Fulham are favourites for promotion from the Championship but Middlesbrough are no mugs either and a close contest could be on the cards. The hosts ended last season with a miserable run of Premier League results and have plenty to prove here, despite an obvious drop in class.
Coventry are back at their home stadium after two years sharing with Birmingham and can celebrate by beating Nottingham Forest. Just three points and one place separated these teams in the Championship table last term, but City finished far more strongly.
Sweden have claimed five straight wins in the women’s Olympics tournament and can make it six of the best when facing Canada in the final. The Cannucks will be buoyed by having upset USA in the semis but we feel this is an even stiffer test on current form.
Bournemouth entertain West Brom in this season’s Championship curtain-raiser and we’re siding with the Cherries on Friday night. They already have the benefit of a 5-0 EFL Cup win over MK Dons under their belts, along with home advantage at Vitality Stadium.
Sheffield United will be delighted to have their passionate fans back inside Bramall Lane for Saturday’s Championship opener with Birmingham. The Blades missed those supporters when relegated from the Premier League last term but look well placed to bounce straight back.
Spain were our pre-tournament pick for gold at the Tokyo Olympics and we’re sticking with them to edge out Brazil in Saturday’s final. Both teams have had to work hard to get through the knockout stages but the best two squads in the tournament will feature in the decider.
Japan were beaten in the 2012 bronze medal match but are fancied to edge out Mexico on home turf in this summer’s third-place play-off. Both teams narrowly failed to upset the odds at the semi-final stage and we just feel the hosts may now be more fired up for this contest.
USA have laboured for much of the women’s event at the Tokyo Olympics but may improve with the pressure off when taking on Australia. Bronze medals are up for grabs, but this is still a chance for the Stars and Stripes to relax a bit and open up more in Kashima.
Spain found their shooting boots just in time to see off Ivory Coast and can build on that by beating Japan in the Olympics semi-finals. The hosts did well during the group phase but failed to impress when only getting past New Zealand on penalties.
The last two Olympic champions face off in this summer’s first semi-final and holders Brazil get the nod to edge out 2012 winners Mexico. El Tri have been great to watch in Tokyo but their next opponents are a class apart on paper and possess far more big-match experience.
Australia showed great spirit to edge out Great Britain but Sweden have been the stand-out team at the Tokyo Olympics. The Scandinavians prevailed 4-2 when these sides met during the group stage and are fancied to come out on top in another high-tempo semi-final clash.
USA have all the pedigree but Canada are fancied to be competitive in their women’s Olympics semi-final on current form at this tournament. Both teams had to go all the way to penalties at the last-eight stage and we feel this tie is destined to be another close encounter.
With 23,000 fans allowed into Ibrox, Rangers can begin the new Scottish Premiership campaign by again celebrating last season’s stunning title triumph. Steven Gerrard’s side ended Celtic’s dominance north of the border when topping the table by 25 points.
Celtic can put a heart-breaking Champions League exit behind them to start their Scottish Premiership campaign with a win at Hearts. The Jambos easily earned promotion from the Championship and have done well in the Premier Sports Cup but now step up in class.