The new week is now upon us, and with the slate of sport ahead of us, it is a great time to look at value through the early portions of the week rather than just the weekend. The question is, out of all the sporting action available to us, where does the best value lie, and that is where we step in. After doing a bit of research, we have figured out which three bets stick out to us as value plays to get this week jumpstarted.
With that said, I am not sure there is anything else to do bar jumping right into this list of bets.
As this amazing week of NFL football carries on, the cherry on top is set to be the AFC showdown between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Miami Dolphins. The Steelers will be at home at Acrisure Stadium in what will be classic December weather in Pittsburgh, with the forecast reading cloudy and -8 degrees. That is quite a stark difference to what the side from South Beach will be used to, as the Dolphins tend to be more worried about overheating than not being able to feel their hands while playing.
The game certainly has some major ramifications, as the Steelers look to stay on top of the AFC North, while the Dolphins have a long shot at a wild card spot if they can win out. The question will be who can deal not only with the physical elements better, but also with the spotlight of prime time football. This is where the history of the Steelers and Mike Tomlin should come to the forefront, as at home on Monday Night Football they are 22-0 during Tomlin’s tenure. Throw in the fact that the Steelers are built to play in the snow, and I like their chances to come away with a solid victory while continuing to hold onto their divisional lead.
With the Big Bash back in full effect, we have the third game of the new season set to be between last year’s champions, the Hobart Hurricanes, and a side looking for a major bounce back in the Sydney Thunder. Both sides have plenty of talent, with the Hurricanes still boasting the powerful top order that took them to the promised land last year, and the Thunder looking to rely on some youth to become contenders this season.
While it would be easy to pick out players like David Warner, Cameron Bancroft, or Mitchell Owen to steal the show in this one, I am going with the uber exciting talent of Oliver Davies to make his presence felt. Davies is one of the country’s biggest talents and, as a middle order batter, has shown the ability to take games over with his hand speed and power. Where he has come up short in recent memory has been a lack of consistency. He has been a bit more of a feast or famine type batter, but this year I expect more reliability from Davies with another year of development under his belt and could see him start the season with a solid outing.
A massive game, not only in the series landscape for the English Test side, but also in regard to the future of this leadership group and core of the team. If they come up short in the first three games of this series, you would expect the English papers not to take it easy on them and maybe even call for change.
However, if they do not want that to be the case, this England side has one more opportunity to get it right and will be in conditions that should suit their aggressive style more than other grounds around Australia. What has to happen is setting the tone with the bat in hand if they are going to have any chance, and for me that means the openers needing to take pressure off the middle order and get off to a fast start. One man who showed some life in the past Test was Zak Crawley, who, after coming under serious scrutiny, managed to score a very good 70 and 40 in the second dig.
With him being such a confidence based player, he should have his tail up somewhat and back himself to take the game to the new ball come Wednesday if they are into bat.
