This should be a close game but Fluminense can grind out a victory inside 90 minutes. There is a quick turnaround for this quarter-final and Fluminense should be the fresher of the two sides as Al-Hilal played extra time against Man City, whereas the Brazilian side overcame Inter Milan in normal time. Al-Hilal have relied heavily on keeper Bono at various stages and Fluminense have been a little more composed, so back the South American heavyweights to win.

Germany are among the favourites to win the tournament and should coast to victory against Poland, but they kept just one clean sheet in six qualifiers and could concede against the underdogs.

Sweden thrashed Denmark 6-1 in the Nations League recently and should be backed to start their Euro 2025 campaign with another win over the underdogs.

Bohemians have won six of their last nine matches and they are fancied to get the better of a St Pat’s side who have just one win from their last eight outings.

Shelbourne have lost just one of their last ten Premier Division meetings with Cork and they look the best bet to secure victory at Tolka Park. The visitors have lost nine times in their last 11 Premier Division away games, with Cork’s last four road trips all ending in defeat.

Derry have won to nil in their last three matches, while Waterford have lost their last two trips and they’ve lost six times on their travels this term.

Justin Thomas has struggled in his last two Masters starts – no surprise given the downturn in his form generally – but he ended 2024 by finishing second and third in his last two events. He’s well suited to Augusta, where his approach play and scrambling ability are huge assets.

Rory McIlroy’s first PGA Tour title came at the Charlotte venue in 2010 and he’s gone on to win the Wells Fargo Championship at the course on a further three occasions. He is comfortable at Quail Hollow and looks an obvious title threat if he can hold it together mentally.

A runner-up in 2022 and third in 2023, the exacting test which the US Open usually provides should prove to be ideal for such a marvellous ball-striker as Scottie Scheffler.

Tommy Fleetwood is one of the best exponents of links golf in the world, finishing in the top 12 in four of the last six Opens. Expect him to make another bold run at the Claret Jug come July.

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.

Carlos Alcaraz won the French Open despite facing three match points in the fourth set to reel in Jannik Sinner in the final. That was the fifth time in the last six meetings that Alcaraz had got the better of his fierce rival, while he is on an 18-match winning streak, having won the last three tournaments he has contested.

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2023 winner Vondrousova recently won in Berlin, while she defeated Madison Keys, Diana Shnaider, Ons Jabeur and Sabalenka along the way. She’s capable of matching top-seed Sabalenka, making her a good outside option to win the title.

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Leaders KuPS should have little trouble going forward against bottom club Oulu, but the visitors have failed to keep a clean sheet on their travels this term, while the hosts average 1.1 goals per game at their own ground.

Bohemians have won six of their last nine matches and they are fancied to get the better of a St Pat’s side who have just one win from their last eight outings.

This should be a close game but Fluminense can grind out a victory inside 90 minutes. There is a quick turnaround for this quarter-final and Fluminense should be the fresher of the two sides as Al-Hilal played extra time against Man City, whereas the Brazilian side overcame Inter Milan in normal time. Al-Hilal have relied heavily on keeper Bono at various stages and Fluminense have been a little more composed, so back the South American heavyweights to win.

Shelbourne have lost just one of their last ten Premier Division meetings with Cork and they look the best bet to secure victory at Tolka Park. The visitors have lost nine times in their last 11 Premier Division away games, with Cork’s last four road trips all ending in defeat.

Drogheda have drawn 11 of their 24 league games and two of the last three games that they have had against Galway United have ended in stalemate, so back the visitors to get a result.

Germany are among the favourites to win the tournament and should coast to victory against Poland, but they kept just one clean sheet in six qualifiers and could concede against the underdogs.

There might not be too much action when Derry City host Waterford at Brandywell Stadium on Friday and the recommended bet is to go under the goals. Five of the last seven of Derry City’s Premier Division games have gone under 2.5 goals.

Bohemians have won six of their last nine matches and they are fancied to get the better of a St Pat’s side who have just one win from their last eight outings.

Germany are among the favourites to win the tournament and should coast to victory against Poland, but they kept just one clean sheet in six qualifiers and could concede against the underdogs.

Fluminense have five clean sheets in their last six games and Al-Hilal have conceded just three goals in four Club World Cup games. One goal could be enough to decide this last eight tie so back the Brazilians to secure their place in the semis with a 1-0 win.

Factoring in the possibility of Germany conceding looks a good move, given they kept just one clean sheet in six qualifiers, but they should win comfortably.

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.

Montse Tome’s side look to have a much easier group that contains Italy, Portugal and Belgium, especially as they put 19 goals past the latter two in four Nations League meetings this season. Spain have demonstrated they know how to bottle a winning formula and they look strong candidates to add to their trophy collection.

Montse Tome’s side look to have a much easier group that contains Italy, Portugal and Belgium, especially as they put 19 goals past the latter two in four Nations League meetings this season. Spain have demonstrated they know how to bottle a winning formula and they look strong candidates to add to their trophy collection.

Tadej Pogacar has been nigh on unbeatable since winning a third yellow jersey, claiming the world championship title and three Monuments, and he looks capable of landing this year’s Tour de France.

Lando Norris is yet to win around Silverstone, but the 25-year-old has outperformed team-mate Oscar Piastri in each of their two British Grands Prix at McLaren, finishing third here last year and second the year before, both times over 12 seconds ahead of the Australian.

Ryan Fox looks an excellent each-way bet at generous odds. Fox has claimed PGA Tour titles at the Myrtle Beach Classic and the Canadian Open since the start of May. He is a proven links specialist, winning the Dunhill Links in 2022 – where three of the four rounds are played on Open venues – and he was 16th at Portrush in 2019.

Oleksandr Usyk already has one KO win over Daniel Dubois on his CV and he can remove any controversy over that result with another stoppage in the rematch. The Ukrainian is too slick to get caught by Dubois and has the power and accuracy to win without needing the scorecards.