It's a busy weekend in English football with Newcastle and Manchester United duelling for the first trophy on offer, the Carabao Cup, then there are also eight matches in the Premier League.

Host Carl Lewis and coach Grant de Smidt preview all of these matches for your betting purposes.

Manchester United and Newcastle United head under the famous arch of Wembley this weekend for the Carabao Cup final. 

Manchester United v Newcastle United

Both teams have had impressive campaigns this season so far, setting up a blockbuster encounter in the capital. Ahead of Sunday’s showdown we’ve delved into the Betfred markets to see where the value is.

Newcastle haven't beaten Man United since 2019 and have tasted defeat in four of their last six contests with the Red Devils. However, the Toon have picked up draws in the last two meetings and there’s no denying that they’re a team who are on the up - in fact, they’ve only been beaten three times in all competitions this season and two of those were against Liverpool. 

This is shaping up to be an enthralling battle, but you have to favour United (6/5 to win inside 90 minutes and 4/7 to lift the trophy) who have momentum on their side with six wins from their last eight in all competitions, scoring 19 along the way. Newcastle are winless in their last three, all in the league, and it has seen them drop below Tottenham Hotspur to fifth in the table.

Premier League Matchweek 25

Fulham v Wolves

Everton v Aston Villa

Leeds v Southampton

Leicester v Arsenal

West ham v Forest

Bournemouth v Man City

Crystal Palace v Liverpool

Tottenham Hotspur v Chelsea

 

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Host Carl Lewis is joined by young, up-and-coming journalist Avuyile Sawula about the Springboks and Jacques Nienaber's first press conference of the new year.

 

Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber and Head of Athletic Performance Andy Edwards have provided an update on the ongoing alignment camp.

 

Fourteen players have assembled in Cape Town for the three-week camp that will involve off-field alignment sessions as well as on-field training sessions.

 

Nienaber said the majority of the players in the camp haven't had a proper break since before the British & Irish Lions series in 2021.

 

Fourteen frontline Springboks assembled in Cape Town on Sunday for a three-week "physical and rugby development" camp as the world champions step up preparations for the defence of their title in France later this year.

 

The camp, which runs until 10 March, is for players of national interest and those who have been on a break from the United Rugby Championship (URC).

 

The camp will involve a series of off-field alignment sessions as well as on-field training sessions to prepare the players for the remainder of the season.

Host Carl Lewis is joined by coach Dace Wessels to talk about Australian rugby and their chances in Super Rugby. Dave coached in Australia for several years (Brumbies, Melbourne Rebels and Western Force) so is placed to discuss Australian rugby.

They talk about how Australia can be more competitive in Super Rugby and what fundamental changes they can make to their rugby administration.

We move on to the Six Nation and in particular Ireland. The Irish made a huge statement on top of the other massive statements they have made in the last few years when they beat France two weeks ago.

They showed why they are world number one but we ask do they have the 'juice' to become world champions.

UFC 284 Review

The top two Pound-for-Pound fighters in the world put on an instant classic at UFC 284. The 155-pound title was on the line Saturday in Perth, Australia as Featherweight Champion Alexander Volkanovski moved up in wait to challenge Lightweight Champion Islam Makhachev. Volkanovski came up short in a spirited effort, pushing Makhachev to the limit in their five-round Main event. In the Co-main event, dynamic striker Yair Rodriguez (15-3) took on former collegiate wrestler Josh Emmett (18-3) for the Interim Featherweight Championship. Rodriguez was able to outduel Emmett in an absolute battle, earning a submission (Triangle choke) in round two. Also, on the main card intriguing prospect, Jack Della Maddalena stopped Randy Brown (16-5) in under three minutes. Maddalena was the UFC’s rookie of the year in 2022 going (3-0) and had a real coming out party in front of his native Australian fans this weekend.

Jones v Gane Preview

After more than two years since his last fight, former Lightweight Champion Jon Jones is now set to enter the Octagon once again. The UFC has now released an official trailer to build anticipation for the UFC 285 Heavyweight main event, Jon Jones vs Ciryl Gane.

Facing legal trouble outside of the cage, a contract dispute with the UFC, and adjusting to his new Heavyweight weight class, Jones last fought in a successful title defense against Dominick Reyes at UFC 247 back in February 2020.

Following Francis Ngannou’s departure from the UFC, Jon Jones will be going up against Ciryl Gane in his Heavyweight debut for the now-vacant title. The fight will answer questions about Jones’ performance at Heavyweight and if he can still perform following his lengthy layoff. UFC 285 will also see a co-main event Flyweight title bout between champion Valentina Shevchenko and Alexa Grasso.

