The nineteenth edition of ‘Round the Sports World in five minutes’ talks you through an important game for England over at the Women’s Cricket World Cup, while old rivals Liverpool and Manchester United will battle it out in the Premier League on Sunday.
England - Pakistan at Women’s Cricket World Cup
- Start: Wednesday, 15 October
- Venue: Colombo, Sri Lanka
- Coverage: Sky Sports Cricket
- Fun Fact: England have played Pakistan 10 times in Women’s ODIs and beat them in nine of those. The brilliant Nat Sciver-Brunt, more on her below, is the top scorer in this fixture with a total of 275 runs, including an excellent 124 in just one match.
Betting
England are hot favourites as you’d expect, with Betfred going just 1.07 that they make it four wins in a row here at the Women’s Cricket World Cup and move into a position where they’re virtually guaranteed a semi-final spot.
It’s hard to disagree with that price on England. They’re ranked number 2 in the world, behind only Australia, while Pakistan are way down in eighth and haven’t made the progress one would have expected from them these last few years, while just about everyone else seems to be improving.
The fact that Pakistan have lost all three of their matches so far: to Australia, India, and Bangladesh – also goes some way to explaining why you can back them at 7.5 to beat England here.
The latter were in a spot of bother against Sri Lanka on Saturday before a magnificent century from Nat Sciver-Brunt allowed them to get to a competitive total. Sciver-Brunt, the real class act in this batting line-up, is just 3.25 to top-score again. Tammy Beaumont hasn’t really got going at the top of the order yet, but this bowling line-up may be just the opportunity she needs to get in the runs and put together a big score; she’s 3.8 for top bat honours.
The other player who put in a big performance on Saturday was Sophie Ecclestone. No surprises there. She’s the Number 1-ranked ODI bowler in the women’s game and is currently on nine wickets for the tournament. Only Australia’s Annabel Sutherland has more, with 10. Ecclestone is 3.0 to win the England top bowler market back-to-back.
Summary
England came into this tournament under a bit of a cloud after disappointing in recent ICC events over the last few years and famously losing the Ashes to Australia by a scoreline of 16-0 in January this year.
The hammering by the Aussies was the last straw for the ECB, who replaced Heather Knight with Sciver-Brunt as skipper, and brought in former superstar player Charlotte Edwards to coach the side.
They’re looking a fitter, more confident, more organised side already and are currently second in the table, but it should be remembered that games against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh were ones they were expected to win, while they were also favourites to beat South Africa, which they did in style.
Further down the line, they’ll still need to play India (Sunday), Australia (next Wednesday), and New Zealand. They won’t want to be going into one of those matches knowing they have to win. It would be much better to get the job done here and book their places in the semis as quickly as possible.
One worry, though, is that a few of their key players aren’t firing with fast bowler Lauren Bell, number 5 batter Sophia Dunkley and all-rounder Alice Capsey having quiet tournaments so far.
England may get away with them not contributing again against Pakistan here and still win. But they’ll need everyone bringing something to the table when they play Australia and India down the line if they’re going to go on and win the tournament.
Liverpool - Manchester United in the Premier League
- Start: Sunday, 19 October, at 16:30
- Venue: Anfield, Liverpool
- Coverage: Sky Sports Main Event
- Fun Fact: Mo Salah has an excellent scoring record against most Premier League sides, but it’s particularly strong against Manchester United. In 15 matches against them, he’s scored 13 times, also contributing six assists. Another big performance from the Egyptian here wouldn’t surprise anyone.
Betting
Liverpool are just 1.55 to win this match with Ladbrokes, while Manchester United are on offer at 4.8, and the draw is 4.33.
A home win with both teams scoring in it is 2.7, while an away win with both teams scoring is a big-looking 7.0.
Over two and a half goals is a short 1.48, but the record books suggest it may be worth pushing the boat out a bit more and going for over 3.5 goals, which is available at 2.15.
Remarkably, eight of the last 11 matches between these two across the league and FA Cup produced at least four goals in them, with such varying scores across that period as two 2-2 draws, a win for United by 4-3 in an FA Cup game, Liverpool wins by 4-0 and 5-0 and of course, that 7-0 win for Liverpool back in March 2023, one of the darkest days in Man Utd’s history.
If Liverpool are looking likely to rack up a few goals, then who might get one? Alex Isaak is 2.1 to score anytime, Hugo Ektitike is the same price and Mo Salah, who has been somewhat out of form by his standards, is 2.25.
For the visitors, Bruno Fernandes catches the eye at 4.8 to score anytime, while Bryan Mbeumo, who has started well at Old Trafford but scored just once in the league so far, is 4.2.
Summary
This match comes at an interesting time for both sides. After winning seven matches in a row – six in the league and one in the Champions League – Liverpool then lost three in a row, going down 2-1 at Crystal Palace, 1-0 at Galatasaray, and then 2-1 at Chelsea just before the international break.
Arne Slot may just start to feel like they’re losing a bit of form and momentum right now, making a win against their historical rivals seem more important than usual.
Those back-to-back slip-ups in the Premier League have also cost Liverpool their place at the top of the table, with Arsenal overtaking them two weeks ago. Though the likes of Ryan Gravenberch, Dominic Szoboszlai and Virgil van Dijk have been impressive, the forwards, including Mo Salah, Hugo Ektitike and Alex Issak, haven’t scored as many as we’d expect from them. That’s an area for Slot to address.
As for Manchester United, the fans’ patience with Ruben Amorim and his insistence on sticking to his 3-4-3-3 formation is starting to wear thin. After last season’s disaster, they’re no better than tenth at the moment. Even that place in the table was a result of beating Sunderland, one of the division’s weakest teams, 2-0 last time out.
It’s a worrying sign of the times for Man Utd fans that they’re going into this game not expecting so much as a point. But a draw would give Amorim some more breathing space, while a win on enemy soil could really turn their season around.
Betting Tip of the Week: Back over 3.5 goals in Liverpool - Manchester United
Portugal left it pretty late to get the better of the Republic of Ireland last week, but it was worth the wait. Ireland never looked like scoring a goal. When Ruben Neves leapt high to score a superb header in injury time, it secured a ‘Portugal to win to nil’ winning bet at 1.8.
This week, it’s impossible to ignore the stat of there having been four or more goals in eight of the last 11 matches between Liverpool and Manchester United. If the record books suggest this is a game that always seems to have plenty of goals in it, then that’s just what we might get yet again, so over 3.5 goals at 2.15 it is.
