Something for the Weekend: Best Football, Racing and Rugby Bets

The sporting bandwagon continues to roll on into the Autumn months, with another stellar weekend of action in store. The North London derby heads up the list of Premier League fixtures, whilst, on the racing front, Ayr plays host to its biggest meeting of the season with the 2023 edition of the Ayr Gold Cup. Meanwhile, the Rugby World Cup continues to churn out cracking matchups, with the heavyweight clash between South Africa and Ireland stealing the show on Saturday evening.

If there’s one thing guaranteed to ramp up the excitement, it’s a bet or two on the action, and here we present our four top picks from the latest weekend menu, using data presented by newbettingsites.co.uk.

Saturday: Doncaster 3:35pm Virgin Bet Ayr Gold Cup Handicap

A maximum field of 25 goes to post for this hugely competitive sprint handicap. A tricky puzzle to solve on paper, but we have a couple of trends in evidence to help whittle down the list of runners. Firstly, those drawn middle to high have held the edge in this event of late, with nine of the past ten winners emerging from stall eight or above, and secondly, nine of the past ten winners have carried between 8st12lb and 9st5lb on the day.

Applying the above criteria to this year's field provides a shortlist of just five contenders. Of that quintet, the two to catch the eye are Signficantly, who only just failed off this mark in the Portland last weekend and Mr Wagyu from the yard of John Quinn. It’s tough to split the pair, but Mr Wagyu gets the vote. An excellent third off this mark in a hot Curragh handicap last time out, he was beaten 2l into fifth in this twelve months ago but is fully 9lbs lower this time around. At a double-figure price, he rates an excellent each-way option.

• Best Bet - Mr Wagyu each way @ 12/1 with BetGoodwin

Saturday 3:00pm Crystal Palace vs Fulham

Fulham were one of our pre-season fancies to be involved in the relegation battle this term. As such, we have been surprised by their relatively positive start, with Marco Silva’s men picking up seven points from their opening five games. However, barring a battling display at Arsenal, we have been underwhelmed by the performance levels of the men from Craven Cottage. That view is backed up by the xG numbers, with Fulham boasting the worst xG-against stat in the division after five games. That’s only a small sample, but follows the trend of defensive susceptibility from last season, whilst, at the other end of the pitch, the goals of Aleksandar Mitrovic look tough to replace.

Crystal Palace also sit on seven points but have been far more consistent from a statistical perspective, with their average of 1.41 xG goals-against comparing favourably with the 2.55 figure of Fulham. Once again looking like a well-drilled unit under Roy Hodgson – who will be in the dugout having recovered from illness – that defensive edge, combined with home advantage, should be enough for the Eagles to come out on top.

• Best Bet - Crystal Palace to win @ 19/20 with LiveScoreBet

Sunday 2pm: Chelsea vs. Aston Villa

This clash from Stamford Bridge hasn’t made the Sunday TV schedule but has the potential to be a cracker. Chelsea has the advantage of playing at home and having had the week off, whereas Villa were in Europa Conference League action. Whether that will be enough to overcome Unai Emery's men, we aren’t so sure. There have been signs of promise under Mauricio Pochettino, but the whirlwind approach to the transfer window is yet to produce a cohesive unit. Beaten 1-0 by Nottingham Forest in their most recent game here and following up with a goalless draw at Bournemouth, it would take a brave punter to back the Blues at odds on.

At 3/1, the value lies with a punt on the Villains to steal all three points. Barring excusable defeats on the road to Newcastle and Liverpool, Villa have been largely impressive in scoring three or more in each of their wins over Everton, Burnley, and Palace, and at least have a clear attacking pattern to their play, which is more than can be said for their hosts. We fancy a few goals in this one, making Over 3.5 a temping play at around 9/5, but we will stick with a straight win bet on the visitors to come out on top.

• Best Bet - Aston Villa to win @ 3/1 with BetUK

Saturday: 8:00pm South Africa vs. Ireland Rugby World Cup

We had a firecracker of a fixture on opening weekend at the World Cup when juggernauts France and New Zealand locked horns, and we have another this Saturday as two of the pre-tournament favourites do battle at the Stade de France. Currently ranked as the number 1 and number 2 sides in the World, this clash between Ireland and South Africa would be fit to grace the final – and might yet – but for now, the right to top Group B is up for grabs.

Both sides have impressed so far; South Africa having too much for Scotland before blowing Romania away, and Ireland dominating Romania and Tonga. The most recent clash between the sides saw Ireland come out on top 19-16 in November 2022, and we fancy a similar result may be on the cards here. There is very little to split the teams overall, with South Africa boasting a slight edge in the pack, but Ireland’s methodical play amongst the backs being tough for any side to cope with. With a tight contest likely to be in store, this could be decided by kicking accuracy and, in that area, the men in green look to hold a definite edge. Kicking has been the Springbok's Achilles heel thus far, with Manie Libbok and Faf de Klerk struggling to reach a 50% success rate between them, whereas Ireland's reliable Ross Byrne has been near flawless. In a game of small margins, that advantage may be the deciding factor.

• Best Bet - Ireland to win by 1-5 points @ 6/1 with BetGoodwin

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