NBL
THEY have already played each other in two crowd-pulling matches this season and Adelaide 36ers and Sydney Kings are at it again this weekend. The 36ers won the two previous meetings but the Kings will again start as favourites with Ladbrokes. The Sixers offer outstanding value. They have now won 11 of their past 12 games against Sydney and 13 of their past 17 games at home. That makes the $2 on offer a steal. It is a tough double-header for Brisbane Bullets as they travel to Perth to take on the Wildcats tonight before returning to Queensland for a clash with New Zealand Breakers on Sunday. The Bullets beat the Wildcats a few weeks ago and did win in Perth last season but they are still available at the juicy odds of $3.25 for tonight’s game. They are $1.62 favourites to beat New Zealand on Sunday.
A-LEAGUE
THERE have been plenty of upsets in the first month of the season but all five games this weekend will start with a clear favourite. Melbourne Victory and Melbourne City are short-priced fancies and have been heavily backed by punters slapping some coin on the soccer. City has won six of its past seven games against Wellington Phoenix and has, as expected, come in to $1.57. The other one looks just as lopsided – it has been several years since Victory lost a game against Central Coast Mariners. The favourites who could be vulnerable are Western Sydney Wanderers, who are sitting at odds of $2.10 with Ladbrokes. They have won only three of their past eight games as home favourites and Brisbane Roar has won six of its past 12 games as an away underdog for a healthy profit. Adelaide is $2.10 favourite to beat the Perth Glory on Sunday afternoon after a cracking start to the season and Sydney FC is clear favourite to beat battling Newcastle.
NFL
KANSAS City Chiefs have been one of the highlights of the NFL season and the market with Ladbrokes suggests they will have no issues improving their record to 9-1 this weekend. The Chiefs are Black Caviar-like odds as $1.06 favourites to beat Arizona Cardinals ($9.50) and the line has been set at 16 points, which makes them the equal shortest-priced favourites of the NFL season. But this could actually be a cause for concern for those who like to back the Chiefs. Minnesota Vikings were $1.06 to beat Buffalo Bills earlier this year and they lost the game 27-6, in one of the biggest upsets in NFL history. Could a repeat be on the cards in this predicted mismatch? Probably not – the Chiefs have scored more than 30 points in all but one of their games this season and their offence is just about unstoppable. The Chiefs are now on the fourth line of Super Bowl betting with Ladbrokes at a quote of $6. New England Patriots ($4.75) remain narrow favourites from the New Orleans Saints ($5) and Los Angeles Rams ($5.25).
EPL
IT DOESN’T get much bigger in the English Premier League than the Manchester derby and we are set for an intriguing contest between City and United in the early hours of Monday morning. Man U ($7) is riding high after its upset win over Juventus in the Champions League on Thursday but the Sky Blues are the dominant favourites at $1.42 with Ladbrokes. The away side has actually won four of the past five editions of the Manchester derby and City has not beaten its rival in front of its home fans since 2014. Recent history may be against the Sky Blues but it is still tough to bet against this team. They remain unbeaten and have won their past three games by a combined total of 12 goals to one.
ATP TOUR FINALS
IT IS the final event on the ATP calendar for 2018 and the market with Ladbrokes indicates it will be Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer who face off for the wad of ATP World Tour Finals cash. Djokvoic has won the tournament five times and is priced as the short $1.62 favourite to win the trophy for a sixth time. Standing in his way is the only player who has won the event six times – the great Fed Express. Federer is $3.75 to win the tournament for the first time since he beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the 2011 edition but his recent record against Djokovic is poor. Djokovic has won eight of the past 10 matches between the pair — including the past four — and has been in peerless form in the second half of the season. German Alexander Zverev is on the third line of betting at $11 with Ladbrokes from Marin Cilic ($13), Kei Nishikori ($15), Kevin Anderson ($21), Dominic Thiem ($26) and John Isner ($29).