Another week bites the dust, and as we’re building a bit of a tradition here at betcha, we have our five best bets for this weekend’s sporting action. The codes are coming at us thick and fast. As many will know, the All Blacks suit up for the first time, while in the northern hemisphere, the FIFA Club World Cup continues to progress. There’s so much more as well, so I’m very excited to jump into the slate and share our best bets.
The best showman in the sport, Gaël Monfils, will take on Márton Fucsovics in their second-round tie at Wimbledon 2025. Both players are coming off grueling five-setters in the first round, so it will be interesting to see how the two 30-somethings recover with such a quick turnaround. Monfils has been playing some solid tennis recently, climbing back into the top 50 in the world rankings and coming off an impressive win over fellow Frenchman and 18th seed Ugo Humbert. Fucsovics, currently just outside the ATP top 100, is no stranger to success either, having reached a career-high ranking of 31 back in 2019.
On paper, it might seem like Monfils should run away with this one. However, the unpredictable nature of his game is always a factor, which makes me cautious. With that in mind, backing Monfils to win more than one set feels like a reasonable and safer play.
This is a heck of a third-round matchup at Wimbledon, as hometown hero Emma Raducanu faces the toughest test in the WTA: three-time Grand Slam champion Aryna Sabalenka. It’s wild to think Raducanu is still only 22, given her sudden rise to stardom following that historic US Open triumph in 2021.
Since then, her career has been anything but smooth, being plagued by early exits and injuries over the past four years. But her second-round win was a real statement on home soil, as she beat fellow Grand Slam champion Markéta Vondroušová in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3.
Raducanu will no doubt come into this clash with Sabalenka as confident as she’s been in years. Many believe she may have just rediscovered her best form since that breakout run in New York. While it’s tough to see her actually taking down the world number one on Friday evening, if Raducanu is truly peaking and has the home crowd behind her, I like her chances of putting up a serious fight.
It would have been impossible to leave the first All Blacks Test off the betcha Best Bets list. After a bit of digging, the play I’ve settled on for this one is the line just over the base 19.5 that’s currently set for the game. While I understand this is a weakened France side, they’re still a strong rugby nation with plenty of depth. On the other side, it’s the All Blacks’ first match of the season, which means some expected rust in terms of chemistry and overall performance during their first full 80-minute hit-out.
That said, I still believe the All Blacks will come away with the win due to their clear talent advantage, but I can also see a world where they start a bit slow and France manages to keep things within touching distance throughout.
There is no better way to describe this matchup than as a heavyweight bout worthy of being the final of the competition. This spectacle will feature the most in-form team in Europe right now, PSG, taking on one of the continent’s most talented sides on paper in Bayern Munich. Both teams are stacked with stars. PSG will be led by the likes of Ousmane Dembélé, Vitinha, and Désiré Doué, while Bayern bring firepower of their own with Harry Kane, Michael Olise, and Jamal Musiala.
In terms of recent form, PSG appear to be playing their best football essentially carrying on from their Champions League run. Bayern, on the other hand, looked like they finally clicked in their 4–2 win over Flamengo. With PSG firing on all cylinders in front of goal and Bayern also showing sharpness in the final third, it seems reasonable to expect both teams to find the back of the net in what should be a scintillating encounter.
Ferrari are back in second place in the Constructors’ Championship after leapfrogging Mercedes once again with a P3/P4 finish at the Austrian Grand Prix. They’re starting to look like they’ve really settled into the season and should continue building on this mid-season momentum.
Looking at the drivers, Charles Leclerc has been consistently solid all year, making a top-6 finish a reasonable expectation. His partner, Lewis Hamilton, has been slightly more volatile this year as he settles into his new digs, but he has found a bit of consistency lately and is returning home to Silverstone, where he boasts 12 consecutive podiums. That kind of familiarity gives him a strong chance to put together another solid points finish in his first home race as a Ferrari driver.
The odds might not be massive, but you’ll struggle to find better value this weekend than backing a Ferrari double top-6 finish.