It’s another huge weekend of sport as we warm into 2014, but let’s start with the Snooker Masters from London, England. This event sees 16 of the world’s best converge on the Alexandra Palace as they vie for the £200,000 first prize. The three big guns here are defending champion Mark Selby, world number one Neil Robertson and snooker legend Ronnie O’Sullivan but depending upon who you are leaning towards it’s worth shopping around because different sports books will have a different player listed as favorite. For those keen to back China’s Ding Junhui, you should be able to get him at around $8.00.
Can Ding Junhui bring the Snooker Masters title back to China?
The tennis season is heating up with the first grand slam of the year, the Australian Open, starting on Monday. However, there are a number of lead-up events reaching their conclusion this weekend including the Sydney International, the Heineken Open in Auckland and the Hobart International. Keep an eye on the form lines before you make a final decision on your Australian Open futures.
The English Premier League continues on its merry way as the big guns keep fighting for position. Most head into the weekend’s games as heavy favorites although Manchester City faces a tricky test away to the in-form Newcastle.
Spain’s La Liga sees a huge clash with league leaders Barcelona and Atletico Madrid meeting at Madrid’s Vicente Calderón Stadium. Barca is in great form at the moment, having crushed Elche 4-0 last week, however the big news is the return from injury of Lionel Messi. His presence alone makes Barca a daunting prospect and we lean towards them getting the job done.
And after their Ashes humiliation, can England gain some sort of revenge in the One Day series starting in Melbourne on Sunday? This is the first of five games between Australia and England but we’ll be sticking with the safe money and backing the hosts to continue their winning run.
Good luck and good punting.
