Out-of-form Degerfors have a brilliant opportunity to return to winning ways at bottom side Varnamo on Monday. The visitors won 1-0 at home when the pair last met, while they have won all three of their visits to the bottom seven so far. Varnamo have lost 12 of 19 league games, so the visitors are good value for a victory.

Porto are strong favourites to beat Gil Vicente away, having won five of their last seven Primeira Liga road games. The Dragons have won eight of their last ten league matches, while their uncompromising approach should keep the hosts from scoring.

Home form was key for Sporting last term, with 10 of their 14 league wins coming at home. They won seven of their 11 home meetings with sides below them, including a 2-0 win over Cordoba. The visitors lost 10 of their 13 visits to sides above them, so a home win appeals.

Defensive issues cost Montpellier their place in Ligue 1 last season, while their start in the second tier was concerning. Creating just 0.3 xG against a Red Star side that finished last season in the bottom four is an issue. Le Mans were promoted to the second tier last term and they opened the new campaign with a 3-3 draw. That scoring threat should help them to edge out the visitors.

Aryna Sabalenka dominated the hard courts on the WTA tour last year, winning 40 of her 49 matches on the surface, and she claimed both the Australian Open and US Open titles. She can be devastating in Melbourne, winning 27 of her last 28 matches at the Grand Slam in the last three seasons.

Iga Swiatek remains the undisputed queen of clay on the WTA tour. The Pole has won the title at Roland Garros three seasons running as well as in 2020 and she has lost just twice in 37 matches at the clay-court Grand Slam.

Last season’s ATP Tour was pretty much dominated by Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, who each won two of the four Grand Slam titles, and between them it should be another stellar year. Alcaraz reigned supreme at Wimbledon, making it back-to-back titles at the All England Club, and Novak Djokovic’s obvious decline at 37 years of age makes the Spaniard a worthy favourite to rack up the hat-trick.

At the back end of a gruelling season, the US Open can sometimes throw up strange results and there are often surprises before the September silverware is eventually secured. It could, therefore, be worth going against the head of the market and hard-court specialist Daniil Medvedev ticks plenty of boxes at a nice price.

Betis managed only two clean sheets across their 19 away trips last term, while 71% of their La Liga outings saw both teams score. Elche won promotion last season thanks to some fine home form, but they haven’t made major defensive improvements before making the step up.

Porto are strong favourites to beat Gil Vicente away, having won five of their last seven Primeira Liga road games. The Dragons have won eight of their last ten league matches, while Gil Vicente struggled at home last season, particularly in scoring.

Albacete scored over a goal per game on their travels last term, while they scored in six of their nine visits to the sides above them. Both teams scored in 69% of Almeria’s matches, while each of the last four meetings have seen both teams score.

Defensive issues cost Montpellier their place in Ligue 1 last season, while their start in the second tier was concerning. Creating just 0.3 xG against a Red Star side that finished last season in the bottom four is an issue. Le Mans were promoted to the second tier last term and they opened the new campaign with a 3-3 draw. That scoring threat should help them to edge out the visitors.

Betis managed only two clean sheets across their 19 away trips last term, while 71% of their La Liga outings saw both teams score. With Anthony’s loan ending alongside summer departures for Jesus Rodriguez and Johnny Cardoso, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Betis struggled early on. The visitors lost four of their first eight away games last season, while Elche won 15 of 21 home games on their way to promotion.

Betis managed only two clean sheets across their 19 away trips last term, while 71% of their La Liga outings saw both teams score. Elche won promotion last season thanks to some fine home form, but they haven’t made major defensive improvements before making the step up.

Albacete scored over a goal per game on their travels last term, while they scored in six of their nine visits to the sides above them. Both teams scored in 69% of Almeria’s matches, while each of the last four meetings have seen both teams score.

Iliman Ndiaye scored nine Premier League goals last term from an xG of 6.2. The left-winger registered against Man Utd in pre-season and could be in the perfect place to capitalise on a half-chance if Leeds’ Jayden Bogle is not fit enough to start at right-back.

Leeds’ last two pre-season matches finished 1-1 and they may have to settle for that if David Moyes’ men play with the same durability as they did at the back end of last season. The Toffees drew seven of their last 15 league games, including four 1-1s.

With Anthony’s loan ending alongside summer departures for Jesus Rodriguez and Johnny Cardoso, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Betis struggled early on. The visitors lost four of their first eight away games last season, while Elche won 15 of 21 home games on their way to promotion.

Betis managed only two clean sheets across their 19 away trips last term, while 71% of their La Liga outings saw both teams score. Elche won promotion last season thanks to some fine home form, but they haven’t made major defensive improvements before making the step up.

The Gers won 4-2 against lower league Alloa in the cup at the weekend, the sixth time in their last seven matches that both teams have scored. Rangers have won 2-0 and 3-0 in their first two home games in the Champions League this term. However, the Gers conceded plenty of chances in both matches, while they meet a Club Brugge side who scored four times across their two meetings with Salzburg in the last round.

