Sports line up for (5th – 7th October)

This will be a jam packed weekend in terms of sports. So feel free to pick you blanket, wallet and friends and practically live in Blanco”s Sports Grill this weekend.  Below is the complete list of the matches and sports you expect to be aired at Blancos this weekend.

Action Attractions | Friday, October 05, 2012

16:20 – 18:30	Rugby				Absa Currie Cup: First Division SF 1: Ford Pumas v Tasol Solar Griffons
19:00 – 21:00	Rugby				Absa Currie Cup: Vodacom Blue Bulls v Dhl Western Province
21:00 – 23:00	Rugby				Aviva Premiership Rugby Round 6 – Sale Sharks v Leicester Tigers
10:45 – 14:30		Cricket			ICC World Twenty20 Women SF 2: Australia v West Indies
15:00 – 19:00		Cricket			ICC World Twenty20 SF 2: Australia v West Indies
13:45 – 16:00	Soccer			FIFA U/17 Women’s World Cup QF 4: Germany v Brazil
16:45 – 19:00	Soccer			FIFA U/17 Women’s World Cup QF 3: Japan v Ghana
20:00 – 23:00	Soccer			Bundesliga Matchday 7: Augsburg v Werder Bremen
16:20 – 18:30	Rugby			Absa Currie Cup: First Division SF 1: Ford Pumas v Tasol Solar Griffons
19:00 – 19:30	Soccer			Master Plan Eps. 5
19:30 – 22:30	Soccer			Super Diski – Absa Premiership Chippa Utd v Maritzburg Utd
14:30 – 18:30	Golf			European Tour Alfred Dunhill Links Championship Day 2
22:00 – 01:00	Golf			PGA Tour Justin Timberlake Shiners Hospitals For Children Day 2
14:20 – 14:40	Rugby			@lantic Provincial U18 Sevens Tournament Cup SF 2
14:40 – 15:00	Rugby			@lantic Provincial U18 Sevens Tournament Shield Final
15:00 – 15:20	Rugby			@lantic Provincial U18 Sevens Tournament Bowl Final
15:20 – 15:40	Rugby			@lantic Provincial U18 Sevens Tournament Plate Final
15:40 – 16:00	Rugby			@lantic Provincial U18 Sevens Tournament Cup 3rd/4th Place Play-Off
16:00 – 16:30	Rugby			@lantic Provincial U18 Sevens Tournament Cup Final
16:30 – 16:40	Rugby			@lantic Provincial U18 Sevens Tournament Prizegiving
16:40 – 18:45	Rugby			Absa Under 21 A Section – Vodacom Blue Bulls v Sharks U21
19:00 – 21:10	Rugby			Absa Currie Cup: First Division SF 2: EP Kings v Leopards
21:10 – 22:50	Rugby			French Top 14 Round 8 – Castres v Clermont Auvergne

Action Attractions | Saturday, October 06, 2012

08:30 – 10:30	Rugby		ITM Cup: Round 13 – Otago v Wellington
15:45 – 18:00	Soccer		Barclays Premier League Week 8: Chelsea v Norwich City
18:00 – 21:00	Soccer		Barclays Premier League Week 8: West Ham Utd v Arsenal
21:55 – 00:00	Soccer		Spanish La Liga Week 7: Real Betis v Real Sociedad
15:00 – 17:30	Soccer		Super Diski – Absa Premiership Free State Stra v Moroka Swallows
17:30 – 20:00	Soccer		Super Diski – Absa Premiership Kaizer Chiefs v Bloemfontein Celtic
20:00 – 22:30	Soccer		Super Diski – Absa Premiership Mamelodi Sundowns v Platinum Stars
05:00 – 10:30	Tennis		ATP World Tour 500 Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championship SFs
11:00 – 12:30	Hockey		Fih Electric Ireland Champions Challenge South Africa v India
12:45 – 15:00	Basketball		Vodacom Wheelchair Basketball Challenge Final: Gauteng North v Kzn Coastal
15:50 – 18:00	Soccer		Barclays Premier League Week 8: West Bromwich Albion v Queens Park Rangers
20:40 – 22:45	Soccer		Serie A: Week 7: Genoa v Palermo
08:30 – 12:00	Athletics		Iaaf World Half Marathon Championships Men & Women
14:30 – 18:30	Golf		European Tour Alfred Dunhill Links Championship Day 3
19:05 – 21:30	Rugby		Absa Currie Cup: Toyota Free State Cheetahs v The Sharks

