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For soccer teams involved in the qualifying rounds of European competition, there is very little time to enjoy the summer, and for Celtic, the serious business started on July 9 when they began their Champions League qualifying journey with a trip to Sarajevo.

A 5-2 aggregate victory over the Bosnian champions set up their Second Qualifying Round tie against Nomme Kalju of Estonia and in an impressive display at Celtic Park last week, Neil Lennon’s side established a formidable lead, winning 5-0 to put the tie virtually out of reach for the Estonians. Tuesday’s return leg now appears to be a formality in terms of the overall result, but there is still a lot for Celtic to play for, besides confirming their place in the Third Round.

Last week’s game saw the welcome return to action of striker Leigh Griffiths, who hadn’t made a competitive appearance in front of his home fans since last September, and besides the emotion of the occasion, his return to the team and to goalscoring form is great news for Lennon, who is the latest manager challenged with the task of keeping Celtic top of the Scottish football pile.

With a resurgent Rangers closing the gap every year, Lennon will be hard-pressed to match the success that previous head coach Brendan Rodgers brought to the club, but for all the silverware that Rodgers amassed domestically, significant progress in European competition was something that eluded the former Liverpool boss and is one area where Lennon can break new ground.

The task of turning domestic dominance into European success is one that many Scottish managers have struggled with. A Scottish team hasn’t competed in a European Final since Rangers lost to Zenit St Petersburg in the 2007-08 UEFA Cup Final, and there hasn’t been a European trophy claimed by a Scottish team since Alex Ferguson’s Aberdeen won the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1983.

Celtic, of course, have a particularly strong association with European football, being the first UK team to win the European Cup, under the legendary Jock Stein, in 1967. They also reached the final in 1970 and the semi-finals in 1972 and 1974. But since the mid 1970s, European success has been rare. Martin O’Neill’s Celtic side reached the 2003 UEFA Cup Final, losing to Porto, and were knocked out of the competition at the quarter-final stage in the following year, but Celtic haven’t reached the knock-out stages of the Champions League since 2013.

Celtic are clear favourites for the trip to Estonia, being rated as a -526 chance by BetCris, with Nomme Kalju at +978 and the draw at +504, but Lennon will be wary of allowing any complacency to creep in, with two more rounds to go before they reach the Champions League Group Stage. Celtic fans will also be hoping that their side take a ruthless approach to this game, as they try to build momentum for the challenges that lie ahead.

Ashes 1st Test
Thursday – August 1st
Sky Sports

After a bizarre four-day Test match success against Ireland last week, England will march into the opening Test of the Ashes 2019 on Thursday. With question marks, big ones at that, over England’s batting, how will they handle the pressure?

Regardless of their wobbles in the Test arena, England are going as favourites against their old foes in this opening fixture.

Can England take the first step forward in trying to get the Ashes back? The odds on England to beat Australia in the 1st Ashes Test are 10/11 with leading bookmakers.

2017/18 Ashes Series Review

Australia collected a 4-0 series win in the 2017/18 Ashes series. It was pretty much a non-contest on that occasion, so dominant were the hosts. England were just smashed in the opening Test of the series, losing by 10 wickets. Australia raced away with a 120 run win in the second Test and the series was done and dusted at the WACA in the third fixture. Australia demolished a battered and bruised England by an innings and 41 runs.

So after three matches, the Ashes, as a contest, were over. England fought to a draw in the fourth game, but were then embarrassed by another innings defeat in the final Test. It was nothing short of a miserable series from the English. Australia’s captain Steve Smith was the player of the series.

That leaves England with 33 Ashes series wins against 32 from Australia.  Leading bookmakers have England at  10/11 odds to win the Ashes 2019, with Australia at 7/4.

2019 Test Dates

1st Test – August 1-5 at Edgbaston
2nd Test – August 14-18 Lord’s
3rd Test – August 22-26 at Headingly
4th Test – September 4-8 at Old Trafford
5th Test – September 12-16 at The Oval

First Test Preview

Edgbaston is the scene for the opening Test of the 2019 Ashes. The first ball of the day is due to be bowled at 10:55 am. The last time that England played host to Australia at Edgbaston was in the 2015 Ashes Series. Australia had won the toss and elected to bat in Birmingham.

However, England skittled them out for just 136 runs and that set the hosts up for a comfortable win. England went on to take an eight-wicket victory in that match, to take a 2-1 lead in the series. At Edgbaston against Australia in all previous Test Matches there, England are W16 L3 D5 .

