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This is a nice price on the reigning Austrian Bundesliga champions, to beat a Grazer side, that finished third-bottom last season, at home.

LASK have beaten Grazer at home three times in the last two seasons.

They’ve also signed Grazer’s top scorer from last season, Ramiz Harakate, who scored 11 and assisted four times in 30 league games.

LASK warmed up for their league opener with a 7-0 in the cup last weekend, and they’re not pre-occupied with any European qualifiers yet, so they can give this game their complete focus.

They've had deeper pockets this summer after winning the league, it has booked them a spot in the final qualifying round for the Champions League, which is two and a half weeks away, and even if they lose that, they're guaranteed a spot in the Europa League, which is crucial for them as they had no European football last season.

If this season pans out anything like last season, LASK will be a comfortably better side than Grazer.

​​With 11 left to play in the League of Ireland, Dundalk are one place behind the European spots, and Sligo are rock bottom, five points adrift of safety.

They have already beaten Sligo at home this season, 1-0, but this tip is more based on just how poor the visitors have been.

Sligo have been incredibly toothless in attack; they have scored a league-low 22 goals from 25 league outings, which is nine goals worse than the next-lowest-scoring team.

They've got the worst goal difference, the worst away record, the worst home record, and they are seven games without a win in the league, losing five of those.

They're not down yet with 11 games to go, but Sligo are a team to get against - with a win for Dundalk keeping their European push alive.

The ‘lucky last’ offers my best bet of the day, in the shape of ZGHARTA, for in-form duo Oisin Murphy and Andrew Balding.

They have hit the crossbar twice at Goodwood this week. D’oh! Let’s hope they can get on the scoresheet here. I’m hopeful that karma will be on our side, after the jockey’s honest comments in the stewards’ enquiry incident on Wednesday!

Despite the two at the head of the market receiving weight-for-age, Zgharta herself may prove to be a well-handicapped horse — she beat horses now-rated 97, 104 and 100 in a Newmarket maiden, before an unlucky fifth at this meeting last season, from a 4lb higher mark.

She was incidentally a place behind Rumba Numba, who won at this track on Tuesday.

I think she can play a strong hand at the finish, after shaping with promise when a recent fourth at Chester.

The top four race looks really open this season and Chelsea have a real advantage by not being in Europe. 

Chelsea are not as far away from the Champions League spots as their 10th placed finish last year would suggest.

The Blues pretty much tanked their season after Enzo Maresca left the club and were around the top three positions while he was still in his role. 

Chelsea have signed Morgan Rogers as well as Marco Palestra already this summer and are heavily linked with a move for Maxence Lacroix at the time of writing. 

These additions add to the likes of Emegha and Quenda who had already secured moves to the West London side.

These signings signal a shift from Chelsea’s previous obsession with only securing young talent. Most of these players are also very tall and physical, an aspect that Chelsea desperately fell short for last year. 

Xabi Alonso is clearly a very capable manager having won the league title with Bayer Leverkusen and maintaining a 71% win percentage as Real Madrid boss.

He’s coming into an environment where the likes of Liverpool and Manchester City, the two powerhouses of the last 10 years, have new managers - a terrain which could be perfect for Alonso to finally make this Chelsea side competitive in the Premier League with only one game per week.

Stockport faced heartbreak in the League One Play-Off Final at the end of last season as they were beaten 4-1 by Bolton at Wembley. 

That was the second consecutive season in which Stockport have finished third and gone out in the playoffs, which tells me that they are a club that are doing a lot of things right at this level and should have a decent stab at getting out of League One at the third time of asking.

Stockport really didn’t do much wrong when you look at their underlying numbers from last season, they ranked within the top 5 sides for most key metrics and also had one of the league’s top scorers in Kyle Wootton.

Stockport were a similar price to register a Top 6 finish last year and I think the market is underestimating their chances again as a side that now understands League One quite well. Stockport are priced at 5.50 to earn promotion this year, which is a price also worth looking at. 

Barnet are definitely a side worth keeping an eye on this year after finishing eighth at the first time of asking after winning promotion to the EFL.

They finished just two points below a spot in the playoffs last year and notably had the second best away record of any side in the division. It was their inconsistent home form which saw them fall short of a Top 7 finish.

Barnet are third favourites to be promoted from League Two this term, only sitting behind Salford City and Bristol Rovers. We’ve got some insurance by backing them for a Top 7 finish even if they slightly underperform from pre-season expectations.

The Championship extending the number of playoff spots down to eighth is a really significant change this season and Wrexham could easily benefit.

