Top 3 bets for Thursday's T20 WC & football

Who will New Zealand play in the T20 World Cup final on Sunday?

Australia and Pakistan face each other in the second T20 World Cup semi-final this afternoon. The Aussies, trying to get their hands on the only major trophy they’ve yet to win, go into this game as slight underdogs against unbeaten Pakistan, who started their campaign by thrashing rivals India and have won every game since. Australia won four out of five, bouncing back from a thrashing against England to claim their place in the final four.

Babar Azam Player Performance (37-41)

Pakistan captain Babar Azam needs to score 6 runs to retake his spot as the tournament’s top-scorer from Jos Buttler, and will once again be expected to lead from the front as his side, the surprise of the tournament, look to continue their run and make it to Sunday’s final. The Player Performance market awards 1 point per run scored, with 10 for a catch, 20 for a wicket and 25 for a stumping. All Babar’s damage is done with the bat, but he’s one of the best in the world and bang in form, scoring 264 runs at 66 in this competition so far.

Are there any World Cup qualifiers tonight?

While England, Scotland and Wales get ready to fight for either automatic or play-off places for next year’s World Cup, sorry Ireland are already out and guaranteed to finish either 3^rd or 4^th in Group A, where they currently stand below Luxembourg. It doesn’t get any easier tonight, when they face the superstars or Portugal, Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes, Ruben Dias and the rest. There have been some real lows for Ireland in this campaign, and all they can do now is start building towards Euro 2024, but their performance in Portugal, when they went down 2-1 thanks to two Ronaldo goals in the last two minutes, was a highlight. They will have a full crowd and nothing to lose tonight, but can they live with the class of the Portugal players?

Cristiano Ronaldo Super Mega Minutes (73-85)

The spread may be set high, but punters are finding it hard not to imagine Ronaldo feasting on the Irish defence tonight. The Manchester United man shows no signs of slowing down, but the group situation may stop Ronaldo filling his boots tonight, even if the Irish defenders are struggling. With one eye on the group decider against Serbia, all Portugal need to do is avoid defeats, and chasing a big score makes no difference, so there is a possibility Ronaldo is wrapped in cotton wool and subbed early, and while he’s on the pitch the visitors should play with some caution given avoiding defeat is imperative.

England U21 v Czech Republic U21

It’s a huge game for England’s youngsters tonight as they take on the Group G leading Czech Republic at Turf Moor in this Euro 2023 qualifier. Lee Carsley’s side are five points behind in third, though they do have a game in hand. Anything less than a win tonight will make qualifying an uphill task after the 2-2 draw in Slovenia last month. England have also been hit by Emile Smith Rowe’s call up to the full squad. The Arsenal midfielder scored the only goal of the game in Andorra last month but is unavailable for this game now. England are 8/15 favourites to claim the three points tonight, with the Czechs 23/5.

Folarin Balogun Player Goal Minutes 26-29

While Smith Rowe is busy with the big boys, another Arsenal youngster, Folarin Balogun, has been confirmed as the starting striker in tonight’s must win game. He been price boosted to 6/5 by Spreadex fixed odds to score anytime, and we’ve also seen some nibbling is his goal minutes as patriotic punters get with the home side. The Czechs have performed well so far in this campaign and it would be a mistake to underestimate them.