India v Pakistan
Cricket World Cup – 10.30 am
Sky Sports
Here we go then. Get ready for some fireworks. Cricketing rivals Pakistan and India step into the ring at Old Trafford, Manchester for one of the most highly anticipated games of the tournament. India have made an unbeaten start to their campaign, having seen off South Africa and Australia. Their third game against New Zealand was washed out at Trent Bridge. India have arguably looked the strongest side at the tournament and are 2/5 odds-on with leading bookmarks to win this fixture.
While India have been the strongest, Pakistan have been the most entertaining. You just never know what is coming from them. One minute it’s brilliant, the next minute it’s comically bad. But that’s the joy of watching Pakistan who have had their ups and downs in the tournament already. They suffered a loss against Sri Lanka in their opening game for example and then turned around to beat hosts and tournament favourites England.
This will be the first meeting between the two rivals since two game in Dubai in September 2018. India won both of them convincingly. In the last fourteen meetings between India and Pakistan, India have been on top winning nine of those fourteen. Pakistan have managed to take just the one win in their last five against India. That one win was in the final of the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy in England. Pakistan are 2/1 underdogs with leading bookmakers.
USA women v Chile Women
Women’s World Cup – 5.00 pm
BBC
How much will Chile be looking forward to this one? Not much at all. They are in their first ever World Cup and suffered 2-0 loss in their opener against Sweden. Now they have to take on the reigning Champions the USA who just smashed 13 goals past Thailand. To be fair, Chile, without offering any kind of attacking threat, looked as if they may hang on for a point against Sweden in Rennes. In a game that was suspended for a rain break, Sweden didn’t get their breakthrough until the clock had clicked past the 80th minute.
So Chile can take some credit for the way they stuck in there. But naturally, they tired against a physically stronger team. Still, this looks like a massively lop-sided game. The USA tore Thailand apart in a 13-0 drubbing, with star striker Alex Morgan bagging five goals. She is the 13/10 favourite with top bookmakers to score 2 or more goals in this game. Punters will no doubt recognise that as one of the best bets of the day.
People will now be expecting the goals to flow from the USA against Chile. They have set the bar pretty high. The problem for Chile is that they created nothing against Sweden and are facing an even better opponent here. It’s another gruelling game in the space of just five days for them. It’s that second half period when legs tire when it could start getting tough for them. Will the USA dial things back after being criticised for being so energetically ruthless against Thailand? Probably not.
Sweden Women v Thailand Women
Women’s World Cup – 2.00 pm
BBC
Sweden are on a good four-match winning streak of form at the moment and they opened their World Cup campaign with a 2-0 win over debutantes Chile. The Swedes only managed to break them down later on in the game, so they will probably be taking a look at their creative options. However, they are taking on Thailand here and the Swedes may not find the going quite as tough.
Just to sum up how strong favourites they are, a Sweden -6 Asian Handicap still odds-on at 31/40 with leading bookmakers. What next for Thailand after that 13-0 nightmare against the USA? You would think that things couldn’t get worse and they probably won’t in this one. It’s not likely to be another 13 goals fired off against them. Thailand’s confidence must be rock bottom at the moment though. It is part of a growing process though, but this looks as if this is going to be another World Cup experience to forget.
Paraguay v Qatar
Copa America – 8.00 pm
Premier Sports
This will be a fascinating meeting in the Copa America. Qatar got an invite to join the CONMEBOL celebrations this year. They are the AFC Asian Cup Champions and they are carrying a bit of form with them. For this calendar year, they have won six of their eight games played (D1 L1). Granted it’s not been the toughest of opposition that they have faced, but they did topple Japan 3-1 in the final of the Asian Cup.
They seem to have good confidence and momentum behind them and are something of an emerging side. They are still 4/1 underdogs with top bookmakers to win this match though. It is Paraguay who are going to be facing the pressure of meeting the tournament underdogs. But they are horribly out of form at the moment. They have taken one win in their last seven games played and that was a success over minnows Guatemala. The bookmakers are expecting them to win at 8/11, however they could come in for some heat in this game.
