Our search for early-tournament tennis upsets proved fruitful again yesterday as Jared Donaldson delivered by beating Roberto Bautista Agut. We were one from two in the tennis and the same in the football as Cardiff City – as predicted – maintained their good form, but Liverpool proved too good for Hoffenheim.
Nevertheless, a brace of wins in a Lucky 15 guarantees a return, because this bet combines four separate wagers into one four-fold accumulator, four trebles, six doubles, and four singles.
On we go again, then, and with the top seeds in action at Cincinnati today and plenty of football to look at, here are today’s bets:
- Tennis: Yuichi Sugita to beat Joao Sousa at around 10/11
- Tennis: Nick Kyrgios to beat Alexandr Dolgopolov at around 4/7
- Football: Celtic to beat Astana and both teams to score at 3/1
- Football: Sunderland to beat Sheffield Wednesday at around 11/4
Yuichi Sugita to beat Joao Sousa
Sugita caused a major upset yesterday when he beat Jack Sock in straight sets to advance to the second round at Cincinnati. He appears to have put his first-round Montreal defeat to David Goffin behind him and quickly found the sort of form that won him a title in Antalya last month. Sousa, on the other hand, came through qualifying and then beat Kyle Edmund in three sets. However, this is his first hard court tournament since a run of matches on clay, and I think that just gives Sugita the edge.
Nick Kyrgios to beat Alexandr Dolgopolov
Kyrgios has proved to me that he has now fully recovered from the hip injury that ruined a good start to the season. He made short work of Goffin yesterday and was only stopped by a red-hot Alexander Zverev last week in Montreal. Dolgopolov has also had injury concerns this year, but this is his first tournament since a run of clay court matches, and although a win over Kevin Anderson to reach this stage deserves credit, Kyrgios has the power and now the fitness to beat him.
Celtic to beat Astana and both teams to score
Celtic should be too strong for the Kazakh champions and have not lost at home in any competition since December 2015. Leigh Griffiths is back fit, but Celtic are still missing Moussa Dembele, so they will not have things their own way. Astana have won 18 of their last 21 league games so take plenty of confidence into this match. I back them to nick a goal before Celtic get the job done, which is what happened when the two teams met last year. If you want a safer bet, both teams to score is around 5/4, and the Celtic win is around 4/9.
Sunderland to beat Sheffield Wednesday
Simon Grayson is slowly beginning to bring the Sunderland ship under control and an excellent 3-1 win away at Norwich City at the weekend was just what he and the club needed after a slow start. Sheffield Wednesday could have won against QPR before drawing 1-1 and may carry something of a hangover into this match. At good odds-against, we think Sunderland are the form team here and should win a first meeting between these two sides since 2007.