Host Carl Lewis chats with award-winning football journalist Lorenz Kohler about CAF's new continental tournament coined the African Super League.

The Prize money of the Africa Super League will be USD 100 million, with the winner receiving USD 11.5 million.

Some of the funding from the Africa Super League will be used to allocate USD 1 million per annum to each of CAF’s 54 Member Countries, which is a total of USD 54 million per annum to develop football in all the African countries.

CAF will also receive USD 50 million per annum to develop football for boys and girls, to employ world-class staff, to improve and to make all its other competitions attractive and appealing to football spectators, TV viewers, sponsors and other partners.

Africa’s most valuable football club competition, the Africa Super League, will officially kick off in August 2023 and will involve 24 clubs from 16 countries across the Continent.

AFRICA SUPER LEAGUE KEY FACTS:

24 Clubs

- 3 regions (North, Central/West, Southern/East)

- 8 clubs per region

- Maximum 3 clubs per country

Over 16 different countries

- representing approximately 1 billion people

Duration

- 10 months

- August to May

197 matches

- Maximum 21 matches played by the finalists

- Relegation/promotion playoff

 

After back-to-back elevated events on the West Coast, the PGA Tour makes its way to the Southeast to begin the Florida Swing at the Honda Classic. Unfortunately, this one is just a regular old event, which has resulted in a rather weak field at Jack Nicklaus' PGA National Champion Course.

That doesn't make the event any less important, however, for players fighting for their careers, or fighting to get back in the winner's circle. Sungjae Im, the tournament favourite and is looking to win for the first time since the 2021 Shriners. That was the second win of his tour career, the first coming in the 2020 Honda Classic just before the COVID pandemic brought the world to a halt.

After Im is a rather sizable odds gap, with Shane Lowry's name checking in at 14-1. Last year, Lowry needed a birdie on the 72nd to force a playoff with Sepp Straka, but an untimely rainstorm made the difficult 18th that much harder and Lowry settled for par, finishing one shot back in solo second. 

A trio of players—Aaron Wise, Alex Noren and Min Woo Lee—are next at 25-1, followed by Chris Kirk, Denny McCarthy and Matt Kuchar at 28-1. Billy Horschel is 30-1, while Harris English, who appears to be back at full health, is 35-1. 

Football writer Zach Lowy hosts this European football podcast and is joined by Sam Tabuteau, Premier League correspondent, and David Parkes a Belgian football expert and journalist.

The trio take a deep dive into Paris Saint Germain and their Ligue 1 struggles. They also touch on Kylian Mbappe, Neymar and Lionel Messi and the Qatari/PSG project.

They move on to the Ligue Golden Boot race which is an unexpectedly exciting one.

They move across the pond to the Premier League and take a deep dive into Chelsea, Graham Potter, Todd Boehly and everything that has been going on at the London club.

Finally, they finished with some predictions for the UEFA Champions League this week.

Host Carl Lewis is joined by motorsport journalist Sean Parker and ApexMag editor Marius Boonzaier to tell us everything we need to know about the Formula E World Championship that takes pace in the Mother City.

The ABB FIA Formula E World Championship makes it two brand new events in a fortnight, with the series' maiden trip to South Africa and Cape Town on 25 February, for Round 5 of Season 9.

The inaugural Cape Town E-Prix is Formula E's first sub-Saharan African event, with the spectacular Table Mountain providing the backdrop for the second of three consecutive events at new venues to the championship, following an unforgettable debut in India and Hyderabad last time out.

The Mother City's Green Point district provides the location for the high-speed 2.927km circuit, looking out on Robben Island and in the shadow of Table Mountain - snaking around the DHL Stadium and skirting the coastline.

It's a fast-paced track, with bumpy braking zones, a tight chicane at Turns 4, 5 and 6 with a pacy, eye-of-the-needle section midway around the lap - all set to throw up a real challenge for the 22 world class drivers. Another new event means everybody starts at zero, too.

Carl Lewis and cricket writer Daniel Gallan discuss the biggest talking points in South African and world cricket.

 

In this podcast, the pair cover:

 

Shukri Conrad, South Africa's new Test coach, has revealed that he took the call to replace Dean Elgar with Temba Bavuma as Test captain.

 

 Aiden Markram, who Conrad confirmed would open the batting against West Indies after being dropped for the Australia series.

