manchester City are free falling and have very slim chances of recovering from such poor streak.
Their upcoming match at Old Trafford will surely be a very complicated one and, in case of defeat, the Citizens will eventually say goodbye to the second place of the EPL table for good.
Verdict: Manchester United will pile more misery on Pellegrini.
Lions vs Sharks
The Lions have been a shining light in a so-far dire Super Rugby campaign for the South African sides. With four runs on the trot, including a record-equalling three away wins and a last-gasp victory over trans-Jukskei rivals the Bulls, the men in red have built up a fine head of steam. They should feel confident of beating the Sharks at the Emirates Airline Park (Ellis Park) and give their home fans something to cheer about at last.
Johann Ackermann’s team has shown a resilience under talismanic skipper Warren Whitely that was sorely lacking in seasons past and their miserly defence has seen them get past more fancied opponents. A place in the playoffs beckons for the ninth-placed Lions if they can maintain their run and pivots Marnitz Boshoff and Elton Jantjies stay injury-free.
The Sharks find themselves on the opposite end of the form spectrum as they are coming off a humiliating 52-10 loss to the Crusaders at King’s Park in Durban. Loose forward Jean Deysel was red-carded for kneeing in that game, continuing a worrying penchant for indiscipline that has been a hallmark of the Sharks’ season so far. They were lucky to escape with the points against the Chiefs two weeks ago when both captain Bismarck du Plessis and centre Frans Steyn were sent off for infractions.
With all three stalwarts suspended for the next few games, new head coach Gary Gold faces an uphill battle. As it stands, the Sharks are two places ahead of the Lions in seventh and remain in contention for a playoff spot. To do that, they will have to rein in their emotions and plug the holes in their defence.
Verdict: Lions are usually at their best when playing at home and i dont see the Sharks upsetting them.
IPL: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challengers Bangalore
The reigning champions, Kolkata Knight Riders, kicked off the ongoing Indian Premier League 2015 positively by beating Mumbai Indians by a margin of seven wickets. The latter managed 168 for the loss of three wickets in the allotted twenty overs and the former smashed 3-170 with nine balls remaining. Royal Challengers Bangalore held the seventh spot in the previous tournament by grasping just five matches out of 14, lost nine and attained 10 points. They will be playing their opening game of the event against KKR.
Players to watch
Gautam Gambhir tasted his maiden fifty of the event for KKR vs. MI as Suryakumar Yadav and Manish Pandey contributed 46 and 40 runs. Robin Uthappa, is capable of scoring brisky runs whereas Shakib Al Hasan and Andre Russell are tremendous all-rounders. Morne Morkel, Piyush Chawla, Sunil Narine and Umesh Yadav bowled superbly in the last match.
AB de Villiers, Virat Kohli and Chris Gayle were the star performers in the recently concluded ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 while Rilee Rossouw has improved in the shortest versions of the game. Nic Maddinson, Dinesh Karthik, S Badrinath, Mandeep Singh, Vijay Zol and Yogesh Takawale are useful batsmen of RCB. The formidable bowling unit will be looked after by Mitchell Starc, Adam Milne, Harsh Patel, Sarfraz Khan, Iqbal Abdulla, Darren Sammy, Ashok Dinda, Abu Nechim, Varun Aaron and Sean Abbott.
Verdict: RCB will walk away victorious, but inly if they manage to fully utilise their arsenal.
Here are some of the biggest sporting events to watch this weekend on DStv's SuperSport.
Golf: The Masters
So of course the second day of the 79th Masters Tournament, like the first, was all about the phenomenal Jordan Spieth. His 66 was arguably better than Thursday’s 64, a little more controlled, a little less hectic and reliant on the odd lucky bounce. The young man’s a genius. And most likely this year’s champion. But there are enough big names hovering around in case of any dramatic slip. You never know in golf. You just never know. Join the action today and tomorrow to witness the spectacular.
-14: Spieth
-9: Hoffman
-7: Rose, D Johnson, Casey
-6: Mickelson
-5: Els
-4: Na, Streelman, Haas, Moore
-3: Cabrera, Oosthuizen, O’Meara, Day, Scott, Matsuyama, Schwartzel
-2: Woods, Garcia, Willett, Henley, Blixt, Reed, B Watson, McIlroy
Verdict: I think Spieth will win if he manages to maintain his composure.
La Liga: Sevilla vs Barcelona
A hyper moralized Barcelona will travel to Andalusia to measure forces with Sevilla at the emblematic Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan for round 31 of the Spanish Liga BBVA.
Will Sevilla be able to put an end on Barça’s winning streak?
Barcelona continued with their fantastic streak when they hosted Almeria last Wednesday. Luis Enrique’s boys sealed their 24th win of the season thanks to another excellent performance by the erratic Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez, who scored twice against the Andalusian team at Camp Nou. Barça’s Asturian manager implemented some changes in the team’s lineup against Almeria by giving some more playing time to young players, such as the centre back Marc Bartra and the talented deep-lying playmaker Sergi Roberto.