Phil Parkinson’s side finished seventh last season, just two points away from Hull who eventually earned promotion to the Premier League via the playoffs. 

That finish would be enough this year for Wrexham to have a chance of promotion and I think we’ll see the Welsh side battling in the top half of the Championship again this term.

Wrexham have a really deep squad with a wealth of Championship and EFL experience that can aid them in a push for the playoffs this year. 

I think there’s a decent price on this when considering that the likes of Norwich, Sheffield United and Birmingham are shorter than Wrexham to secure a Top 8 Finish - I’d back Wrexham to be just as competitive as those sides.

Partick Thistle go into the opening day on a high after securing qualification from their League Cup group.

They are one of only five Championship teams to progress, doing so while remaining unbeaten, including a 1-1 draw away to Championship favourites Livingston.

Last season, Thistle finished 2nd, pushing eventual champions St Johnstone all the way into the final weeks of the campaign.

Their transfer business has also been impressive this summer with the squad appearing stronger rather than weaker.

In particular, they’ve retained last season’s Players’ Player of the Year and overall Player of the Year, Ben Stanway, who as I write this, is still at the club.

Where this bet really stands out is the opposition. Morton are in a real mess. Two weeks ago, they announced they had been forced to cut their cloth to what will be the lowest budget in the league following the withdrawal of a key investor.

That has been reflected in their League Cup campaign, where they lost all four matches without scoring a single goal. This came in a group featuring a non-league side, who beat them 1-0, and a League One side, who won 2-0.

As things stand, Morton look a stick-on to be relegated. This match against Partick Thistle also comes at a time when not only is morale low, but they haven’t even assembled a full squad yet.

Partick Thistle should win this comfortably.

It’s a new-look Ayr United side this season under Gary Naysmith, who took over in the summer and has already signed eight new players.

Ayr are another of the five Championship teams to qualify from their League Cup group.

They did so in impressive fashion, winning all four matches, including a 1-0 away victory over Premiership side Falkirk.

Ayr scored 10 goals across those four games, with six coming from their new signings.

Arbroath had a strong campaign last season, finishing in the top four, but they face a difficult second season back in the Championship after losing the majority of the players who helped them reach the play-offs.

Their eight new signings also appear to be weaker than the players they’ve replaced, and that has been reflected in their League Cup performances.

They finished 3rd in their group despite being the second seeds, taking just six points from a possible 12.

That included a 3-0 defeat away to Dundee United, a 2-0 home defeat to League One side Montrose, before wins over League Two Stirling (1-0) and Spartans (2-1).

Across those four matches they conceded at least once in three of them, with their only clean sheet coming at home to League Two Stirling.

Last season, when Arbroath were arguably at their strongest, Ayr still managed to score in all four meetings.

This should land comfortably again, and I actually think there’s good value in backing an Ayr United win as well.

I don't think it will be pretty, but I expect Rangers to make a winning start on Friday night. 

New Gers boss Derek McInnes knows what it takes to grind out results at this level and should make the Teddy Bears tougher to beat. 

McInnes almost masterminded a historic Scottish Premiership title triumph at Hearts last season, notably guiding his side to victory at Tannadice on two occasions. 

While I'm also expecting an improved campaign from Dundee United, it is difficult to ignore the fact that they won only 4 of their final 13 league games last season.

Jim Goodwin's side also made heavy weather of some of their Scottish League Cup group stage fixtures in recent weeks, needing a 93rd-minute penalty to scrape past Scottish League Two outfit Stirling Albion before suffering a 1-0 defeat away at Montrose. 

The Terrors eventually progressed, but Rangers will represent a significant step up in quality.

Back Lawrence Shankland to either score or assist on Friday night. The newly appointed Rangers captain made the move to Ibrox in the summer following an outstanding campaign at Hearts last term, where he finished the season with 20 goals across 34 appearances in all competitions.

Shankland was particularly effective during the closing stages of the campaign, finding the net in three of Hearts' final five matches of the season, including strikes against both Rangers and Celtic. 

He also scored against Dundee United at Tannadice last term.

However, Shankland's game is not solely based around scoring goals, underlined by the fact that he provided 6 assists last season.

With that in mind, Shankland looks well placed to register a goal involvement on his competitive debut, particularly against a Dundee United side that failed to keep a clean sheet in 31 of their 38 Scottish Premiership matches last season.

I'm keen to back new Dundee United signing Dylan Tait to attempt at least one shot on Friday night. 

Tait is a box-to-box midfielder who is not afraid to try his luck from distance when the opportunity arises. That is reflected in his numbers last season, where he averaged 1.42 shots per game. 