Markram, who has an average of 24.60 in his last 23 Tests, was preferred over Sarel Erwee, and Conrad indicated he would get a long run in the Test team.

 

Similarly, tough calls were made in the bowling department, where Lungi Ngidi was left out in favour of Gerald Coetzee. Conrad confirmed Coetzee was likely to debut and that South Africa would go all-pace for the first Test at SuperSport Park.

 

South Africa have included three spinners in the squad in Keshav Maharaj, Simon Harmer and Senuran Muthusamy, who played two Tests on the India tour in 2019. 

 

Conrad said he would opt for seven batters and four bowlers, as opposed to the six-five combination South Africa were using, which left them looking a batter light routinely. Secondly, Rassie van der Dussen and Kyle Verreynne have both been dropped, the latter despite finishing as the second-highest run-scorer in the Australia series.

 

They also cover the ICC Women's T20 World Cup as the Proteas look destined to make into the semi-inals of their home tournament.

 

A rematch of last season's Liverpool versus Real Madrid final and a tale from yesteryear between Porto and Inter are among the key storylines in the round of 16 openers. Host Carl Lewis previews every match this week and provide betting tips and predictions. They cover single bets and multiples.

 

Final rematch for Liverpool and Madrid

 

They don't come bigger than this. Liverpool and Real Madrid meet again with the latter in the ascendancy in recent years after winning 1-0 in last season's final thanks to Vinícius Júnior's goal at the Stade de France and a 3-1 Gareth Bale-inspired triumph in Kyiv in 2018. "This tie speaks for itself," says Reds boss Jürgen Klopp, whose side were also eliminated by Madrid in the 2020/21 quarter-finals. "I know we have played Real Madrid in a couple of recent finals but it is not so often that our two clubs have met in a two-legged tie."

 

Their 2014/15 group stage meetings were a break from the knockout norm but Madrid still won both games with Karim Benzema scoring twice in the first, a 3-0 away win, and the sole goal in the second. The French marksman has 16 goals in 23 Champions League games against English clubs – his largest tally against opposition from a single nation – including seven last season. Liverpool's hopes of bucking the trend may rest on quelling the evergreen striker.

 

Opposites collide as Frankfurt face Napoli

 

These two sides certainly took different paths to get to the round of 16 with Napoli cruising through by winning their first five matches while Frankfurt struck twice in the second half of their last match at Sporting CP to jump into second spot in their section. The German side have impressed domestically too, with the likes of French World Cup star Randal Kolo Muani enhancing their reputation.

 

In Victor Osimhen, Napoli possess a red-hot striker of their own; one of many reasons the Partenopei have been tearing it up in Italy this season. A first Scudetto since 1989/90 seems only a matter of time but coach Luciano Spalletti is taking nothing for granted, either in that regard or his next European opponents: "Eintracht are holders of the Europa League, a team on the up. It certainly won't be easy."

 

Have Man City learned their Leipzig lesson?

 

Like Napoli, Manchester City will be expected by most to progress from their tie against Leipzig as they continue their search for that elusive Champions League crown. Pep Guardiola will doubtless be preaching a similarly wary message to his charges, particularly given they failed to heed his words of warning when beaten 2-1 in Leipzig in the group stage last season, albeit his side were already safely through.

 

"They have a really good team – we knew before the group stage," said the City manager after that game. "Unfortunately we made one or two mistakes and they punished us. We were more aggressive in the second half, we played to win but we lost." Christopher Nkunku inspired the German outfit to a 3-2 victory over holders Real Madrid this term and though he is just coming back from long-term injury, the English champions, against whom he scored a hat-trick last season, will have to put the shackles on him to avoid a similar fate.

 

Will Porto's Pepe roll back the years against Inter?

 

You have to go back more than 17 years for the last meetings of these sides, yet those encounters provide food for thought relevant to this day. Inter ended Porto's Champions League defence in the 2004/05 round of 16, winning 3-1 in the San Siro second leg after a 1-1 first-leg draw. The Portuguese side gained some revenge the following season though, winning 2-0 at home in the group stage. The link between then and now? A certain colossus at the back.

 

A 22-year-old named Pepe played the full match and helped Porto shut out the Nerazzurri in that last game, but he had only managed ten minutes as a late substitute across the two matches the previous season. Now 39, the centre-back has struggled with injury this season but when fit he remains integral to Sérgio Conceição's side. Off the back of a fine World Cup, club president Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa said: "I think he will play another five or six years. He is a monster, a competitive animal." Count out a Pepe-led Porto at your peril.