Bristol City v Leeds
Championship – 4.30 pm
Sky Sports
The Championship continues on Sunday with Leeds making the trip to the West Country to face Bristol City. Leeds were one of the front-runners to earn automatic promotion from the Championship last season and they were looking good value for that at one point. On Boxing Day last year, they won their seventh straight game and they were looking like a lock for a top-two finish. But then they collapsed and won only two of their next seven games (D1 L4) and they started to struggle. They ended up in third place as their form again deserted them right at the end of the season, taking one point from their final four games.
Leeds were them dumped out of the playoff semi-finals by Derby. It was another big missed opportunity for the Whites to climb up to the top tier. The top bookmakers have Leeds as the 7/5 favourites to win at Ashton Gate on Sunday. Leeds won both games against Bristol City last season to nil. It has been that way in three of the last four meetings (D1).
The Robins are 2/1 underdogs for the game and they almost found themselves the playoffs last season. They had managed to put a hot run of form together between the end of November and mid-February, a massive thirteen match undefeated streak of form. But they couldn’t sustain the pace and missed the playoffs by two points. They posted a W8 D8 L7 record at home last season, earning three wins fewer than they managed out on the road. But will they be backed as one of the best bets of the day to earn three points against Marcelo Bielsa’s Whites?
Manchester City v Liverpool
Community Shield – 3.00 pm
BT Sport
Although it is only a friendly match at the end of the day, Manchester City and Liverpool will be playing for big bragging rights. The outcome of the Community Shield has no bearing of course on what is going to happen in the following Premier League title race. But getting a bit of confidence under the belt early in the season can be a good thing. Manchester City won the Premier League by a point over Liverpool last season in one of the greatest title races the league has seen. Man City won their final fourteen league games to clinch the title.
They also added the League Cup and the FA Cup last season as well. Because they won both league and FA Cup it means that Liverpool, because of their second-place finish in the Premier League, get to turn up at Wembley and face them. Manchester City claimed four points against Liverpool in the league last season, the only team to beat the Reds. The Citizens are now 10/11 odds-on favourites to get another victory over the Merseysiders when they meet in the capital on Sunday.
Liverpool though have only lost one of their last five against the Citizens in all competitions. The way that the Reds went toe to toe with City last season was so impressive. They barely put a foot wrong and still couldn’t get that elusive Premier League title. Winning the Champions League title was more than a small consolation for them, however. Liverpool didn’t have the greatest of pre-seasons, plans disrupted because of international duty for their main front line of Mo Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino. Will they gel together to land the Community Shield title? Liverpool are 14/5 to win in 90 minutes with top bookmakers.
Hungarian Grand Prix
F1 – 2.10 pm
Sky Sports
Lewis Hamilton has won the Hungarian Grand Prix six times before in his career. He is the most successful driver in the history of the race. Will he be adding number seven to the list on the weekend? This action at the Hungaroring comes straight after the thrills and spills of Germany last Sunday. It was chaotic at Hockenheim with Mercedes blowing a huge advantage with Hamilton running at the front. Their tactics went awry. Both Hamilton and teammate Valterri Bottas started making mistakes and both left the track.
Hamilton managed to finish 9th, while Bottas wiped out. It was a fine drive by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to get the win in the wet conditions, his second victory of the season. Verstappen is the 9/4 second-favourite with leading bookmakers to win in Hungary. That’s how much his stock has risen that he only has the Drivers’ Championship leader Hamilton ahead of him in the market. Will the Red Bull driver, with a much-improved car, be able to heap on a bit more pressure at the top?
Lewis Hamilton is at even money to win on the weekend. He is still a massive 41 points clear at the head of the Drivers’ Championship. That is over his teammate Valtteri Botts. But there have been a few difficulties creeping into the season of the Mercedes. However, the Silver Arrows have to be confident in the British driver because of his wonderful track record at the Hungaroring. He won by 17 seconds in last year’s edition. Will Ferrari be able to get their first win of the season? Sebastian Vettel was 2nd last weekend after starting 20th on the grid, while Charles Leclerc threw away a great position as he was another major casualty of the slick conditions.