A closer look at the statistics shows that Tait attempted at least one shot in eight of his final 13 appearances for Falkirk last season. 

It is also worth noting that he has already shown an eye for goal during his short time at Dundee United, finding the net in their 4-0 victory over Spartans in the Scottish League Cup group stage. 

Having been appointed vice-captain at Dundee United, Tait will be eager to make an impression, and I think he looks worth backing to register a shot against Rangers on Friday night.

I think this has the potential to be a fiery fixture under the lights at Tannadice on Friday night, which is why I'm keen to side with Rangers to collect a minimum of two cards.

I'm expecting Rangers to be a more physical and aggressive side under Derek McInnes, who will look to restore some order and raise standards at Ibrox. 

Rangers were also reliable in this market last season, averaging 1.95 cards per game in the Scottish Premiership.

Interestingly, Hearts recorded the exact same average under McInnes last term.

What’s more, Rangers collected 3 bookings on their only trip to Tannadice last season, and with little love lost between the sides, another 2+ card tally looks well within range. 

With referee Nick Walsh averaging north of four yellow cards per game in the Scottish Premiership last season, the case for Rangers to collect two cards becomes even stronger.

FANDOM is one of the more interesting each-way contenders, for this season's prestigious Stewards’ Cup Handicap, run over the 6f distance.

The son of Showcasing has shown winning form over 6f this season, and he has been largely progressive - including a keeping-on 3rd at Ascot over 5f last time.

The move back to 6f, at this speedy course, could ideally suit.

The Richard Hannon-trained runner was a Listed winner in the US and could be peaking at the right time this week.

Watch out for him late on the scene, at a juicy each-way price.

Goal Sheet Rating - 9.25

Aberdeen have seen 2+ goals in all four of their League Cup matches ahead of the start of the Scottish Premiership season, notably winning all four of these matches.

Hearts are in a transitional moment right now after losing their manager and top scorer to Rangers over the summer, seeing 2+ goals in all five of their matches in the build up to the new campaign.

This run includes a pretty bruising defeat to Sturm Graz with Wouter Vrancken’s side losing 6-0 over two legs - conceding 2+ goals in both matches. 

Goal Sheet Rating - 7.00

If you followed my Saturday accumulators regularly last season, you’d be familiar with Lausanne Sport as they were one of my go-to sides for goals across Europe.

Their 38 games in the Swiss Super League last season produced 120 goals (3.15 per game) and their most recent meeting with Basel produced exactly three goals as they fell to a 2-1 defeat back in March. 

Only two sides kept fewer clean sheets than Lausanne in the Swiss Super League last term, and I think they’ll be just as good to watch for goals this year as they were in the last campaign. 

Goal Sheet Rating - 6.55

Lyngby fell to a 3-2 defeat against Copenhagen in their opening game of the season in an entertaining contest which saw both sides register an xG in excess of 1.0 (1.56-2.34). 

They take on an Aarhus side who drew their opening game of the season against Brondby, notably registering an xG of 1.91 in that 1-1 draw.

Aarhus followed up that draw with a 4-1 win over Lech Poznan in Champions League qualifying, after losing the first leg 4-1 - which shows just how volatile the away side can be.

Goal Sheet Rating - 7.70 

It’s easy to see why this game is at the top of my goals list for BTTS on Saturday. 

BTTS has landed in each of the last four head to head meetings between these sides, with the most recent meeting producing 11 goals as Young Boys came away 8-3 winners over Thun.

Thun have seen BTTS in all four of their matches since returning to action for the new season, most recently falling to a 3-2 defeat against Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League qualifiers.

Young Boys saw BTTS in their opening game of the Swiss Super League as they came away 4-2 winners over Sion with both sides notably registering an xG in excess of 1.0 (3.08-1.59). 

Chicago won both of the head to head meetings between these sides last year, scoring at least three goals in both of these victories.

Both of these sides have done relatively well so far and are seperated by just one point in the Eastern Conference, but there is a disparity between the two that emerges when looking at their home and away records.

Chicago have won five of their eight home games in the MLS this season, notably only conceding nine goals - which is one of the strongest home defensive records across both conferences.

Charlotte have notably scored 20 of their 28 goals (71%) and collected 18 of their 25 points (72%) when playing at home, winning just two of their seven matches on the road.

Only three sides have scored fewer goals than Charlotte on the road in the Eastern Conference, and this limited scoring power is likely to struggle against a Chicago side who are very secure at the back when playing in front of their home fans.

San Jose have failed to keep a clean sheet in their last 12 matches across all competitions, seeing BTTS in 10 of these games.

