An august line-up of sport this month

It is August - and you know what that means: more unnecessary month puns as we let you know about the incredible offering of action on SuperSport this month . . .

It is, of course, the start of the football season, and slightly early this year due to the World Cup falling in Nov-Dec this time around.

Football fans the world over are filled with that (most probably) soon-to-be-dashed sense of excitement, and there's only one way to view just about every single game live. Right here on your World of Champions. And runners-up, and top 10, and the rest.... It's the World of All!

The Boks will be out to show no mercy to the wounded All Blacks; the world's best tennis players take aim at the final Slam of the season, and the thrilling Spa Francorchamps circuit sees the return of F1 after the summer break.Here's the summary of August's top of the pops:

DStv PREMIERSHIP - from Friday, 5 August

The DStv Premiership is back with a bang as SuperSport celebrates a 15-year partnership with the Premier Soccer League (PSL). The opening weekend promises a match with needle, pitting five-time champions Mamelodi Sundowns against Cape Town City (5 August), who finished second last season.

This will be the opening match of a marathon of live PSL broadcasts, which will see all DStv Premiership matches broadcast live on SuperSport. In addition to the traditional linear match broadcasts, other matches will be broadcast on the OTT streaming channels, thus affording viewers the opportunity to see all the action from the PSL.

PREMIER LEAGUE - from Friday, 5 August

The 2022-23 Premier League season gets under way with an appetiser between Crystal Palace and Arsenal on 5 August. Defending champions Man City will be entertained by pretenders and potential challengers to the title. They only get to play in the last fixture of the match-week when they travel to the London Stadium for a clash against West Ham.

August will be a marathon month in the Premier League with some 49 matches on the cards – all to be broadcast live on SuperSport. There are some tasty clashes in the opening month like Chelsea v Spurs (14 August) and Man United v Liverpool on 22 August.

RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP - from Saturday, 6 August

This August will see the return of the Castle Lager Rugby Championship – the first one this decade not to be affected by Covid. It promises to be a big treat for Springboks fans as it is the best opportunity for their team to win back-to-back test matches against All Blacks since 2009. The All Blacks leg is followed by a two-test tour of Australia, where the Boks have a lot of unfinished business to attend to.

LALIGA - from Friday, 12 August

It’s not football, it’s LaLiga, or so the slogan goes! The Spanish top division gets underway on 12 August with a full round of fixtures from Friday to Monday. Defending champions Real Madrid will be away to Almeria in the opening match-week.

All eyes will be on the trio of Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and Barcelona in the opening rounds as they once again fight for the title. Sevilla tried to break the three-horse dominance last season but ran out of steam. They get their race under way with an opening-day fixture away to Osasuna.

SERIE A - from Saturday, 13 August

Fanatics of the Serie A will be wondering if this season will be another Milan show. The Milan rivals were neck and neck for the title last season with AC Milan edging it out by two points. They get their title defence under way with a home fixture against Udinese on the opening day while their rivals Inter will be away to Lecce on the same day.

Napoli came close to breaking the Milan dominance last season and will want to start positively in their Monday, 15 August, away tie to Verona. Juventus lacked the muscle to stay the whole race, but they have an opportunity to start afresh. They will want to start positively on 15 August when they host Sassoulo.

MTN8 - from weekend of 27 August

An early opportunity for PSL clubs to lay their hands on some silverware. The top-eight finishers from last season will battle it out for the first trophy of the season on 27 August in the quarterfinal stage. While fixtures are yet to be confirmed, football fanatics already know who will be in the competition based on the final standings from last season.

Defending champions Sundowns will cross swords with city rivals SuperSport United, then Cape Town City tackle AmaZulu with Royal AM playing Orlando Pirates. The final fixtures sees Stellenbosch FC going toe to toe with the most successful side in the tournament since 1972 - Kaizer Chiefs. All the matches will be broadcast live on SuperSport.

F1: BELGIAN GP - 28 August

After the debacle of the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix, Spa Francorchamps is in desperate need of a specular race to resurrect its reputation. The battle for the title between Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc provides the perfect backdrop for the race to add to the intrigue of an already outstanding 2022 Formula 1 season.

Mercedes duo Lewis Hamilton and George Russel will be hoping to be in a strong enough position to challenge the Ferraris and Red Bulls but if not, they will definitely be ready to capitalise on any errors from the top two teams.

US OPEN - from 29 August

Flushing Meadows welcomes the world’s best to the Billie Jean King National Tennis Centre for the final Grand Slam of 2022. The USA’s strict vaccination rules have placed Novak Djokovic’s participation in New York under threat, which could make Rafael Nadal’s bid for a fifth title a little easier.

Standing in the Spaniard’s way are the likes of 2021 champion Daniil Medvedev (who was forced to skip Wimbledon) and rising stars like Carlo Alcaraz, Casper Rudd as well as the bad boy of tennis, Nick Kyrgios.

All eyes will be on Serena Williams, who made a disappointing return to competitive tennis. The GOAT will have to be on top of her game if she is to get through the likes of Iga Swiatek , Elena Rybakina and Ons Jabeur.