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GARY LEMKE’S FIVER +1: Premier League title race on knife edge, IPL nears business end and more!

This week Gary Lemke has a look at the blockbuster Premier League title race being on a knife edge at and the IPL reaches business end.​
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola and Erling Haaland speaks with Arsenal's Declan Rice and Gabriel following the Premier League match at the Etihad Stadium.

This week Gary Lemke has a look at the blockbuster Premier League title race being on a knife edge at and the IPL reaches business end.

Two women looking excitedly at cellphone

EPL TITLE RACE STILL ON KNIFE EDGE

It is not inconceivable that the fate of the English Premier League could be decided this weekend. That would be if Arsenal lost and City won, or vice-versa. However, you fancy it will go down to the wire. Man City are away to Fulham in the sometimes banana skin Saturday lunchtime kickoff before Arsenal take on Man United at Old Trafford in Sunday’s only game. There’s never been any love lost between United and the Gunners and one recalls that it was United who halted Arsenal’s “Invincibles” from 20 years ago on their 49-game unbeaten League run. That came on the back of spiteful scenes as Sir Alex Ferguson had a pizza thrown at him by Cesc Fabregas – spoiler alert, it hit the target – and United won 2-0. Gunners fans will obviously hope lightning, or pizza, doesn’t strike twice

Jorginho of Arsenal scores his team's 6th goal from a penalty kick during the UEFA Champions League group B match between Arsenal and RC Lens.

IPL NEARS THE BUSINESS END TOO

Heading into Friday only four teams were in contention to win the Indian Premier League. By the time Monday comes, there are only 12 games to go. Kolkata Knight Riders were 18/10, Rajasthan Royals 9/4, Sunrisers Hyderabad 4/1 and Chennai Super Kings 5/1. The biggest talking point this past week has been Delhi Capitals opener Jake Fraser-McGurk. The Capitals have been eliminated, but McGurk was also left out of Australia’s T20 World Cup squad. That’s despite him hitting three 50s – two off them off 15 balls, which are the fastest in the IPL this season – and one-off 19 balls. David Warner and Travis Head have been given the green light for Australia.

POGACAR ADVERTISING HIS TOUR AMBITIONS

The Giro d’Italia is always a reliable test to see who’s going to be in contention for the Tour de France and in the absence of Jonas Vingegaard, two-time TdF champion Tadej Pogacar has been laying down his marker. He looks likely to go all the way in Italy, before attempting a third win in what is considered cycling’s blue riband event. South Africa’s Stefan De Bod is the country’s only representative and he’s sitting around halfway in the 169-man general classification. However, this race is all about Pogacar flexing his muscles.

BINDER THE CAT AMONG THE PIGEONS

Brad Binder gets another opportunity to make South Africans proud when he lines up on the grid for the Grand Prix De France this weekend. He has traditionally been a better performer in the Sunday race itself than in qualifying and will have realistic expectations of doing well enough to break back into the top five on the championship standings. Ahead of him are three Spaniards (Jorge Martin is the overall leader) and two Italians. In fact, Binder is the only non-Spaniard or Italian in the top nine on the list.

URC BACK ON THE RUGBY MENU

Fortunately, the franchise rugby schedule is a little easier to understand now than it was a month or two ago. We’re down to the final in both the European Champions Cup (Leinster vs Toulouse on 25th May) and the Challenge Cup (Gloucester vs the Sharks on 24th May). This leaves us with the United Rugby Championship, also nearing its climax. This weekend the Stormers (5th out of 16 teams) are away to the Dragons, the Bulls (4th) host the Glasgow Warriors, the Sharks (13th) are at home to Benetton and the Lions (11th) entertain Cardiff. There are two more rounds after this weekend.

KZN SEASON GATHERS MOMENTUM

Green With Envy was elevated to Hollywoodbets Durban July favourite after an impressive win over the mile in midweek, and Greyville’s “champions season” continues with the highlight on the 10-race programme on Saturday being the R500,000 World Sports Betting 1900m. This race has undergone various name changes over the years but has often proved a reliable pointer towards the July. I can’t really see this year’s July winner coming from this year’s edition, and a wide draw in the 14-horse field won’t help any of those jumping from there. Favourite is Future Swing, ridden by Richard Fourie, who is well on track to break Anthony Delpech’s SA record of 334 winners in a season. Best bet on the card looks to be Mountain High in the first race.

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