Ajla Tomljanovic v Karolina Pliskova
WTA Brisbane – 9.00 am
BT Sport
An early start for this Best Bet of the Day feature from the WTA Brisbane event. With the Australian Open rapidly approaching, it’s great to watch this early season action to size up players. Pliskova, who should be in contention for the Grand Slam title will be looking to book a semi-final berth in Brisbane. After A tough battle in her opene, she had an easy time of things in the second round in getting past Marie Bouzkova. Next up for her is Ajla Tomljanovic who has already caused a major upset in the tournament. Tomljanovic took out Britain’s Jo Konta in the second round to get a crack at Pliskova. The head to head between Tomljanovic and Pliskova is even at one win each. They haven’t met since 2015 at Stanford though. World Number 8 Pliskova is the outright favourite but her opponent has to be in a pretty strong, confident mood. While Tomljanovic is the 5/2 underdog at leading bookmakers, I feel there are strong options in the set betting market.
Tranmere v Spurs
FA Cup – 7.45 pm
BT Sport
The FA Cup Third Round action starts from Prenton Park with Tranmere playing host to Spurs. Granted this does look to be a fairly big mismatch. League Two side Rovers have a dream draw at home against one of the top sides in the country, and this is what makes the FA Cup so special still. But Tranmere is a whopping 16/1 underdog with leading bookies to get the shock upset. Rovers have needed back to back replays in the first two rounds to see off non-league sides Oxford City and Southport. That doesn’t bode well for when the powerful Lilywhites come to town. But Spurs aren’t likely to be at full strength and just now again the old magic of the FA Cup gets sprinkled around. It would be some start to the Third Round action is Spurs failed to win this. But will the elite side simply show up and cruise past their lower-ranked opponents?
Sale v Saracens
Premiership Rugby – 7.45 pm
BT Sport
The Premiership returns after its short break over the Festive period. There will be a good contest to come from the AJ Bell Stadium on Friday. This is round 12 of the season and it will see the in-form Sharks taking on one of the best in the country. Sale has suffered just the one loss in their last six league games now and that was back in mid-November against, yes, Saracens. The Sharks have been strong on home soil with just one home defeat in the top fight so far this season but are 2/1 underdogs across the board at top bookies to win this one. It could be tight as they look for revenge over Saracens. Saracens lost their last away game, a crucial scrap at the top against Exeter. They haven’t lost back to back away leagues games since November 2017 though. Plus over the last eight seasons, they have suffered only one defeat against Sale in the Premiership. The leading bookmakers are giving a -6 handicap to the visitors at 10/11 odds.