England Predictions

England warmed up for the Ashes with a strange home Test against Ireland. England’s batting collapsed to 85 all out on the first day, but then they fought back to end up winning by 138 runs. England bowled out Ireland for just 38 on day three to seal the match. But there are big questions about England’s batting.

That was the fourth time in Test action since 2016 that they had lost all 10 wickets in a single innings. They looked a bit clueless against a ball which was moving around. Bowler Stuart Leach was their top scorer in the match with 92 from their second innings. Jason Roy, who was part of the World Cup-winning team recently had a great second inning in the match and is at 9/2 with big bookmakers to top score for England in the first Test.

There is a chance that Jofra Archer could be fit enough to get himself a Test debut. He was England’s top bowler at the World Cup but had a side problem injury in the tournament. He has been called up, but it remains to be seen if England push him into action in Birmingham. Chris Woakes is at 10/3 with leading bookies to be England’s top bowler in the 1st Test. England do at least seem to have a competitive fight going on in the pace-attack department. Can they hold it together as a batting unit though?

Australia Predictions

Steve Smith was their guiding light at the World Cup and he is such a phenomenal player. The captain, who was a player of the series in the last Ashes, is joint 11/4 favourite alongside David Warner to top score for the Australians in the opening Test of the Ashes 2019. That will be the first time that those two have played together since their bans for the ball-tampering scandal last year.

Opener Cameron Bancroft was also caught up in that mess, but he makes his return to the national squad. The three of them are likely to get some heavy stick from the English crowds. It was Bancroft who was caught with sandpaper in his trousers against South Africa in 2018 after being directed by Smith and Warner to tamper with the ball.

Tim Paine is the Australian captain, as Smith is banned from the role. The tourists have the batting power to make this a pretty tight series. But the real threat from the Australians could be with the ball in hand. They have superb pace attack in their squad. The leader there is, of course, the irrepressible Mitchell Starc. Starc is 11/4 to be their best bowler in this opening test. Australia are only taking one front-line spin bowler into action with them, that being Nathan Lyon.

Ashes 2019 Squads

Australia Ashes squad: Tim Paine (capt), Cameron Bancroft, Patrick Cummins, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Michael Neser, James Pattinson, Peter Siddle, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade, David Warner.

England Ashes squad: Joe Root (capt), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler (wk), Sam Curran, Joe Denly, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, Olly Stone, Chris Woakes.

2019-21 ICC World Test Championship

All of the matches in this Ashes Series count towards the inaugural edition of the ICC World Test Championship. What’s that you may ask? From August 1st 2019 through to June 2021, nine of the twelve Test nations will take part in this special series, with a final to come in June 2021 (in England). Each of the participating nations will each play a Test series against six of the other nations during the time frame of this competition (three home and three away).

Those Tests won’t all be five-day affairs, so not all teams are going to be playing the same amount of matches. So, depending on how many days a series will be played over, will determine how many points are picked up for winning a match within that series. There is a total of 120 on offer per series (so, for example, winning a match in a 4-day Series rewards 30 points).

The teams taking part in this area Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and West Indies. That means Afghanistan, Ireland and Zimbabwe are not taking part. India and Pakistan won’t be playing with each other. Just for reference, England’s home Test Series in this World Test Champions are against Australia (5 matches), Pakistan (3 matches), West Indies (3 matches). Their away games are in India (5 matches), South Africa (4 matches) and Sri Lanka (2 matches)

Ashes 2019 Predictions

In the last decade, England have played eight Test matches at Edgbaston and they have won six of them, drawing the other two. In that same span, they are W1 D1 against Australia there. So this is a ground where they do seem to flourish. Now to that game against Ireland on what was a really strange pitch that was slow, but offered so much for the bowlers.

England were on a high of having just won the world cup. In their line up against Ireland, half of the team came from that successful World Cup squad. It’s not too unreasonable to suspect that there has to be a little adjustment period needed. Players need time to switch up to a different way of thinking out there at the crease. Switching formats from the rapid-scoring ODI format to the patient approach of Tests can’t be that easy. England weren’t at their strongest against Ireland either in terms of personnel.

But no question, the averages of England’s top batsmen have dropped over the last couple of years. It doesn’t look certain as to exactly what their lineup should be. You don’t doubt Australia’s top order as much as you do England’s. This is an Australian side who are competitive and only need a drawn series to hang on to the Ashes title.

