I was disappointed to see John Isner beaten early this morning, as it denied us four out of four from yesterday’s Lucky 15. Nevertheless, because a Lucky 15 combines four separate bets into one four-fold accumulator, four trebles, six doubles and four singles, you will still lock in a healthy return if three bets come in – as they did yesterday thanks to Liverpool, West Ham and Jan-Lennard Struff.
So, with the Europa League playoffs taking centre stage this evening and tennis also hotting up in North America, here are today’s tips:
- Football: Maccabi Tel Aviv to beat SCR Altach at around 8/13
- Tennis: Felix Auger-Aliassime to beat Sergiy Stakhovsky at around 13/8
- Tennis: Nicolas Mahut to beat Ramkumar Ramanathan 2-0 at around Evens
- Football: Hajduk Split v Everton – both teams to score at around 5/6
Maccabi Tel Aviv to beat SCR Altach
Maccabi take a 1-0 lead into this home match and should be good enough to close out another win and progress. Although they took a shock 3-0 home loss to Beitar Jerusalem at the weekend, they have been in decent form otherwise. Altach, on the other hand, have not won a match since the last qualifying round, with two league defeats and a draw. A repeat of the result in Austria, and possibly even the score (Maccabi and under 2.5 also appeals at 11/4) is therefore expected.
Felix Auger-Aliassime to beat Sergiy Stakhovsky
The Winston-Salem match-ups are rather uninspiring, to be honest, so instead, I am going upset hunting at the US Open qualifying tournament. Auger-Aliassime won the junior US Open last season and is a man on the rise. He has a 42-11 record in all competitions this year while Stakhovsky has recently dropped down to Challenger level to recover some form. Both won their first matches comfortably enough, but this is a real chance for the young Canadian to take a big scalp.
Nicolas Mahut to beat Ramkumar Ramanathan 2-0
Fresh from winning the doubles titles in both Montreal and Cincinnati, Mahut has breezed through US Open qualifying so far, dispatching Soon Woo Kwon 6-3 6-4. His opponent today, Ramanathan, beat experienced Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-4 6-4. However, Mahut is a much sterner challenge thanks to his experience, recent form and a bigger serve. Mahut has a 6-6 record at ATP level on hard courts this season, Ramanathan has won just once. There is a much wider gulf here than the rankings would suggest.
Hajduk Split v Everton – both teams to score
We have had a lot of joy betting on Everton this season already, including tipping them to draw at Manchester City on Monday. The first leg was a tighter affair than Everton’s 2-0 win suggested and had Hajduk been more clinical in front of goal they might have come away with something. They have not failed to score in their last 11 matches at home and will make chances. Everton are missing Davy Klaassen and Sandro Ramirez but should still be the stronger side, buoyed by that performance in Manchester, so I am going for both teams to score in this one. If you want to go for more risk, try the draw with both teams to score at around 15/4