Tony Kelshaw 
Italy are leading the way in a very tight Nations League Group A1 and get the nod to edge out second-placed Netherlands in Bergamo. The Azzurri have faced Holland three times in as many years, securing two narrow victories and a draw, so the omens look good for another positive result.
Ukraine are missing 14 players due to injury and coronavirus issues and Spain are fancied to take advantage in Tuesday’s Nations League clash. La Roja cruised to a 4-0 victory when these teams met in Madrid last month and should again be able to dictate proceedings in the return fixture.
Germany are well placed to challenge for top spot in their Nations League group and that should inspire them to victory against Switzerland. The visitors are struggling at the bottom of the table, although they did create plenty of chances in a 1-1 Basel draw versus Die Mannschaft last month.
After a fortnight dogged by dodgy weather and tough conditions, the French Open has thrown up the men’s singles final everyone was hoping for. King of clay Rafael Nadal will bid to reign supreme at Roland Garros for the 13th time, while world No 1 Novak Djokovic is unbeaten in 2020.
Iga Swiatek has simply been on a different level to any other female player at this year’s French Open and is taken to brush aside Sofia Kenin in the women’s singles final. Australian Open champion Kenin will try to turn this contest into a battle of wills, but we fear she will be totally outgunned.
Slovakia and Republic of Ireland have a history of tight tussles and Thursday’s Euro 2020 qualifying play-off promises to be another close encounter. These evenly-matched teams have played out four consecutive draws since the men in green shaded their first meeting 1-0 back in 2007.
Northern Ireland face a tough task when travelling to Sarajevo to face Bosnia and Herzegovina in a Euro 2020 qualifying play-off. The visitors are 12 places higher in the FIFA rankings, but their hosts have a far more talented team on paper and beat them twice in the Nations League two years ago.
Racing Point have made good progress this year and we’re backing the Silverstone-based team to fare well in our German Grand Prix predictions. Lance Stroll and Sergio Perez are eighth and ninth in the Formula 1 drivers’ championship, with just one point separating them after eight races.
Tottenham showed great spirit to get past Chelsea in the EFL Cup on Tuesday and will now hope for a smooth Europa League success against Maccabi Haifa. The Israeli outfit upset Rostov of Russia in the previous round of qualifiers but are expected to be out of their depth in this contest.
Steve Bruce has made no secret of his desire to do well in the EFL Cup so it will be disappointing if Newcastle can’t brush aside Newport in round four. County have enjoyed some good cup runs in recent years, but they were aided by a poor Rodney Parade pitch and vociferous home support.
As the world of sport continues to recover from the disruption of the first wave of COVID-19 that brought it to a virtual halt in the Spring, we’ve picked out five major sports and looked at how they responded, with regards to making changes to this year’s sporting calendar.
Five of the last seven UEFA Super Cup matches have gone to extra-time and Sevilla will be keen to give Bayern Munich a tough work-out in Budapest. The Europa League winners drew with fellow Spaniards Barcelona in 2015 and Real Madrid a year later, before losing out in an additional half an hour.
Tottenham look well placed to ease past KF Shkendija of North Macedonia in a Europa League qualifier being played behind closed doors. Spurs are coming off a big win at Southampton and were given extra preparation time for this trip when Tuesday’s EFL Cup tie at Orient was called off.
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has not taken the EFL Cup too seriously in the past but would no doubt like to get past Lincoln this week. The Reds have a number of new recruits and fringe squad members who should benefit from some playing time in this competition ahead of bigger tests.