PICK OF THE SPORT: Arsenal is plagued by injuries, and Tottenham Hotspur have a spark in their belly as they clash in a derby you cannot miss, writes Dylan Bettencourt.
Before the international break, Arsenal fans and probably their players would have been confident they could beat their north London neighbours, Tottenham Hotspur.
However, injured players like Martin Ødegaard, Declan Rice, Mikel Merino and Riccardo Calafiori have made them less confident.
Arsenal started the season well, winning two and drawing one, while Tottenham’s been a mixed bag, winning one, losing one, and drawing the other.
Tottenham feels a spark in their belly, given that their rivals are limping into the fixture without their best players.
Arsenal cannot afford to lose ground to Manchester City this early in the season because City are in ruthless form.
The North London derby will take centre stage at 3pm on Sunday.
Before that, Manchester United will kick the weekend off against Southampton on Saturday at 1.30pm.
Liverpool will face Nottingham Forest at 4pm, Manchester City will take on Brentford at the same time, and Chelsea will end Saturday night with a clash against Bournemouth at 9pm.
All the fixtures will be live on DStv channel 203.
➤ There is no international rugby this weekend, but there are still two exciting matches for South African rugby fans.
The Saturday semi-final matches for the Curry Cup trophy promise to produce fast and close rugby between the top four teams, and both matches can go either way.
The Lions, now clearly leading the log, haven’t lost a match since they fell to the Sharks in July and are the clear favourites to beat the Cheetahs, who have not had the best run in the tournament.
The Cheetahs, however, had a brilliant win over the Pumas last week after franchise boss Frans Steyn stepped in and took responsibility for their loss against Griquas the week before. Do not assume they will lose against the Lions!
The Bulls are still second on the log, but their last two matches have been less convincing. During their 24-point loss against the marauding Lions, they looked confused by the Lions’ speed in all phases. Against the Sharks, they lost by six points, and they never looked convincing.
The Sharks are back on the winning trail, and nothing indicates the Bulls will win the match.
Lions v Cheetahs, Emirates Ellis Park, Saturday, 2.30pm.
Blue Bulls v Sharks, Loftus Versfeld, 5pm.
Both matches live on DStv channel 201
➤ Formula 1 heads to Azerbaijan this weekend for the Baku Grand Prix, with Lando Norris chasing down Max Verstappen for the driver’s championship.
McLaren this week said they will prioritise Lando and his fight to become a world champion, leaving his poor teammate Oscar Piastri to play backup for the rest of the season.
Max has not won a race for some time and will feel the pressure as Lando chases him down.
The Baku City Circuit offers tricky corners and one of the longest straights on the calendar, making for an always exciting race.
Lights out is set for 1pm on Sunday, live on DStv channel 215.
Pictured above: Arsenal.
Source: Arsenal/X
