Tony Kelshaw 
Chelsea deserve great credit for their 1-0 Champions League triumph over Ajax in Amsterdam, but that Group H contest could easily have gone the other way. The Dutch giants earlier had a goal ruled out by VAR for the tightest of offside calls and hit the woodwork in a frantic, tetchy encounter.
Liverpool ultimately made light work of what had looked a tricky Champions League trip to Genk when winning 4-1 in Belgium and are hard to oppose in the reverse fixture. However, their opponents did create some decent chances in that first contest and seem determined to be positive.
Napoli shaded a five-goal thriller against RB Salzburg in Austria in the Champions League and can come out on top in another open encounter in Italy. Carlo Ancelotti’s side prevailed 3-0 when these teams met in the Europa League at Stadio San Paolo last term, but the visitors can grab a consolation this time.
Dortmund and Inter look to be battling it out for second place behind Barcelona in Group F of the Champions League and neither will want to give an inch here. They are level on four points after the Nerazzurri secured a solid 2-0 success in Italy a fortnight ago and a tight tussle is expected in Germany.
Flemington will again stage ‘the race that stops a nation’ and we’ve picked out three runners to consider in our Melbourne Cup tips. European raiders have enjoyed great success in recent years, with Rekindling scoring for Joseph O’Brien in 2017 and Charlie Appleby’s Cross Counter obliging last season.
Arsenal just edged out Vitoria 3-2 in an entertaining Europa League encounter at Emirates Stadium and we’re expecting a similar outcome in Portugal. The Gunners are flying high at the top of the Group F table with nine points from three games, whereas their hosts have yet to get off the mark.
Houston Rockets travel to the Barclays Center as they look to continue their rich vein of form against surprise strugglers Brooklyn Nets. Brooklyn came into the season with plenty of optimism after signing marquee players Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant and DeAndre Jordan, but have yet to sparkle.
The San Antonio Spurs will see their 100 per cent start to the 2019-20 NBA season come under severe threat when they travel to the Los Angeles Clippers for their first road trip of the campaign. The hosts have already seen off arch-rivals the Lakers and title contenders Golden State Warriors.
England put in such a controlled performance when beating New Zealand in the World Cup semis that they are hard to oppose against South Africa in the final. The Springboks managed to grind out a scrappy win over Wales in the other last-four contest but have not shown the same class.
Steven Gerrard has done a sterling job in making Rangers a major force again, but the former Liverpool star knows he now needs a trophy to back up the progress made. That should ensure the Glasgow giants are fully focused on Sunday’s Scottish League Cup semi-final with a struggling Hearts outfit.
Celtic are worthy favourites to beat Hibs in Saturday’s Scottish League Cup semi-final but the Edinburgh outfit do have a decent head-to-head record. The underdogs have secured two wins and four draws from the past 11 meetings, including a 1-1 stalemate at Easter Road this term.
Stellar coaches Steve Hansen and Warren Gatland will move on after New Zealand face Wales and we reckon it is the former who will sign off on a high note. Both teams have made changes for the Rugby World Cup third-place play-off and that should bring the All Blacks’ greater strength in depth into play.
With the UK heading to the polls on December 12, the Conservatives are red-hot favourites to fare best in bwin’s general election odds. Boris Johnson’s party is as short as 4/25 to win the most seats and 4/5 to secure an overall majority, with Labour 5/1 and 16/1 for the same bets.
Real Madrid have put themselves under plenty of pressure to qualify from Champions League Group A ahead of a tricky trip to Galatasaray. Both of these sides have picked up just one point from two games, each drawing with Club Brugge and losing to pool leaders PSG, so a win is badly needed.