MESSI’S MIAMI DEBUT DELAYED

Inter Miami’s chances of inflicting a surprise defeat away to Bradley Carnell’s St Louis City on Saturday have plummeted in the wake of the news that Lionel Messi will not make his debut for the visitors as expected.

OVER R1 MILLION ADDED TO POOLS

Instead the World Cup winning captain, who has signed a two-and-a-half-year deal reported to be worth $60 million a year, will be presented to supporters at a stadium event on Sunday.

Messi is now expected to make his debut for his new club in a Leagues Cup match on 21 July against Mexican club Cruz Azul, one week later than planned. Tickets to the game are reportedly selling for as much as $10,000!

Messi is the biggest name and greatest player to head to the United States since Pele signed for New York Cosmos in 1975.

His arrival will add to the rapidly growing momentum around the sport ahead of the 2026 World Cup, which will be hosted by the USA along with Canada and Mexico. He is expected to be joined at the club by former Barcelona team-mate Sergio Busquets. Ex-Argentina and Barcelona coach Gerardo "Tata" Martino recently took over as coach. Miami are currently bottom of MLS's Eastern Conference with just five wins from 21 games so Messi’s arrival cannot come quick enough.

St Louis will be delighted Messi is a non-starter and will want to consolidate their place at the top of the Western Conference after conceding three late goals and going down to reigning champions Los Angeles FC on Wednesday.

In the East, Cincinnati returned to winning ways in midweek at New York RB and can extend their eight-point advantage if they win at home to Nashville.

The cream of the MLS and Serie A matches this weekend will be found in TAB’s range of soccer pools, which will be boosted by over R1 million in added cash. The big-money action kicks off tonight with cash-boosted Soccer 4, 6 and 10 pools, which all have the potential to deliver big payouts, so don’t miss your chance to cash in.

In Brazil, the Rio derby between Flamengo and Fluminense dominates the weekend agenda, especially as both clubs are in the top four places in Serie A and in the hunt for championship success later this year.

Flamengo are in second spot, 10 points behind another Rio club Botafogo, while the gap between Flamengo and fourth-placed Fluminense is only two points.

Last season’s top two clubs, champions Palmeiras and Internacional, meet on Sunday. In this campaign Palmeiras are fifth and Internacional 10th, but they are separated by only three points.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

* Major League Soccer (MLS) outfit New York City have bolstered their attack by signing Algerian youth international forward Mounsef Bakrar from Croatian top-flight side NK Istra. The 22-year-old arrives with 18 goals and three assists in 84 club appearances.

* Norwegian football was shocked this week when coach Geir Bakke moved from Lillestrom to their Oslo-based rivals Valerenga. The switch was made in top secrecy midweek and he will be in charge as Valerenga take on champions Molde on Saturday. The switch is akin to Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro suddenly popping up in charge of Kaizer Chiefs.
 
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEKEND

Sun 16 Jul (01:30) - Cincinnati v Nashville (MLS): MLS Eastern Conference pacesetters Cincinnati host second-placed Nashville. The two teams have met 12 times over the years with Cincinnati winning two, Nashville four and six matches ending in stalemates. This looks another tough one to call. 

Sun 16 Jul (21:00) - Fluminense v Flamengo (Brazil Serie A): It’s the Flu-Fla Derby in Rio De Janeiro in the Brazilian Serie A with Fluminense hosting arch-rivals Flamengo. The latter, who have seven league titles and four Brazilian cup triumphs, are in second place behind leaders Botafogo, while Fluminense are fourth. Home advantage could see Fluminense win this.
 
Sun 16 Jul (23:30) - Internacional v Palmeiras (Brazil Serie A): A win for fifth-placed Palmeiras in this encounter will see them jump to 27 points and keep them in touch in the title race. Despite winning three of their last five matches, Internacional are in mid-table with 21 points from 14 matches.

WEEKEND’S BANKER BETS

TAB soccer pools on Friday focus on Egypt and Irish league games - and Irish second-tier front-runners Galway United and Waterford both look bankers to win. There are more banker options on Saturday including a couple of Major League Soccer games in the USA with Atlanta United and Philadelphia Union expected to register home wins. And in the Brazilian Cup, Corinthians are hot favourites to win their tie against struggling America Mineiro. In Egypt Zamalek are a banker bet to win Sunday’s league game at home to Pharco. On Monday Malmo are expected to win away as they bid to regain the lead in Sweden’s Allsvenskan.

SOCCER 10 POOLS OF THE WEEKEND

Friday 14 July S10 V1 

M1 Aswan vs El Dakhleya: First of two R250,000-added Soccer 10 pools this weekend. This is a vital match in the battle against relegation in Egypt’s Premier League. The two sides drew 2-2 in May, when they met in the Egyptian Cup with El Dakhleya going through on post-match penalties.

