Tuesday's best bets and popular punts
We bring you our best bets for today's sporting action, plus news of the best-backed selections.
Popular punts
We bring you the best-backed selections with our betting partners Sky Bet.
Racing: Watcombe Heights to win 5.35 Newton Abbot
There’s a good jumps card at Newton Abbot tonight and Watcombe Heights has been heavily supported to land the maiden hurdle. Martin Hill’s seven-year-old returned from a mammoth break to finish runner-up at the track a couple of weeks ago. That was a respectable performance and the way he stayed on without Jerry McGrath having to get too serious suggests there was plenty left in the tank. His bumper form from 2014 is well above average and punters must feel as though there was enough promise in his return effort as he’s been backed from 5/2 into 7/4.
Football: Alexis Sanchez to join Manchester City
Sanchez looked miserable again at Anfield on Sunday as Arsenal received a drubbing and that has rekindled punters' interest in him joining long-term suitors Manchester City. Such a move before Thursday's transfer deadline day has been backed in from 9/4 to 11/8 this morning.
Football: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to join Liverpool
We mentioned yesterday how the 'other' soon-to-be-out-of-contract Arsenal man had been backed to join Chelsea. Now Sky Bet report numerous bets for the England midfielder to head north to Liverpool. His odds for such a move have been cut from 13/2 this morning to 4/1. As an addition, Virgil van Dijk has also been backed to head to Anfield from Southampton - that's 2/7 from 8/15 today.
Golf: Tom Lewis to win the Czech Masters
The picks of our in-form golf tipster Ben Coley have all been popular with our betting partners with Tom Lewis leading the way. Weight of money has forced his price down from 125/1 to 80/1. Others to be cut include Jens Fahbring and Garrick Porteous.
Best bets
Murt Khan: Bonobo each way in 5.05 Newton Abbot
"He's a horse who was rated 120 a couple years back but, while in off 104 here, he has never completely lost his way. It's more been a case of gradually sliding down the weights to a mark from which he should be seriously competitive."
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Ben Linfoot: Reputation to win 3.10 Epsom
"Reputation acts very well at Epsom. He ran well here when a hampered fourth in a 0-100 on Oaks day last year, and returned to win the same race this summer despite running off a 5lb higher mark. The form of that race is really strong, with the second having arrived at the top of his game and the third winning next time out."
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Andy Schooler: Monica Niculescu to beat Kiki Mladenovic
"In general terms, Mladenovic is the better player of these two but right now she’s out of sorts, having lost her last four matches. Niculescu, a Washington quarter-finalist, also holds a strong head-to-head record here. She’s won both of their previous meetings, both on a hardcourt, with the margins of victory being pretty convincing – 6-4 6-4 in Katowice in 2015 and 6-0 6-2 in Florianopolis in 2013. I don’t think she should be 6/4 here and the Romanian looks a good bet."
Nick Hext: Southend each way in the Checkatrade Trophy
"I like Southend, who Crewe beat in that 2013 JPT final, as my 50/1 each-way selection from the south. Phil Brown's Shrimpers are another strong League One outfit who can use the Checkatrade Trophy as a chance for glory if a promotion challenge proves a little too much. Southend are in Group B of the Southern Section with Colchester, Gillingham and Reading Under-21s. They look the strongest side to me of that quartet and it was only a penalty shoot-out defeat to eventual finalists Oxford that knocked them out of last season's competition."
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Richard Wilson: Tynwald Baz (T2) to win 7.58 Sheffield
"Tynwald Baz (T2) looks to have the easier of the two Steel City Cup semis-finals tonight and there was much to like about his all the way triumph here in the heats seven days ago. The Nottingham-based dog thumped a field containing the likes of the talented Candlelight Fire and Sussex Cup winner Shaneboy Freddie, and will be tough to stop against some exposed types if in the same mood here. A berth in stall two looks perfect, and a time anything like last week's 28.28 would more than suffice against this level of opposition."
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