They were held to a 1-1 draw by LA Galaxy last time out and find themselves sitting third in the Western Conference despite this recent poor defensive record, sitting level with LAFC and Vancouver Whitecaps as the best teams in the Western Conference.

Cincinnati’s recent games have been very chaotic with BTTS landing in each of their last seven matches, with six of these seven games producing at least four goals - Cincinnati have conceded 2+ goals in all seven of these recent games.

These sides last met in June 2024 in a contest that produced six goals as Cincinnati came away 4-2 winners. Quite a lot has changed since that result, but recent trends would indicate that both sides can get on the scoresheet in this clash. 

This fixture is always one to watch for goals in the MLS with seven of the last eight head to head meetings between the sides seeing BTTS.

The most recent clash produced six goals as Inter Miami came away 5-1 winners last year, who now enter this meeting having won each of their last six matches - seeing BTTS in four of these games.

Columbus Crew come into this one having seen BTTS in each of their last three matches, and have only managed to win one of their eight games on the road. These games have produced 29 goals (3.62 per game).

Inter Miami have only lost one of their seven home games so far this season, but have conceded 15 goals across these matches with their home games seeing an average of 4.85 goals per game. 

These sides met back in February with that meeting seeing BTTS as New York Red Bulls came away 2-1 winners over Orlando with both sides producing an xG in excess of 2.0 (2.41-4.64) from 39 shots in the contest.

New York Red Bulls have failed to keep a clean sheet in each of their last 17 matches across all competitions, seeing BTTS in 13 of these games. 

Their eight home matches in the MLS this season have produced 29 goals (3.62 per game), with the home side here conceding three more goals than they’ve scored in front of their home fans. 

Orlando have seen BTTS in three of their last five matches coming into this contest. They’ve only managed to win two of their nine away matches in the MLS, notably conceding more goals than any other side in the Eastern Conference on their travels (31 - 3.44 per game).

These sides have been just as bad as each other across the 17 games of the MLS season so far, with both only managing to win three of their games in the MLS - leaving them as the bottom two sides in the Eastern Conference.

These sides faced off back in March in a contest that produced four goals as Atlanta came away 3-1 winners over Philadelphia with both sides registering an xG in excess of 2.0 (2.02-2.24). 

Atlanta have only managed to keep one clean sheet across their 17 matches in the MLS, while Philadelphia’s record isn’t much better with just three shutouts across the same number of games in the MLS.

Philadelphia have had some encouragement in recent weeks, with two of their three victories coming within their last two matches - though they have seen BTTS in four of their last five games ahead of this clash. 

These sides have met twice this year with Viking coming out on top in both meetings.

The away side here have scored 10 goals across those two games, indicating that there is a clear gulf in class between these teams which should be evident again.

It’s an important game for Viking too, they sit just one point behind Bodo Glimt in the race for the Eliteserien title - which also went down to the wire last year. 

Three points for Viking here would take them back to the top of the league, and also put some distance between themselves and Tromso who are threatening to crash the two horse title race.

Start sit rock bottom of the Eliteserien and have only managed to win one of their six home games this term, only scoring six goals across these games.

Stormsgodset have only lost two of their 15 games in the 1. Divisjon so far this season, a record that is level with the league leaders in Kongsvinger. 

They take on a Bryne side they have already beaten this year, coming away 1-0 winners when the teams met back in May - with Stormsgodset being the dominant side in that narrow victory.

Only four teams have picked up fewer points than Bryne at home in the 1. Divisjon this term, with Bryne only winning three of their seven matches and notably conceding 11 goals in front of their own fans. 

I don't think it will be pretty, but I expect Rangers to make a winning start on Friday night. 

New Gers boss Derek McInnes knows what it takes to grind out results at this level and should make the Teddy Bears tougher to beat. 

McInnes almost masterminded a historic Scottish Premiership title triumph at Hearts last season, notably guiding his side to victory at Tannadice on two occasions. 

While I'm also expecting an improved campaign from Dundee United, it is difficult to ignore the fact that they won only 4 of their final 13 league games last season.

Jim Goodwin's side also made heavy weather of some of their Scottish League Cup group stage fixtures in recent weeks, needing a 93rd-minute penalty to scrape past Scottish League Two outfit Stirling Albion before suffering a 1-0 defeat away at Montrose. 

The Terrors eventually progressed, but Rangers will represent a significant step up in quality.

Rangers are odds on favourites to win against Dundee United tonight, you can back them to score in the first half @ 2.0 by clicking the link below 👇