But even with that said, on home soil in Birmingham, it has to be England that gets backed. They do have better, well-rounded depth in the team and if a couple of players click at the top of the order to steady the ship, that’s all they need to get going. Expect drama.

Dundee v Inverness
Scottish League Cup – 3.00 pm
BT Sports

There is going to be a great climax in Group D of the Sottish League Cup on Sunday. Inverness are top of the group, but only by a goal difference of one over Dundee. So there is everything to play for and not even a draw will settle this in 90 minutes. That’s because in the group stage of the League Cup if there is a draw, both sides get a point. But a penalty shoot-out immediately follows and the winner of that gets a bonus point.

That adds a lot more drama to this. Dundee have the advantage of playing at home for this action. Only the top side automatically qualify for the second round. So the second-placed team will have to try and rely on getting through as one of the best runners up. The Dee are even money favourites on home soil with leading bookmakers for this one. But on paper, it looks as if it is going to be tight. Dundee are W1 D2 L1 in their last four home games against Caley.

Inverness then can’t just turn up at Den Park and play out for a draw as they could lose the top spot in a penalty shootout. That’s the fascinating component of this. They have scored seven goals in the group compared to the three that Dundee have managed. But they are facing an opponent who haven’t conceded in any of their matches, whereas Inverness have shipped three goals. It’s just an even balance wherever you look. Inverness are 11/5 to pick up the win in 90 minutes.

German Grand Prix
F1
Sky Sports

It looks as if the German Grand Prix is going to be quite competitive. It was the Ferraris of Charles LeClerc and Sebastian Vettel who were the quickest in Friday’s practice. That was just the fillip that the team needed after struggling so much to keep up with the Mercedes team this season. Will this be the big breakthrough for LeClerc in getting his maiden F1 win? He has knocked on the door often enough this season. LeClerc is 6/1 odds with top bookmakers to get the win and despite some quick stuff on Friday, teammate Vettel is at 13/2.

Leading the way for the German Grand Prix is Lewis Hamilton. He has won all but three of the ten races this season. He also has good form at the German Grand Prix. Hamilton is a four-time winner of the race and three of those four have been at Hockenheim. That’s the venue for this year’s edition. So the form books read well for him in this one and if he crosses the line first on Sunday it will be the third German Grand Prix success in a row for him. Hamilton is 4/5 odds-on favourite, enough to take on as one of the best bets of the day?

Lewis Hamilton is going in hot after a record sixth win at the British Grand Prix too. Will Red Bull’s Max Verstappen have a shot at the win in this one? The drives that both Max Verstappen and Charles LeClerc have put in, have probably been a big highlight of the season. They have between them, produced some stunning form. Considering that Verstappen is a slightly shorter price than that former German Grand Prix winner Sebastian Vettel says a lot. Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas is the second favourite.

The Ashes 2nd T20
Cricket – 1.30 pm
Sky Sports

It has been a terrible Ashes series for England on home soil. The Women’s Ashes is a multi-format contest with three ODI matches, one Test match and three T20 games. Different points are awarded for wins in each of the different formats. England were left chasing a massive deficit right out of the gate as they lost all three of the One Day Internationals. The first was by 2 wickets, the second by 4 and then they were just blown away by a 194 run defeat in the third and final fixture.

So that was a 6-0 point lead for the Tourists. England needed to win the one Test match. But Australia were just too good with the bat, superstar Elyse Perry knocking off 116. England did dig in there though with Australia not bothering to set England a target for the second innings and the match was drawn. Australia were well in control at 8-2 in the points. That was enough to ensure they retained the Ashes because it left England needing to win all three T20 matches to just tie the series.

As Australia are Ashes holders, a draw retained the title with games to spare. But the tourists continued their hot form with a thumping win in the first T20 match. Meg Lanning set a new record of 133 in a Women’s T20 match from just 63 balls. In total the Australians posted 226, their highest ever total in such a fixture. England only managed 133/9 in response. So now it’s on to the second of three T20 matches and Australia are 10/11 with top bookies to keep their winning streak going.

