It s getting close. We may have had to wait an extra five months than usual, but the 2022 World Cup is now just 100 days away.
A likely last hurrah on the World Cup stage awaits superstars Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, while new names will break through and rising talent will be put to the test.
Eight nations have been champions of the tournament that was first staged in 1930, and it will be France looking to defend the title this time.
Many of us pride ourselves on remembering World Cup trivia from past tournaments, but just how good is your knowledge?
These Opta-assisted 20 questions should sort the group-stage flops from the champions of World Cup quizzing. The answers are below, but don t cheat!
The first
1. Name the English …
It has been another off-season of change in Italy, but Serie A returns this week and another intriguing campaign awaits.
Inter were champions last term, ending Juventus run of nine straight Scudetti, but they have not been able to keep their title-winning side together.
Romelu Lukaku is gone, as is coach Antonio Conte, while Massimiliano Allegri has returned to Juve to tee up another tilt.
So, what does that all mean for the coming season? Stats Perform attempts to find out.
The Stats Perform League Prediction Model, created by Stats Perform AI using Opta data, has analysed the division ahead of the new season to assign percentages to potential outcomes for each club.
The model estimates the probability of each match outcome (win, draw or loss) ba…
Simon Mignolet says Liverpool have a better chance to win the Premier League title than they did under Brendan Rodgers because the Reds are not reliant on one player.
Liverpool came agonisingly close to adding to their 18 top-flight titles when they finished two points adrift of Manchester City under Rodgers stewardship in the 2013-14 season.
In that campaign, Luis Suarez was the spearhead of Liverpool s attack with the Uruguay forward scoring 31 Premier League goals in a brilliant campaign before leaving for Barcelona.
Goalkeeper Mignolet concedes that Liverpool relied on Suarez to make the difference that season, but does not believe that is the case with the current crop under Jurgen Klopp.
We were challenging for the title but it was a totally differ…
For a team that won only three games last season, the Detroit Lions were one of the best stories of 2021 — doubly so if you rode the Lions to an 11-6 ATS finish.
Detroit had the luxury of playing with house money, as expectations were very low for Dan Campbell’s rah-rah style of coaching and a franchise in the post-Stafford era. That also meant plenty of forgiveness from the oddsmakers week to week. Detroit was a dog of +7 or higher in 11 of its 17 games.
Now, the Lions’ NFL odds are calling for a stark improvement with a win total of 6.5. Detroit may have caught some foes with their guard down in 2021 but no one is taking the Lions lightly this year, including the betting public.
Reward or regression? That’s the question we seek…
The touchdown market has become one of the most popular and potentially profitable props in the NFL betting world. Each week, we’re going to throw down three to five units as we try to uncover some of the best weekly NFL TD props and dig into the matchups that surround them.
We’re looking to rebound after a holiday letdown but we’re still in the black on the season and up 2.995 units. Week 13 has us eyeing a running back in the Jets’ backfield that is getting the red zone workload, a Seahawks receiver who has been neglected, a familiar QB-WR connection in a new environment, and the lead back on a team that loves to run.
Without further ado.
…
After four weeks of play this NFL season, the cream is beginning to rise to the top, and it’s showing in the point spread department. Ten matchups feature a spread of five points or more in Week 5, creating opportunities for savvy underdog players.
We like three teams catching points this week, and an undervalued favorite. Let’s break up these four plays into two winnable parlays.
…
One of the O’s will have to go when the winless Minnesota Vikings travel to Charlotte to take on the winless Carolina Panthers in what’s shaping up to be one of the uglier games of Week 4 in the NFL. Just because it’s ugly though doesn’t mean the game won’t offer some good betting opportunities. Carolina is a home dog of 3.5 points while the game has a total of 45.5, per the latest NFL odds.
Aside from their 0-3 records, these are two very contrasting teams. Minnesota’s offense is among the best in the NFL when it comes to moving the football, but they can’t get any help from the defense. In Carolina, meanwhile, the Bryce Young era is off to a rough start, but there are some bright spots on the Panthers defense that’ll be abl…
The Cincinnati Bengals host the Indianapolis Colts in Week 14 odds of NFL action on Sunday. The Bengals are 6-6 and will look to keep pursuing a playoff spot despite the loss of superstar quarterback Joe Burrow. Meanwhile, the Colts are 7-5 and just one game behind the banged-up Jaguars for first place in the AFC South.
NFL odds for this contest have flipped, with the Colts opening as 1.5-point road faves before jumping the fence to favor the Bengals at -2. Here are my best free NFL picks for Colts vs. Bengals on December 10.
Colts vs Bengals odds
Colts vs Bengals predictions
I’ve been on the Michael Pittman Jr. prop train all season and it’s been paying off. The Indianapolis Colts wide receiver is tied fo…
If this were the regular season, it might be the game of the week, but Philadelphia Eagles vs. Baltimore Ravens should still make for a fun preseason matchup.
The Ravens are known as the best preseason team, but will they be able to pull off a win without Lamar Jackson?
Don’t miss our Eagles vs. Ravens predictions and NFL picks for Friday, August 9.
Eagles vs Ravens prediction
My best betRavens moneyline (+100 at bet365)
My analysis
On paper, it might seem like the Philadelphia Eagles are the smarter play in this game. The Baltimore Ravens have already ruled Jackson out, while Philadelphia has yet to announce if Jalen Hurts will be playing in this one.
But Hurts hasn’t suited up for a preseason gam…
It was once dubbed the “vampire kangaroo” and accused of “feasting on Britain’s creaking infrastructure” after investing in companies such as Thames Water and avoiding tax through a legal but controversial web of subsidiaries in Luxembourg and the Cayman Islands. But Macquarie Group Limited is a growing influence on English football, underlined on one day last month by Leicester and Wolves extending sizeable loans with the Australian investment bank that are mortgaged against future TV earnings.
Now with a portfolio that also includes Bournemouth, Crystal Palace, Middlesbrough, Sheffield United, Southampton, Swansea City, Watford, West Brom and Wolves, a company estimated to manage almost £288bn worth of assets has emerged as the …