Action Attractions | Sunday, October 07, 2012

 

01:00 – 03:15	Rugby		The Castle Rugby Championship Argentina v Australia
13:30 – 18:30	Golf		European Tour Alfred Dunhill Links Championship Day 4
22:00 – 01:00	Golf		PGA Tour Justin Timberlake Shiners Hospitals For Children Day 4
07:30 – 10:30	Motorsport		F1: Japanese Grand Prix Main Race
10:45 – 14:30	Cricket		ICC World Twenty20 Women Final
14:30 – 15:00	Cricket		ICC Cricket 360 Week 13
15:00 – 19:00	Cricket		ICC World Twenty20 Final
13:30 – 16:30	Soccer		Barclays Premier League Week 8: Southampton v Fulham
16:30 – 19:30	Soccer		Barclays Premier League Week 8: Newcastle Utd v Man Utd
19:30 – 22:00	Soccer		Spanish La Liga Week 7: Barcelona v Real Madrid
15:00 – 17:25	Soccer		Super Diski – Absa Premiership University Of Pretoria v Orlando Pirates
17:25 – 20:00	Soccer		Bundesliga Matchday 7: Hannover v Borussia Dortmund
07:00 – 10:30	Tennis		ATP World Tour 500 Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championship Final
11:30 – 13:00	Motorcycling		FIM Superbike World Championship France Race 1
13:00 – 14:25	Motorcycling		FIM Superbike World Championship France SuperSport
15:15 – 16:45	Motorcycling		FIM Superbike World Championship France Race 2
16:55 – 19:15	Swimming		Fina World Cup Doha Day 2
21:25 – 23:30	Soccer		Spanish La Liga Week 7: Atletico Madrid v Malaga
10:00 – 13:30	Tennis		ATP World Tour 500 China Open Final
15:50 – 18:00	Soccer		Barclays Premier League Week 8: Tottenham Hotspur v Aston Villa

Looking forward to a fun packed sporty weekend (21st sep – 23rd sep)

This will be a jam packed weekend in terms of the things happening. The Safaricom Sevens will be happening and those of you who are crowd phobic can just opt to come to Blanco’s and enjoy the best seats with good food and great ambiance to boot.Then of course there is our very own Kenya Premier League where our favorite teams will be battling each other. Plus there will be formula one and the British Premier League to enjoy too.Take a look at the list of the major sports this weekend. ( the time is all Kenyan time so just show up and enjoy 🙂 )

Friday 21^st September

14:25 – 15:55	Rugby		Safaricom Sevens Day 1 – Games 14 – 17
15:55 – 17:20	Rugby		Safaricom Sevens Day 1 – Games 18 – 20

Saturday 22^nd September

10:50 – 12:20 Motorsport Race 1 12:50 – 14:10 Motorsport F1: Sing Tel Singapore Grand Prix Practice Session 3 14:00 – 16:45 Soccer Barclays Premier League Week 6: Swansea City v Everton 16:45 – 19:55 Soccer Barclays Premier League Week 6: Chelsea v Stoke City Rugby 09:55 – 11:25 Rugby Safaricom Sevens Day 2 – Games1 – 4 11:25 – 12:50 Rugby Safaricom Sevens Day 2 – Games 5 – 8 12:50 – 14:05 Rugby Safaricom Sevens Day 2 – Under 19 Girls Final & Sch Main Final 14:05 – 15:35 Rugby Safaricom Sevens Day 2 – Games 9 – 12 15:35 – 16:45 Rugby Safaricom Sevens Day 2 – Games 13 – 1

The highlight will be the match between AFC Leopards And Gor Mahia. The ultimate battle will be at 1500 hrs.

