It’s four weeks, or 29 days if you wish to tick them off individually, until the next pesky international break and at least fans can look forward to this next one with an unusual degree of enthusiasm after England finished the latest batch of World Cup qualifiers with a resounding bang.
Battering Serbia 5-0 in Belgrade atoned for the awful Andorra affair at Villa Park and left fans feeling upbeat ahead of this weekend’s return to Premier League action.
There’s four rounds of domestic games plus a smattering of European and Carabao Cup games spicing up the schedule before England’s next outings and the first game of the October break is a tasty Wembley date with Wales on Thursday, October 9, before Thomas Tuchel’s side head to Latvia for matchday eight on the road to the United States, Canada and Mexico next summer.
The return to domestic duties includes the derbies between West Ham and Tottenham at the London Stadium on Saturday teatime and the Sunday afternoon encounter between Manchester City and Manchester United at the Etihad Stadium and both should be fun-filled experiences.
The Hammers will be buoyed by their 3-0 win at Nottingham Forest before the break while Spurs, who have dominated the recent sporting headlines following the departure of chairman Daniel Levy, will likely give debuts to exciting signings Xavi Simons and Randal Kolo Muani, who will freshen up an attack which was less than lacklustre Iast time out in the 1-0 defeat at home to Bournemouth.
However, centre stage will be taken by Mohammed Kudus, who faces his former side for the first time since joining the Europa League champions in the summer and he can rise above the jeers and heckles to score the opening goal at 9/1 with Unibet while the Ghana international is 3/1 with Betway to find the net at any time.
A Tottenham victory is 28/25 with BetGoodwin, it is 3/1 for a Spurs win with both teams scoring with bet365 and Lucas Paqueta is 9/2 with Sky Bet to bag a consolation effort for the hosts.
City’s late capitulation at Brighton left them spending the last fortnight in the uncomfortable position of being below their neighbours in the table.
Order will restored with Pep Guardiola’s side cruising to maximum points at 7/10 with Betway while Erling Haaland, fresh from a five-goal romp as Norway hammered Moldova 11-1 in Oslo, is 18/5 with Unibet to break the deadlock and 17/20 with Ladbrokes, Coral and BetMGM to score at any time. A 3-1 City success looks good at 12/1 with bet365.
Football odds: EFL acca
Swansea, with three wins and two draw in their last five matches, West Brom, who share the same stats, Stevenage and their four wins out of five, Doncaster with five straight triumphs and Walsall with four wins on the spin form Saturday’s Football League acca. They can also be backed as singles, doubles and other multiples.
Boxing odds
Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez, the undisputed super-middleweight champion of the world, put his belts on the line in a blockbuster boxing battle against Terence Crawford in the early hours of Sunday morning in Las Vegas and it is one of those occasions which is bound to hit the jackpot.
They are two of the greatest pound-for-pound fighters on the plant and the challenger from Nebraska is a world champion at four different weights and unbeaten in 41 contests while the Mexican belt-holder has won 63 times, drawn twice and suffered just two defeats.
Most shrewd judges have this as a 50/50 call, with Crawford possessing a brutal array of punches but moving up 14lbs to take on slick, stylish Canelo.
The American appeals at 9/4 with StarSports to emerge from a white-knuckle ride as the victor on points but the real winner will be the noble art with a huge audience able to watch what could well be the fight of the century on Netflix.
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