Australia v South Africa
Cricket World Cup – 1.30 pm
Sky Sports
A win and Australia will guarantee themselves top spot at the end of the round robin phase of the Cricket World Cup. They have been wonderfully relentless in their charge so far. Their only loss of the tournament came in their third match when they found the power and depth of India too much to handle. But the Aussies have responded in such a wonderful fashion by running off five straight wins since then. That includes successes over hosts England and close rivals New Zealand in high profile matches.
They are back in tournament mode are the defending champions, and positioning in the top four will determine who they face in the semifinals. It will be either England or New Zealand. There is little surprise that Australia are 4/9 odds on favourite with top bookmakers to win this game. South Africa were one of the first teams to be eliminated from the tournament. They started off on a three-match losing streak and have won just two games since then against Afghanistan and Sri Lanka. They did look more relaxed in their last game, maybe the pressure is off them and they are at 7/4 to upset the Australians.
Brazil v Peru
Copa America Final – 9.00 pm
Premier Sports
Brazil have delivered a treat for the home fans. As the host nation, they have landed in the final of the Copa America. They were the pre-tournament favourites, but they did struggle early on in the group stage to get their rhythm going. But they still won their group regardless. That moved them onto face Paraguay in the quarterfinals. The Selecao had to survive a nerve-wracking penalty shoot-out there. That set them up with a huge clash against old rivals Argentina. With the Albiceletsee looking out of sorts at the tournament, Brazil eased to a 2-0 victory.
Peru have now made the final four of three of the last four editions of the tournament. They were big outsiders to have an impact this time around and only finished in third place in the group stage, the same group as Brazil. When the two met in the third round of group stage matches, Peru were smashed 5-0. The Brazilians are 1/3 odds-on favourites with the leading bookies to beat Peru once again.
But they have grit. They survived a peppering on their goal from Uruguay in the quarterfinals to hold out for a 0-0 draw. Peru won the penalty shootout. They then, as underdogs, beat the outgoing champions Chile 3-0 in a semifinal showdown. That was as many goals as Peru scored in their four previous games in this tournament. This would be a shock if they defied 8/1 underdog odds and that would be a brave punt to back that as one of the best bets of the day. But Peru did claim a win over the Selecao in the 2017 edition of the tournament.
USA Women v Netherlands Women
Women’s World Cup Final – 4.00 pm
BBC
The reigning World Champions the USA will be taking on reigning European Champions the Netherlands. The bookmakers clearly have a picture of which way this World Cup Final is going to go. The USA women are 4/9 odds on favourites against their European counterparts. The USA sailed through the group stage scoring 13 unanswered goals. Then it was three straight 2-1 success for them in the knockout stages. They edged their way past a plucky Spain in the round of sixteen, before coming up big to eliminate host nation and pre-tournament favourites France in the quarterfinals.
The USA then beat England’s Lionesses by the same scoreline but had a huge slice of luck with England missing a late penalty kick. The USA have won three of the seven previous World Cup editions and have never finished lower than third. The Netherlands are in their first World Cup final. This is just their second campaign and their first one four years ago ended in the group stage. But the Dutch have managed to build on their huge 2017 success when they won the European Championships.
At this World Cup, the Netherlands topped their group against Canada which moved them through to a quarter-final against Japan. A late penalty secured a 2-1 win for the Dutch. They then impressively shut down the exciting Italy in the quarterfinals, to move through to face Sweden in the semi’s. After a long, cagey tussle with the Swedes, the Netherlands got the breakthrough in the first period of extra time with Jackie Groenen slotting home. The Dutch have real star power up front in Vivianne Miedema and Lieke Martens who have over 100 international goals between them. But will it be enough to stop the USA juggernaut though? The Dutch are 6/1 underdogs.