The unpredictable home defeat against Málaga in the end of February was an excellent eye opener for the Catalan team, who from that moment on embarked on a fantastic streak of seven consecutive wins for La Liga and two for the UEFA Champions League.
Verdict: Barcelona appear very strong and might just snatch it. Sevilla will aim for at least a point.
Barclays Premiership: Manchester United vs Manchester City
A motivated Manchester United will measure forces with their neighbours and rivals, Manchester City, at the emblematic Old Trafford for round 32 of the English Premier League.
Will City be able to return to winning ways against such a highly motivated United on Sunday?
The current EPL champions, Manchester City, have not yet managed to find a way to get back on tracks and keep collecting unimpressive results as we enter into the season’s final countdown. After an easy home win over a ten-men West Brom almost three weeks ago, the Citizens have once again been defeated last Monday’s night at Selhurst Park by a mighty Crystal Palace, who in the end were the fair winners of the match. A goal from Glenn Murray in the first-half and another one at the expenses of Jason Puncheon from a superbly placed free-kick right after the break, proved to be enough to impose the sixth defeat of the season to a deeply fragilized Manchester City, which has dropped to the 4th place of the table after their recent unimpressive results.
The defeats against Barcelona and the respective elimination from the UEFA Champions League had a major impact on the team and, if to that we add the EPL’s setbacks against Liverpool, Burnley and Crystal Palace, one can say that Manchester City are free falling and have very slim chances of recovering from such poor streak.
Their upcoming match at Old Trafford will surely be a very complicated one and, in case of defeat, the Citizens will eventually say goodbye to the second place of the EPL table for good.
Verdict: Manchester United will pile more misery on Pellegrini.
Lions vs Sharks
The Lions have been a shining light in a so-far dire Super Rugby campaign for the South African sides. With four runs on the trot, including a record-equalling three away wins and a last-gasp victory over trans-Jukskei rivals the Bulls, the men in red have built up a fine head of steam. They should feel confident of beating the Sharks at the Emirates Airline Park (Ellis Park) and give their home fans something to cheer about at last.
Johann Ackermann’s team has shown a resilience under talismanic skipper Warren Whitely that was sorely lacking in seasons past and their miserly defence has seen them get past more fancied opponents. A place in the playoffs beckons for the ninth-placed Lions if they can maintain their run and pivots Marnitz Boshoff and Elton Jantjies stay injury-free.
The Sharks find themselves on the opposite end of the form spectrum as they are coming off a humiliating 52-10 loss to the Crusaders at King’s Park in Durban. Loose forward Jean Deysel was red-carded for kneeing in that game, continuing a worrying penchant for indiscipline that has been a hallmark of the Sharks’ season so far. They were lucky to escape with the points against the Chiefs two weeks ago when both captain Bismarck du Plessis and centre Frans Steyn were sent off for infractions.
With all three stalwarts suspended for the next few games, new head coach Gary Gold faces an uphill battle. As it stands, the Sharks are two places ahead of the Lions in seventh and remain in contention for a playoff spot. To do that, they will have to rein in their emotions and plug the holes in their defence.
Verdict: Lions are usually at their best when playing at home and i dont see the Sharks upsetting them.
IPL: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challengers Bangalore
The reigning champions, Kolkata Knight Riders, kicked off the ongoing Indian Premier League 2015 positively by beating Mumbai Indians by a margin of seven wickets. The latter managed 168 for the loss of three wickets in the allotted twenty overs and the former smashed 3-170 with nine balls remaining. Royal Challengers Bangalore held the seventh spot in the previous tournament by grasping just five matches out of 14, lost nine and attained 10 points. They will be playing their opening game of the event against KKR.
Players to watch
Gautam Gambhir tasted his maiden fifty of the event for KKR vs. MI as Suryakumar Yadav and Manish Pandey contributed 46 and 40 runs. Robin Uthappa, is capable of scoring brisky runs whereas Shakib Al Hasan and Andre Russell are tremendous all-rounders. Morne Morkel, Piyush Chawla, Sunil Narine and Umesh Yadav bowled superbly in the last match.
AB de Villiers, Virat Kohli and Chris Gayle were the star performers in the recently concluded ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 while Rilee Rossouw has improved in the shortest versions of the game. Nic Maddinson, Dinesh Karthik, S Badrinath, Mandeep Singh, Vijay Zol and Yogesh Takawale are useful batsmen of RCB. The formidable bowling unit will be looked after by Mitchell Starc, Adam Milne, Harsh Patel, Sarfraz Khan, Iqbal Abdulla, Darren Sammy, Ashok Dinda, Abu Nechim, Varun Aaron and Sean Abbott.
Verdict: RCB will walk away victorious, but inly if they manage to fully utilise their arsenal.