Arsenal v Lyon
Friendly – 3.15 pm
Premier Sports

Arsenal will be fairly pleased with their efforts from the International Champions Cup tournament. They opened there with a 2-1 win over Bayern Munich before a young side posted a 3-0 win over Fiorentina. The friendly competition gave boss Unai Emery the chance to have a good look at his squad options. In their final game, they played out a 2-2 draw with Real Madrid, having held a 2-0 lead within the first half an hour. Arsenal lost the deciding penalty shoot-out in the fixture.

But still, that was another good workout for the Gunners. They move their pre-season action forward with a game against French side Lyon on Sunday. The leading bookmakers have Arsenal at 8/13 to get the victory in the Emirates Cup. The Emirates Cup is an annual pre-season mini-tournament hosted by Arsenal and it is so small that this is the only game in it. Anyway, Arsenal will probably at least send out a fairly strong starting eleven.

Last season Lyon finished third in the French top flight and reached the semi-finals in the Coupe de France. So it was another decent domestic season from them and they reached the round of sixteen in the Champions League. They have a new manager in place, which is the former Barcelona player Sylninho in what is his first managerial position. It’s always hard to judge pre-season friendly action, but Lyon have this summer, lost 1-2 against Swiss side Sevette and 3-4 against Genoa in friendlies. The big bookmakers are expecting goals in this with over 2.5 goals at 1/2 odds-on.

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Australia v Argentina
Rugby Championship – 10.45 am
Sky Sports

The second round of the 2019 Rugby Championship swings into action on Saturday. In last year’s tournament, there was a surprise result in this corresponding fixture. The Pumas  of Argentina raided the Gold Coast for a shock win over Australia. Can they pull off a repeat? The top bookies have them as 8/5 underdogs, but with the way they played last weekend against New Zealand, can they be written off? The Pumas had the All Blacks rattled in Buenos Aires, not conceding any points against the World Champions in the second half of the match. In the end Argentina fell just short 16-20.

Australia lost their opening game, a trip to Johannesburg to face South Africa. They had their moments in the game, but their defence just kept leaking the tries, conceding five of them in the fixture. That was a tough opener for them and after what was a miserable 2018 calendar year, the Wallabies badly need a lift in this World Cup year. The pressure is on them for this scrap in Brisbane, for which they are 4/7 odds-on. They struggled to handle the physical Pumas last year at home, will the memories of that painful loss spur them on to better things?

Glen Durrant v Michael Smith
World Championship Darts – 7.15 pm
Sky Sports

What a tournament Glen Durrant has come up with at the Winter Gardens. Duzza has been integrating himself well on the PDC this year after jumping ship from the BDO. For his first attempt at the World Matchplay, he hasn’t look out of place. So far Duzza has taken down two former World Champions and a former World Matchplay title winner in this campaign. One more win on Saturday will put him through to the final.

Durrant took out Adrian Lewis in comprehensive fashion in the first round, not too unexpected though with former World Champion Lewis out of form. But then he was up against the best in the business, Michael van Gerwen, current World Number One. Durrant was the underdog for the battle but showed that he belongs in the PDC with a 13-11 shock upset. It was then a 16-7 win over former world Matchplay winner James Wade. That is three seeds down and now Durrant takes on another one in Smith.

Durrant is 8/11 odds-on with leading bookmakers to win, and the way he’s playing, he will have plenty of support as one of the best bets of the day. But Smith is motoring along at the Winter Gardens too. He has had a much easier draw, not having faced a seeded player yet. But despite taking on weaker opposition, Smith hasn’t let his scoring drop. That’s impressive. Smith beats everyone else left in the draw for 140+ scores. He’s 11/10 with top bookies to stop the hot run of Duzza.

Rob Cross v Daryl Gurney
World Championship Darts – 9:15 pm
Sky Sports

Former World Champion Rob Cross is looking in fine fettle at the moment. He has eased his way through the challenges at the Winter Gardens. With such positive from behind him in 2019, being a losing finalist at the UK open and the Premier League of Darts, Voltage has been electric in Blackpool as well. Cross dropped just eight legs across his first two matches. He had a bigger challenge in his quarter-final against Stephen Bunting but took care of business. Twice in three matches at the tournament has had taken a three dart average of over 100 and he’s 8/15 favourite with leading bookies.

Daryl Gurney defied his underdog status in the quarter-finals against front-runner Peter Wright. Wright had been in astonishing form and had beaten Gurney in their last meeting. But Northern Ireland’s SuperChin would have his day with a 16-13 win in a wonderful match, which had phenomenal scoring. Gurney has struggled a little bit with his checkouts at this tournament and he has now been through three very long gruelling matches. Of the four remaining players, he has the lowest checkout success at just 30%. But he got it together much better against Wright and is 6/4 to win as an underdog again.

