Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos has named a relatively familiar 35-man preliminary squad for the decisive home and away Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Liberia.

South Africa host the West African nation on Friday, 24 March at Orlando Stadium in Soweto, Johannesburg, and play again four days later on Wednesday, 28 March in the Liberian capital of Monrovia.

Bafana's ticket to Ivory Coast can be booked with victories in both fixtures before their final group match against Morocco in June.

The ban on Zimbabwe's national team by FIFA made qualification easier for Bafana. To not make the cut from Group K to participate in the tournament would be a complete failure for Broos.

Belgian-born coach Broos named ten Sundowns players in his preliminary squad following the Tswhane outfit's dominant display across all 2022/23 soccer calendar competitions.

Cassius Mailula, 21, was a notable inclusion by Broos as his creative spark and goalscoring attributes have inspired Brazilians all season.

Red-hot Orlando Pirates forward Monnapule Saleng, Al Ahly ace Percy Tau, Burnley's new face Lyle Foster and Kobamelo Kodisang, who plies his trade in Portugal for Moreirense, have all caught the eye of Broos.

Kaizer Chiefs, meanwhile, have only one representative in the squad, with Brandon Peterson named among three other goalkeeping options.

The Bafana mentor will trim down the squad to 23 players ahead of their training camp, which commences on Sunday, 19 March.

Bafana Bafana 35-man preliminary squad:

Goalkeepers: Ronwen Williams (Mamelodi Sundowns), Veli Mothwa (AmaZulu), Brandon Petersen (Kaizer Chiefs), Ricardo Goss (SuperSport United)

Defenders: Nyiko Mobbie (Sekhukhune United), Khuliso Mudau (Mamelodi Sundowns), Siyanda Xulu (Turan-Tovuz IK, Azerbaijan), Siyanda Msani (Richards Bay FC), Innocent Maela (Orlando Pirates), Taariq Fielies (Cape Town City), Nkosinathi Sibisi (Orlando Pirates), Thapelo Morena (Mamelodi Sundowns), Aubrey Modiba (Mamelodi Sundowns), Grant Kekana (Mamelodi Sundowns), Thapelo Maseko (SuperSport United),

Midfielders: Mothobi Mvala (Mamelodi Sundowns ), Miguel Timm (Orlando Pirates), Njabulo Blom (St Louis City, USA), Grant Magerman (SuperSport United), Teboho Mokoena (Mamelodi Sundowns), Luke Le Roux (Vargerb Bois, Sweden), Sphephelo Sithole (Belenenses, Portugal), Sphelele Mkhulise (Mamelodi Sundowns)

Forwards: Monnapule Saleng (Orlando Pirates), Khanyisa Mayo (Cape Town City), Lyle Foster (Westerlo, Belgium), Mihlali Mayambela (Aris Limassol, Cyprus), Fagrie Lakay (Pyramids, Egypt), Bongokuhle Hlongwane (Minnesota, USA), Pule Mmodi (Golden Arrows), Themba Zwane (Mamelodi Sundowns), Zakhele Lepasa (Orlando Pirates), Percy Tau (Al Ahly, Egypt), Cassius Mailula (Mamelodi Sundowns), Kobamelo Kodisang (Moreirense FC, Portugal)

The team at Analytics Laduma are back for another episode of a deep dive into stats and facts in the Premier Soccer League (DSTV Premiership) and they cover:

Match Focus:

Stellenbosch FC v Mamelodi Sundowns

Player Focus:

The stats behind some of the best individual performances in the league

League Focus:

Interesting takeouts and stats from around the league.

Host Carl Lewis and coach and analyst Grant de Smidt preview Matchweek 27 in the Premier League.

Host Carl Lewis and rugby punter Neal Hoogwerf preview and have the best bets for Six Nations, Super Rugby Pacific & Gallagher Premiership.

Carl Lewis chats with NBA expert Cyrus Rogers about the biggest talking points in the National Basketball Association.

In this episode they cover:

• The Denver Nuggets' impressive regular season where they lead the Western Conference - we also discuss Nikola Jokic.
• Sacramento Kings - how far can they go?
• Los Angeles Lakers are in a play-in spot and we talk about how their trades have worked out.
• Ja Morant's behaviour and Memphis Grizzlies
• Philadelphia 76ers
• New York Knicks - we talk about how good they are
• Brooklyn Nets

Zach Lowy speaks to Alex Barker and Raphael Adelugba about the weekend’s action in Europe including Liverpool’s dominant win against Manchester United, Real Madrid’s struggles in attack, Roma’s victory over Juventus, and more.

Host Carl Lewis and golf punter Wade Pretorius preview The Players Championship and provide four bets to take for the weekend.

