Top 5 Bets in Wednesday's Football, Racing, IPL & More

Are there more World Cup qualifiers tonight?

Not in Europe, but the Concacaf region has a number of games late tonight, the pick of them being USA v Costa Rica in Columbus, Ohio, kicking-off at midnight. The Americans are looking to bounce back from their weekend defeat to Panama, and can welcome back Juventus star Weston McKennie and Fulham full-back Antonee Robinson. Costa Rica, who beat El Salvador last time out, are missing ex-Arsenal forward Joel Campbell. The USA are currently in 2^nd in the 8-team group, behind leaders Mexico, but Costa Rica, currently 5^th, could leapfrog them with a win tonight. The top 3 make the World Cup finals, while 4^th place goes into an intercontinental play-off.

USA/Costa Rica 1.2-1.4

The USA are strong favourites for this match (2/5 fixed odds) despite their 1-0 loss to Panama, when they didn’t manage to register any shots on target. Costa Rica won in the USA in qualifying for the 2018 World Cup, and though they’ve lost three friendlies since we’ve seen money for the visitors across various markets. Which USA will turn up tonight, the toothless version who lost in Panama or the one that has beaten Costa Rica three times in a row. This market is a spread of how many more goals USA will score compared to Costa Rica.

Is there any horse racing this evening?

There are 8 races at Kempton this evening, starting with the 5.00 and finishing with the 8.30.

Stop At A Winner 36-38.5

Plenty will feel they have chances at Kempton, especially in the earlier races, where the favourites are all currently 5/2 or bigger. The Stop At A Winner market adds 10 points to the total for every race not won by a favourite, and given Sovereign Slipper is the shortest favourite in the first five races at around 5/2, buyers will be hoping that if they get past the 1^st race there’s a chance of a big return.

Who is going to make the IPL final?

It’s win or bust for Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Capitals as they battle it out for a place in the IPL final against Chennai Super Kings. KKR have been the form team since the tournament restarted in the UAE, winning 6 of their 8 games, including the qualifier between the 3^rd and 4^th place teams on Monday, when they knocked out Royal Challengers Bangalore. While KKR managed to scrape their way into the top 4 and the play-offs with that run of form, Delhi topped the IPL regular season table with a 10-4 record. Both teams will be keen to bowl first; KKR have won all five of their run chases in the UAE, while four of Delhi’s five losses have come when batting first.

Multi-Sixes 27-32

KKR’s spinners have been especially effective in the middle overs, and in two of the three games the team have played in Sharjah, Kolkata have conceded no sixes. Despite their success this season, Delhi have hit less sixes than any other team. We’ve seen plenty of sellers, buoyed by the possibility that Delhi hit no sixes and Multi-Sixes settles at zero. But with so much at stake in this game, can Delhi afford to not go for some maximums, knowing if they lose they’re out of the tournament

Are there any Brits left in the ATP Indian Wells tennis?

After Andy Murray followed British number one Dan Evans out of the tournament last night, it’s left to Cameron Norrie to fly the flag. He faces American Tommy Paul, conqueror of 4^th seed Andrey Rublev in the 3^rd round, at around 11pm tonight for a quarter-final place.

X-Courts 55-60

Norrie has been in decent form this season, making five finals, including last week’s San Diego Open, where he lost to Casper Ruud. He’s favourite to beat Paul tonight (8/15 fixed odds) but the American really impressed in knocking out Rublev and a repeat of that form will make this a close match. X-Courts multiplies Norrie’s games by Paul’s in each set then totals them up. Buyers will hope this is a close match, preferably a three-setter, whereas sellers will want Norrie to progress as quickly as possible.

Is Judd Trump going to win the Northern Ireland Open again?

Trump is in action at 8pm tonight looking for a place in the last 16 against China’s Lu Ning. He is looking for a 4^th successive title at Belfast’s Waterfront Hall, having beaten Ronnie O’Sullivan in the past three finals. Trump is one of only three men to win the same tournament in three successive years, the other two being Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry.

Lu Ning Points 197-217

After the way Trump despatched Lu’s countryman, Gao Yang, in the last round, beating him 4-0 without the 17-year-old scoring a point, we’ve seen some sellers in this market hoping for a repeat. Trump made breaks of 54, 100, 60 and 52 to make short work of Gao, but that doesn’t guarantee he’ll be anywhere near as dominant against the more experienced Lu.