Sunday 23^rd September

11:00 – 12:00	Motorsport		GP2 Series: Singapore Race 2
14:30 – 17:30	Motorsport		F1: Sing Tel Singapore Grand Prix Main Race
14:30 – 17:30	Soccer		Barclays Premier League Week 6: Liverpool v Man Utd
17:30 – 20:55	Soccer		Barclays Premier League Week 6: Man City v Arsenal
Rugby
08:30 – 09:55	Rugby		Safaricom Sevens Day 3 – Bowl QFs
09:55 – 11:25	Rugby		Safaricom Sevens Day 3 – Main QFs
11:25 – 12:35	Rugby		Safaricom Sevens Day 3 – Under12 &14 Final
12:35 – 13:20	Rugby		Safaricom Sevens Day 3 – Shield SFs
13:30 – 16:00	Soccer		Tusker Premier League Oserian v Ulinzi Stars
16:00 – 18:00	Soccer		Tusker Premier League Karuturi Sports v Tusker

UEFA Champions League groupings

The Draw for the UEFA Champions league group stage was held in Monaco yesterday 30th August 2012. The 32 teams were allocated into four pots based on their 2012 UEFA club coefficients, with the title holders, Chelsea, being placed in Pot 1 automatically. They were drawn into eight groups of four, with the restriction that teams from the same association cannot be drawn against each other.

In each group, teams will play against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format. The matchdays will be 18–19 September, 2–3 October, 23–24 October, 6–7 November, 20–21 November, and 4–5 December 2012. The group winners and runners-up will advance to the round of 16, while the third-placed teams will enter the round of 32 of the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League.

A total of 17 national associations are represented in the group stage. Montpellier, Nordsjælland and Málaga are set to make their debut appearances in the group stages.

The final will be held at Wembley Stadium in London.

Below is the complete list of the 2012 – 2013 groupings.

The Champions League group stage draw in full:

GROUP A
PORTO
DINAMO KIEV
PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN
DINAMO ZAGREB

GROUP B
ARSENAL
SCHALKE
OLYMPIAKOS
MONTPELLIER

GROUP C
AC MILAN
ZENIT
ANDERLECHT
MALAGA

GROUP D
REAL MADRID
MANCHESTER CITY
AJAX
BORUSSIA DORTMUND

GROUP E
CHELSEA
SHAKHTAR DONETSK
JUVENTUS
NORDSJAELLAND

GROUP F
BAYERN MUNICH
VALENCIA
LILLE
BATE BORISOV

GROUP G
BARCELONA
BENFICA
SPARTAK MOSCOW
CELTIC

GROUP H
MANCHESTER UNITED
BRAGA
GALATASARAY
CLUJ

Premier league season 2012-2013 is finally here!

It is barely hours until the start of a new English Premier League season finally begins and if the upcoming season is anything similar to what we all witnessed at the very last day of last season then we are all in for a treat. The last five minutes of last season are forever etched in the minds of fans across the world. The whole world watched in amazement as deep in ‘Fergie time’ the blue half of Manchester won a trophy that had eluded them for a very long time. In the space of five minutes of ‘Fergie time’, and yes in Fergie’s lifetime the ‘noisy neighbhours’ finally came of age. In an instant the chains of failure and underachievement were thrown off even as bitter manure fans were left to wonder what might have been. Throughout the world, the end of the Manchester United vs. Sunderland game had met with cheers by the Mancs who expected the score to remain the same at the Etihad. Many of these loudmouths slithered away as soon as Sergio Aguero scored the crucial goal for City. It was for me a typical ABU (Anything but United) guy a wonderful day. National cohesion was achieved overnight as fans of Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool regardless of background celebrated the crumbling of the ‘evil empire’.

The coming season at least as far the summer transfer business is concerned promises to be very interesting. Manchester City the defending Champions have to date not made any new signings. Manchester United has splashed some cash on Japanese Midfielder Shinji Kagawa, the Dutch striker Robin Van Persie aka RVP the goal scoring machine and some typically overrated English kid. Chelsea has also showed intent with the signings of Eden Hazard, Marin and Brazilian star Lucas. Liverpool have bought a young Italian forward and convinced Luis Suarez to sign a new contract. Arsenal in a stark departure from the past has been very ambitious in the transfer market.  The notoriously frugal Wenger has signed the leading scorer in the French league last season, one of the leading strikers in the Bundesliga last season and one of the best midfielders in the Primera Liga in the last few years.

