Top 3 bets for Monday's NFL, FA Cup and NBA games

Who plays in tonight’s NFL Monday Night Football?

The Chicago Bears head to the Pittsburgh Steelers looking to improve after a recent slump in form. They’ve fallen to 3-5 for the season after three straight defeats, have given up 30 points and 400 yards in two games in a row, giving up 467 yards to San Francisco, the most in three years. The Steelers, 5-3 on the season, should have enough to claim a victory in front of their own fans, though both of these teams are pretty low scoring on average.

Total Sacks (5.2-5.6)

Chicago has allowed an NFL high 30 sacks so far this season, and they come up against one of the best in the business in linebacker TJ Watt tonight. He has at least one sack in five of the six games played this season, and has 8.5 in total, third in the NFL. He will look to put rookie quarter-back Justin Fields under pressure as he looks to get Chicago’s passing offense running. They rank dead last in the NFL, and are the only team with more rushing than passing yards this season.

It’s another international break, does that no Monday Night Football?

It may not be the glamour of the Premier League, but tonight’s football offering includes FA Cup 1^st Round action between Dagenham & Redbridge and Salford City on ITV4. Neither of these teams are in the greatest of form, both having won just one of their least five league games. League Two Salford, owned by member of the Manchester United Class of ’92 among others, are a division above their National League hosts.

Salford Goals x Corners (7.5-9.5)

These combo bets can be high variance, but that does mean if you get them right there can be rich rewards. While the league form hasn’t been pulling up trees, they did put five goals past Leeds United’s Under-21s in the EFL Cup in midweek. If their Cup form carries over, buying Salford markets including goals would prove lucrative, but they know that the cameras are there tonight looking to catch a giant killing of the League side by the non-league outfit.

Who has started well in the NBA?

The Chicago Bulls have rolled the dice this season, bringing in seasoned veterans DeMar DeRozan and Lonzo Ball to add to mid-season acquisition Nikola Vucevic and their star man Zach LaVine. They’ve started well, sitting in 5^th in the Eastern Conference standings at 6-3, but face a stiff test tonight, welcoming the 7-3 Brooklyn Nets to the United Center. The Nets are favourites to win the NBA title this season, even though Kyrie Irving is still currently sitting out, refusing to take the Covid vaccine.

Chicago/Brooklyn (-0.5-2.5)

It shows how far Chicago have come when they’re installed as one-point favourites against the Brooklyn Nets, but we’ve seen punters selling Chicago’s superiority, therefore backing Brooklyn for the win. The Nets come into this game on a five-game winning streak, and with Kevin Durant on top form, one of the top scorers in the NBA. James Harden has struggled to get to the foul line as much this season as he learns to cope with the adjustment in fouling rules that some have said was brought in specifically to combat some of his tactics, but his assist numbers are right up there and there are some signs that the Brooklyn offense is ready to explode.