Mark O'Haire's football tips, best bets and nap: Inter to dominate Milan
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Football betting tips: Weekend best bets
Saturday
3pts Sligo Rovers to beat Dundalk (19:45) at 35/40 (Betway)
Sunday
2.5pts Genk to win and Over 1.5 Goals vs Dender (17:30) at 3/4 (William Hill)
2.5pts Inter to win and Under 4.5 Goals vs Milan (19:45) at 11/10 (Sky Bet)
Genk vs Dender
- Kick-off time: 17:30 BST, Sunday
Genk (W5-D1-L1) are the early pacesetters in Belgium and the wonderfully nicknamed De Smurfen (quite literally, The Smurfs) are fancied to extend their five-match winning streak by overcoming Dender on Sunday. GENK TO WIN & OVER 1.5 GOALS pays 3/4 (1.75) at William Hill and rewards punters should the Blauw-Wit succeed by any score that’s not 1-0.
Genk were hugely impressive in their 2-0 midweek triumph at Anderlecht with Thorsten Fink’s team comfortably clear of the pack across almost all major data metrics. De Smurfen top both the Expected Points (xP) and Expected Goals (xG) charts, averaging an enormous 2.33 non-penalty Expected Goals (npxG) and already generating 18 Big Chances.
Dender (W3-D2-L2) have made a promising start to their own campaign but the newly-promoted club have picked all of their points up against bottom-half dwellers, deservedly losing when facing Club Brugge and Standard Liege. The visitors have shipped multiple goals in three of their last four and may find Genk too hot to handle on Sunday evening.
Inter vs Milan
- Kick-off time: 19:45 BST, Sunday
The Derby della Madonnina takes centre-stage in Italy this weekend and I’m eager to support INTER TO WIN & UNDER 4.5 GOALS at 11/10 (2.10) with Sky Bet.
The Nerazzurri have won seven of their last eight meetings with Milan – including six on the spin – and Simone Inzaghi’s side are well capable of extending that streak at San Siro on Sunday.
Inzaghi rotated his troops for the midweek match at Manchester City, with Inter picking up a creditable point at the Etihad. The Nerazzurri have also played out draws in both of their away Serie A outings but flexed their muscles on home soil when destroying Atalanta here 4-0 only a matter of weeks ago. The defending champions will be difficult to muzzle.
Milan have endured a difficult start to life under Paolo Fonseca. Tuesday night’s chastening home reverse to Liverpool has piled on the pressure following an underwhelming return to domestic duties thus far. Ultras have already been protesting against the appointment and AC look a long way off Inter’s standards right now and are well worth opposing on Sunday.
Saturday selections
Sligo Rovers vs Dundalk
- Kick-off time: 19:45 BST, Saturday
Dundalk look set to avoid liquidation and complete the remainder of the League of Ireland season after a deal was agreed to save the club. There had been fears the Lilywhites would fold on Monday after the club had been hit by cashflow problems under the ownership of Brian Ainscough. However, local businessman John Temple has stepped in to help.
Whilst short-term fears off-the-field have been eased, Dundalk remain deep in relegation trouble at the bottom of the Premier Division. Jon Daly’s group have lost four of their previous five, and 16 of their 30 overall league encounters this term, whilst notching just 21 goals. The Lilywhites’ road record reads a miserable W1-D4-L10.
With that in-mind, I’m happy to support SLIGO TO WIN at 35/40 (1.88) with Betway.
Sligo are only two points shy of third-place and boast the division’s second-best home record (W8-D4-L3) – those figures include seven victories in their last eight at The Showgrounds, beating the likes of Shelbourne (1st), Derry (2nd), Shamrock (3rd) and Waterford (4th) here.
Odds correct at 1130 BST (19/09/24)
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