M2 ENPPI vs Ceramica Cleopatra: Second of four Egyptian Premier League games in the pool. ENPPI are unbeaten in six previous clashes with Ceramica Cleopatra, winning four of them.

M3 Haras El Hodood vs Ghazl El Mehalla: Hodood are bottom of the log in Egypt and relegated. Ghazl El Mehalla are second from bottom, but can still save themselves.

M4 National Bank of Egypt vs Future FC: Future have won their three previous meetings against the bankers with a 9-1 goal aggregate.

M5 Athlone Town vs Galway United: Athlone have lost their last two home matches, whereas rivals Galway United are 13 points clear at the top of Ireland’s second-tier league.

M6 Bray Wanderers vs Wexford: Bray Wanderers have won one of their last eight games. Wexford have lost three of their last four and are five points behind Bray. 

M7 Shelbourne vs Bohemians: Both these Irish Premier Division clubs had good results in their last outings a week ago. Bohemians are three points ahead of Shelbourne in the table.

M8 Treaty United vs Waterford: Waterford won 4-1 at Treaty United in April and then 6-0 at home last month in the Irish second tier.

M9 University College Dublin vs Drogheda United: UCD have just nine points from 23 games and are stone last in the Premier Division table in Ireland. Drogheda have 25 points after drawing their last two outings.

M10 Finn Harps vs Cobh Ramblers: Finn Harps are second from bottom in Ireland’s second tier. Ramblers are in third spot and on a run of five matches without defeat.

Saturday 15 July S10 V2

M1 Halmstad vs Varnamo: Like Friday night’s Soccer 10, this pool starts with R250,000 added by TAB so there should be plenty of cash to be won. A Swedish top-tier (Allsvenskan) match is first up in the pool. Varnamo’s last trip to newly promoted Halmstad was five years ago when they won 3-0.

M2 Orgyte vs Helsingborg: Swedish second tier. Orgyte have not won in their last six clashes against Helsingborg, losing five of them.

M3 Vasteras vs Utsikten: Top-of-the-table second division clash in Sweden. Utsikten were 3-0 winners at Vasteras last season.

M4 Ostersunds vs Landskrona: Ostersunds are unbeaten in their last five meetings with Landskrona, winning four of them, including two away.

M5 Degerfors vs Sirius: Degerfors won away last weekend in Allsvenskan to end a run of five matches without a victory. Sirius have a win and a goalless draw from their last two trips to Degerfors.

M6 BK Hacken vs Brommapojkarna: Champions Hacken have moved to within two points of leaders Malmo in the Swedish premier league. Brommapojkarna have lost their last three league games.

M7 Al Masry vs Smouha: Egyptian Premier League. Smouha have won three and drawn the other four of their last seven clashes with Smouha.

M8 Valerenga vs Molde: Valerenga’s home record against the reigning Norwegian champions is 10 wins and 10 defeats with six draws.

M9 Colo Colo vs O’Higgins: Top tier in Chile. Colo have won 13 of 22 past home games against O’Higgins with five draws and four defeats.

M10 Ismaili vs Al Ittihad: Egypt’s Premier League. Ismali have won nine of their last 20 home games against Al Ittihad with seven draws and four defeats.

Sunday 16 July S10 V3

M1 Brann Bergen vs Stromsgodset: Brann lead 20-12 in the win count of past games against Stromsgodset with nine draws.

M2 Mirassol vs Ceara: Mirassol and Ceara are both in the top half of the league in Brazil’s Serie B.

M3 Zamalek vs Pharco: Zamalek are third in Egypt’s Premier League and have lost only once in their last 10 games, winning their last six. They edged Pharco 3-1 in a cup tie a fortnight ago and now host them in league action.

M4 Fluminense vs Flamengo: Flu-Fla is one of the great South American derbies. They have already met five times this season with two wins each.

M5 Fortaleza vs Cuiaba: Brazilian Serie A clash. Fortaleza lost at home to Cuiaba last season for the first time in eight meetings.

M6 Sao Paulo vs Santos: Sao Paulo beat Santos 3-1 earlier this year in the regional Paulista league.

M7 KR Reykjavik vs FH Hafnarfjordur: FH are three points above KR in the league standings in Iceland. FH won 3-0 over KR at home in April.

M8 Vitoria Bahia vs Novorizontino: Vitoria have won three of their last four home games. Novorizontino have won four of their previous five away fixtures.

M9 Athletico Paranaense vs Bahia: The visitors were in Serie B last season when Athletico met them in the Copa do Brasil, winning both legs of the tie 2-1.

M10 Internacional vs Palmeiras: Reigning Brazilian Serie A champions Palmeiras have won only twice in their last 22 visits to Porto Alegre to take on Internacional. They need to win this to stay in the hunt for the title.