TPC Sawgrass will once again play host to the most prominent field on the PGA TOUR, as the world’s best look to add an iconic title to their trophy case.

 Forty-nine of the top 50 players on the current FedExCup Playoffs and Eligibility Points List will compete, as well as 43 of the top 50 on the Official World Golf Ranking … Eight PLAYERS winners and six FedExCup champions will tee it up, led by 2019 PLAYERS champion and reigning FedExCup titleholder Rory McIlroy … All 14 players who have won on TOUR this season will be at TPC Sawgrass … At least 30 players will compete in their first PLAYERS, including Min Woo Lee, who earned a spot via the top 50 on the world ranking after The Honda Classic. The brother of Minjee Lee (No. 3 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings) is looking to acquire PGA TOUR status via the DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai Rankings at year’s end. The top 10 players on the Race to Dubai, not already exempt, will earn PGA TOUR cards for the following season … Justin Suh earned a start at TPC Sawgrass after finishing atop the Korn Ferry Tour’s 2022 season-long standings. If not otherwise exempt, the winners of this week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard and Puerto Rico Open will round out the field.

Host Carl Lewis and cricket writer Daniel Gallan discuss the recently concluded ICC Women's T20 World Cup and the selection talking points around the Proteas Test squad in their series against the West Indies.

Red Bull enjoyed a perfect start to the season in the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix as Max Verstappen cruised to victory over team mate Sergio Perez – while Fernando Alonso finished third as Charles Leclerc retired from the race.

Everyone bar hard-shod Kevin Magnussen (P15) began the race on soft tyres and Verstappen had a solid getaway, but team mate Perez fell back and lost second place to Leclerc – while Carlos Sainz couldn’t quite pry P3 off the Red Bull. The reigning champion stretched his legs in the lead and eventually won by more than 10 seconds. Perez completed the one-two with both Red Bull drivers on similar soft-soft-hard strategies.

Aston Martin’s hopes of crashing the podium fight seemed to have come crashing down on Lap 1 when Lance Stroll made a lunge on team mate Alonso into Turn 4 and hit the rear-right of his car, allowing both Mercedes ahead.

Ferrari’s hopes of the podium did however come crashing down on Lap 41, when Leclerc retired with an engine issue. That was just after Alonso produced an absolutely brilliant move to take P5 off Lewis Hamilton, down the inside of Turn 10. Alonso went on the warpath and on Lap 45 he passed Sainz after a stunning battle through Sector 2, to seal his first podium since Qatar 2021.

Host Carl Lewis is joined by coach Grant de Smidt and punter David Kappel to preview the second leg of the UEFA Champions League round of 16. They give best bets and create multi for the week's action.

The UEFA Champions League round of 16 second legs start on 7 March with Chelsea and Club Brugge trying to overturn deficits, while there is little to separate Tottenham and AC Milan or Bayern and Paris as they gear up for their rematches.

We pick out some key talking points ahead of the keenly anticipated returns.

7 March

Benfica vs Club Brugge (agg: 2-0)

Second-half goals from João Mário and David Neres gave Benfica a 2-0 advantage in the first leg and made it just one win in eight games for new Club Brugge coach Scott Parker. Add in the fact that the Eagles had 15 wins and two draws from their 17 home games this season at the end of February and the task facing Blauw-Zwart is an uphill one to say the least.

Chelsea vs Dortmund (agg: 0-1)

Karim Adeyemi's wonderful solo effort was enough to give Dortmund a 1-0 victory in the first meeting with Chelsea, whose travails in front of goal continued in Germany. The Blues have drawn blanks in ten of their last 15 matches, scoring just six times across the other five outings. That said, Graham Potter's charges are playing some eye-catching football and they seem to be on the cusp of translating their fluid build-up into goals.

8 March

Tottenham Hotspur vs AC Milan (agg: 0-1)

A second successive 1-0 victory ensured Milan head to north London with a quarter-final spot in their sights, but Rossoneri supporters will hope they are not made to rue their second-half profligacy against Spurs at San Siro. Midfielder Charles de Ketelaere and defender Malick Thiaw both spurned excellent opportunities to add to Brahim Díaz's early effort, missing the target with close-range headers.

Bayern vs Paris Saint-Germain (agg: 1-0)

Kingsley Coman's second-half header may have given the 2019/2020 winners a slender lead in the French capital but Paris have a blueprint for success in Munich, having beaten Hansi Flick's Bayern 3-2 in the 2020/21 quarter-final first leg. Kylian Mbappé scored twice that evening, and the France international's cameo off the bench in Paris on 14 February suggests he could play a major role in the teams' latest tussle.