WGM’s Best Bets: Monday 5 January

The English Premier League might have taken the weekend off after playing four rounds in two weeks since Christmas, but there is no rest for those still in Cup contention with a whole plethora of FA Cup matches taking place.

Tonight sees three Premier League clubs in action with Burnley hosting Tottenham in an all EPL clash and Wimbledon facing a tough task against Liverpool. Spurs are coming off an impressive 5-3 win over league leaders Chelsea and although they are likely to rest a few players we can’t overlook their recent form which has seen them win four of their past five games (with a draw). They should be too good for struggling Burnley.

Liverpool threw away a 2-0 lead over Leicester last week to draw 2-2 and waste the chance to make it three wins in a row, but we like what we’ve seen from them in recent weeks. The lack of a striker continues to hurt them but they have completely dominated the midfield in games against Arsenal, Burnley, Swansea and Leicester and are starting to rediscover the up-tempo, exciting style that was the basis of their play last season. It will be a huge task for League 2 side Wimbledon and their 5,000 capacity stadium – a task we feel is simply too big for them to conquer.

Today’s NBA action sees the Houston Rockets travel to Chicago attempting to arrest a recent slide that has seen them slip to fifth in the West. The Bulls, on the other hand, are up to third in the East and in fine form on the back of the lethal pairing of Derrick Rose and Jimmy Butler. They should be too good at home.

The other game we like is the Thunder traveling to face the Golden State Warriors in a clash of the big guns. These two sides are among the best offensive outfits in the NBA with the Thunder involved in a remarkable 137-134 win over the Suns just a few days ago. We think they should easily cover the game total.