It is difficult to predict where the title will end next season. I think Manchester City remain clear favourites. They certainly have more depth than any other team in the top division. Man City’s form last season was disrupted by several factors. They included disciplinary issues with players such as Balotteli and Tevez, the average second half of the season form of David Silva and the departure of the world class Yaya Toure for the Africa Cup of Nations in January. This time round, City are likely to benefit from the fact that the Africa Cup of Nations will be held at the end of the season. This means that form permitting, City will benefit from the presence of Yaya Toure and the older Kolo Toure throughout the season. The brilliant Tevez has finally made up with Mancini and the club. The moody Argentinean seems to be more keen on repaying his employers than taking a swing of golf and that is great news for the Citizens.  City is also likely to benefit from the fact that David Silva has now played a full season with the club. A number of pundits have suggested that Silva’s poor second half of the season showing was the result of him not being used to a league that does not have a winter break. In a similar vein, if Balotteli can steer clear of his nightly indiscretions then City will also benefit from a player who is on his day unplayable.

Manchester United will no doubt be keen to reclaim the title and in Alex Ferguson there have a manager who is likely to inspire his charges from what was a very difficult last day of the season. Manchester United’s problems stemmed from a number of issues including an insipid midfield that lacked creativity, new players who sometimes struggled to acclimatize to the league and injuries to key personnel. The signing of Kagawa party addresses the issue of United’s midfield. Particularly, important to United’s midfield will be the form of Cleverly who looked decent early on but who was injured for most of the season. One can assume that players the club bought last season such as De Gea and Phil Jones will also improve as they now have a full season under their belts. United will also hope that Vidic will remain fit as they clearly missed him in the title run in.

As far as Chelsea goes, it seems to me like if they have not made the necessary signings to win titles this time round. Fair enough Chelsea has made interesting signings in Eden Hazard, Marin and Lucas. However, Chelsea have still not replaced arguably their best player in recent seasons Didier Drogba. Reports that Chelsea were on the verge of signing Hulk of Porto or Falcao of Athletico Madrid have not materialized. It remains to be seen if Fernando Torres and Sturridge can adequately replace Drogba and another Ivorian forward Kalou. Nevertheless, Chelsea looks very decent in other positions. The additions of Hazard and Lucas to a midfield that already boasted of Mata’s brilliance will certainly improve their options in the middle of the park.

My expectation is Liverpool will improve this season although I am not sure they can finally return to the top four. Liverpool have managed to retain the services of Luis Suarez and the ever improving Andy Carroll. Liverpool will also buoyed by the return from injury of the brilliant Lucas who missed the whole of last season. Joe Cole has returned from a successful stint in France. Liverpool also has a new manager in Brendan Rogers who is committed to a different football philosophy to some of his predecessors. Liverpool have also made a couple of signings in the form of Fabio Borini a forward, and Allen a creative midfielder. My sense is that Liverpool will gradually begin to challenge but Rogers is keen to first build a solid foundation for the future of the team. Liverpool’s adoption of a more expansive style might also lead them to concede more goals.

Arsenal have made a number of astute signings especially in offensive positions. I think Arsenal will surprise a lot of people next season. Wenger has for the first time in a long time managed to get a good blend of youth and experience in his team. The return of Jack Wilshere is also something that excites Arsenal fans. The worry for Arsenal fans will be the absence of any fresh defensive signings especially as cover at right back. Nevertheless, there is fresh buzz at the club that emanates from the new signings. For the first time in ages optimism and excitement is felt throughout the Emirates.

Among the teams which have been promoted  I pay particular attention to West Ham who have a side full of seasoned players such as Kevin Nolan and Carlton Cole and a very experienced manager in Sam Allardyce. West Ham have also dipped into the transfer market and made a number of interesting signings. Tottenham have managed to keep Gareth Bale and Luka Modric and have signed former Ajax Captain Vertongen and Emmanuel Adebayor. Their new manager Andre Villas Boas has a point to prove with his former employers at the bridge and one can certainly look forward to the clashes involving the Spurs and the Blues. AVB’s fondness for playing a high line will mean that Spurs will be an exciting team to watch both going forward but also in terms of conceding goals.

I am skeptical on whether Newcastle can have a similarly successful season this time round. I think part of their success last term was the result of other teams underestimating them which is not likely to happen this time round. Furthermore, I do not particularly rate their manager Alan Pardew. All in All another English Premier League season awaits. Let the games begin!

Article by guest contributor,

Stephen Mogaka – Die hard Arsenal fan, football pundit and avid blogger.