Bodo Glimt impressed in some high-profile matches last term, scoring 10 times in home knockout wins over Twente, Olympiakos, and Lazio to make the Europa League semis. They’ve scored 47 goals across their last 18 home matches in Europe.

FCSB have conceded two or more goals in five of their last seven matches. But they have scored in six of their seven away trips this term too. The Dons finally got some goals in a 3-0 cup win over Morton last weekend, so a high-scoring game is on the cards.

Chelsea have won two of their last three Premier League away games and won five of their seven Club World Cup matches inside 90 minutes. They scored at least two goals in seven of those combined 10 matches. The Hammers scored in five of their final six home games last season.

Blackpool have seen five goals scored in each of their three league games to date, while Plymouth have won and lost 3-2 in their previous two outings.

Maurizio Sarri returns to take charge of a stagnant Lazio side, which should see them play open football without much defensive strength. Como are set to leapfrog Lazio this term following a string of attacking signings, but Cesc Fabregas’s side struggled to contain top-half teams in Serie A last season.

Alexander Sorloth finished fourth in the scoring charts last season in his debut campaign with Atletico Madrid. His stats suggested he could have grabbed a few more goals and he looks a strong contender to top Spain’s scoring charts.

Strasbourg’s Emanuel Emegha scored 14 goals for the club last season, but he led the league in terms of Expected Goals generated with 17.0 and he may top the scorers pile in France.

Serhou Guirassy has been runner-up to Harry Kane in the scoring charts in consecutive seasons. Last term, both players took a step back in terms of their goal output, but the Dortmund man is better positioned to improve.

Artem Dovbyk was La Liga top scorer in 2023/24 with Girona, scoring 24 times from an xG tally of 24.2. The forward scored 12 times in his debut campaign at Roma, but he recorded 11.9 xG. That level of consistent finishing suggests he should thrive under the new Roma manager.

Only champions Liverpool are a shorter price than Tottenham to win their opening Premier League fixture and I think I would look to oppose Spurs.Of course, a home tie against Burnley appears a fairly kind fixture, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the Clarets, who conceded only 16 goals in 46 Championship matches last term, were difficult to break down.The decision to replace Ange Postecoglou with Thomas Frank wasn’t met with unanimous euphoria in north London and it could take a while for Spurs to find their stride.

Brentford have a busy summer ahead as they plan for a future after Thomas Frank but they should be ready for the opening weekend of the season and can start with a win against Nottingham Forest at the City Ground.The Bees might be without Bryan Mbeumo, who has been heavily linked with a move to Manchester United, but they are usually a step ahead when it comes to player recruitment and are likely to assemble a strong squad over the next few weeks.Forest will be in for a tough game and they might struggle to shrug off the disappointment of missing out on Champions League qualification.The Tricky Trees have taken one point from their last four home games and they could be stung by the Bees.

Despite little expectation, there was plenty of promise in Fabian Hurzeler’s first season at the Amex and it would be no surprise to see a young Brighton side take another forward step next term.The Seagulls saw out the campaign by drawing with Newcastle and beating West Ham, Wolves, Liverpool and Tottenham in their final five matches and they have already added Sunderland’s playoff hero Tommy Watson and Italy Under-21 centre-back Diego Coppola to a strong squad.Fulham, meanwhile, lost five of their last seven matches of the season, only beating Southampton and Brentford, and are yet to bring in any new faces, suggesting an opening-day defeat may be on the cards for the Cottagers.

Pep Guardiola must adapt his usual pre-season plans due to Manchester City’s involvement in the Club World Cup and the Citizens could drop points in a tricky opening assignment at Wolves.City made hard work of May’s 1-0 home victory over Wolves, who hit the woodwork twice at the Etihad Stadium, and they needed a 95th-minute John Stones winner at Molineux in October.Wolves sold forward Matheus Cunha to Manchester United and left-back Rayan Ait-Nouri to City but their recruitment has been good in recent years and they won ten of their 22 league matches after Vitor Pereira’s arrival in December.

Leeds were the highest-scoring side in last season’s Championship, but they may find the going tougher in the top flight, and they could kick off their season with a low-scoring affair at Elland Road.Ten of Everton’s final 12 games of 2024/25 featured fewer than three goals, and their away games throughout last season averaged a Premier League low of 1.95 goals per game. A mere 26 per cent of them went over 2.5 goals, and no team outside the top four conceded fewer goals than the Toffees.

Liverpool won by at least two goals in nine of their 14 home victories last season, while they comfortably saw off Bournemouth home and away. The Cherries lost 3-0 at Anfield and 2-0 at home to the Reds, despite enjoying a successful campaign.Bournemouth have already sold Dean Huijsen to Real Madrid, while Liverpool are pursuing their left-back Milos Kerkez. The Reds will have plenty of time to bed in their new signings, while Andoni Iraola’s side will likely start this campaign weakened at the back. Back the champions to lay down a marker in their opener.