There’s plenty of sporting action around on Saturday as the countdown to the new football season continues, so keep up to date with the latest live bets!

Peter Wright v Daryl Gurney
World Matchplay Darts – 8.45 pm
Sky Sports

Peter Wright is the in-form player on the PDC at the moment. His hot streak of form has continued through the early rounds of the World Matchplay as well. He powered to a 10-5 win over Vincent van der Voort in the first round of action and then was even better in the second round. There he took an 11-2 win over 11th seed Simon Whitlock. Snakebite has the bit between his teeth at the moment for sure and he is the 2/5 favourite for this quarter-final tie. That will tick a lot of boxes for punters as one of the best bets of the day.

This match against Gurney will be Wright’s biggest challenge so far at the Winter Gardens. Northern Ireland’s Gurney is the third seed at the event. SuperChin collected a 10-7 opening win over Ricky Evans before edging past Keegan Brown 11-9 in the second round. Those were matches against unseeded players. Gurney was a recent semi-finalist at the Premier League of Darts and was in the final four two years ago the World Matchplay. He has been to the quarter-finals (no further) in his four of his last six tournaments. Gurney trails Wright 8-15 in the head to head.

Rob Cross v Stephen Bunting
World Matchplay Darts – 7.15 pm
Sky Sports

Former World Champion Rob Cross, number two seed at this season’s World Matchplay looks pretty hungry for success. It has been an easy passage through to the quarter-finals so far where he will face yet another unseeded player. He opened with a 10-3 win over Chris Dobey before taking out Krzysztof Ratajski 11-5 in the second round. So the challenges for Cross haven’t been stiff, but his three dart averages across the two matches have been good. He looks pretty sharp and goes at the 1/6 odds on favourite with leading bookies.

Cross arrived at the Blackpool Winter Gardens with some good results behind him. He reached the final of the UK Open and the final of the Premier League. This is the deepest that he has been in the World Matchplay, having failed at the second round stage in his two previous efforts. Stephen Bunting is also having his best World Matchplay tournament. His best previous finish was a second-round in 2014. The Bullet, a former BDO World Champion is 4/1 underdog for this duel. He has survived seven match darts against him in the tournament so far, in having beaten 7th Gerwyn Price and then Ian White. Will luck be on his side again?

VfB Stuttgart v Hannover
Bundesliga 2 – 7.30 pm
BT Sport

The first action from this season’s Bundesliga II happens on Friday night with Stuttgart playing host to Hannover. This is a big game for both of them because they were both relegated from the Bundesliga last term. So that was a huge disappointment for both. The fight to get back up begins in this heavyweight clash now. Last season Stuttgart took a big 5-1 home win over Hannover in the top flight and the leading bookmakers have them at 4/5 to win this one as well.

Both clubs have seen considerable departures of course, with players deserting to top tier teams elsewhere. Hannover lasted just two seasons back in the top flight of German football before taking their tumble. Die Roten only managed two away clean sheets and just one away win across all competitions last season. So on paper, this does look to be a tough season opener for them to handle. The bookies recognise that and have them as 10/3 underdogs for their trip to the Mercedes-Benz Arena.

Elgin City v Hibs
Scottish League Cup – 7.45 pm
BT Sport

There is a good game to come in the Scottish League Cup on Friday, with top spot in Group C still up for grabs. Premiership side Hibs are top of the group going into this final round of action. They have a two-point lead over second-place Arbroath so can’t afford to take their eye off the ball. If they lose this away game then Elgin will finish level on points with them and Elgin could go above them with a big enough margin of victory.

So Hibs realistically will be happy with a point in this one. Even if they only pick up one point and are caught by Arbroath, they will probably have done enough to get through to the second round as one of the best runners up. The leading bookmakers see clear favouritism and have the Easter Road men at even money to win to nil.

Elgin lost their opener against Arbroath but then earned a bonus point in a penalty shootout win over Alloa. Their one outright win in the group stage happened with a 2-1 success over Stirling. Considering Elgin finished bottom of their group without a point last season in the tournament, this has been some improvement.

Read about some more of the big action that is coming up, in Bobby’s Big Weekend Bets