With the tennis world gearing up for the US Open, we focus almost solely on football for today’s Lucky 15, while congratulating Roberto Bautista Agut in wrapping up the straight sets win last night that we advised backing. Manchester United also did the business for us, but Crystal Palace and Watford wavered.
However, as a Lucky 15 combines four separate bets into one four-fold accumulator, four trebles, six doubles and four singles, we still came away with something for our efforts.
There are four Premier League matches today as well as a number of other games from around Europe, so here are today’s bets:
- Football: West Bromwich Albion to beat Stoke City at around 29/20
- Tennis: Guillermo Garcia-Lopez to beat Rafael Carballes Baena at Evens
- Football: Liverpool to beat Arsenal at around 23/20
- Football: Tottenham Hotspur to beat Burnley to nil at around 8/11
West Bromwich Albion to beat Stoke City
West Brom have got off to a flyer this season, with a pair of 1-0 wins over Bournemouth and Burnley, as well as a comfortable League Cup win over Accrington in midweek. However, Stoke have fared reasonably well too, following up a 1-0 defeat to Everton with a 1-0 win over and a hammering of Rochdale. With WBA yet to concede, and with an excellent record over Stoke – they have won their last three at home – we give the Baggies an edge, but if you want to play it safe, go for the West Brom/Draw double result instead.
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez to beat Rafael Carballes Baena
Garcia-Lopez retires at the end of the year and has been playing much of his tennis on clay at Challenger level. With some success too, winning one title and claiming a 17-6 record. He has reached the final in Minerbio where he faces Carbello Baena, a man who is ten years his junior and also boasting a win this season and a decent record of 29-18 on this surface. I fancy the senior’s experience to win through on this occasion.
Liverpool to beat Arsenal
Liverpool are creating and scoring plenty of chances this season, and against an Arsenal side that has wobbled already (conceded three against Leicester, lost to Stoke last week), the home side should be strong enough to claim victory. At the other end of the pitch, Arsenal have not looked incisive enough, and they do not have a good recent record at Anfield either.
Tottenham to beat Burnley to nil
This represents the perfect opportunity for Tottenham to finally claim a win at Wembley, where for some reason they struggle. They missed the chance to see off Chelsea last week and won’t be as generous this time around. Burnley do not travel well, and Spurs are unbeaten in their last six meetings with the Lancashire club. Harry Kane might not be able to score in August, but goals should come from elsewhere, and I do not see the Burnley attack – with or without Chris Wood – getting through the Spurs defence. Again, if you want a safer bet, simply back Spurs to win.