FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA) -- Portugal vs Serbia

With a doomed Euro 2020 campaign now consigned to history, Portugal return to action on Wednesday to face the Republic of Ireland in a World Cup qualifier in Group A.

Portugal are actually unbeaten in World Cup qualification matches since September 2016, while they will bring a six-game unbeaten run in all competitions into Sunday's key fixture. A record of five wins and two draws has seen Portugal collect 17 points, while they have scored 16 times and conceded just four during a successful qualification campaign to date. Portugal’s blistering run of results took a slight halt last time out as they were held to a bore draw by the Republic of Ireland. Prior to that, they were on a run of five wins on the trot, after the 1-0 defeat against Belgium back in June.

 

 

 

Serbia are now unbeaten in each of their most recent six games across all competitions, picking up five wins and one draw. Recently, they were only in friendly action on Thursday, recording a 4-0 victory over Qatar, with their last competitive fixture being the 3-1 home success against Azerbaijan on October 12. Serbia picked up their third consecutive win as they comfortably saw off Qatar 4-0 in a friendly fixture last time out.

In last encounter, two teams shared a 2-2 draw at the end of March. With first place on the line in this one, expect a thrilling contest between the sides. Take Portugal to be unbeaten with a narrow margin.

FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA) -- France VS Kazakhstan

French beat the world's first place Belgium and the world's seventh place Spain in the 

UEFA Nations League semi-finals and finals earlier. Benzema and Mbappé were in excellent condition and scored goals respectively, helping the team win the championship finally. The team have achieved three consecutive victories in various events, which are in excellent condition. In the last round of world preliminaries, they defeated Finland 2-0. They currently rank 1st in the in group D with an unbeaten record, three points higher than Ukraine, which was second, and the qualifying situation is quite optimistic.

 

 

 

 

Kazakhstan currently rank 125th in the world, far from the strength of France. At present, they are difficult to win one of the seven group games, with only 3 points at the bottom. The overall situation is bad for having failed to win the last 14 events. Recently, the team have been blocked by two goals from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Finland, and the performance at both ends of attack and defense is very poor. The back defense is like a dummy. So far, 12 goals have been conceded in 7 group games.

 

Due to the large gap between the strength of the two sides, French have beat Kazakhstan 2-0 in the first leg and have3 an absolute advantage. Considering the recent high morale of the French, and the data gives sufficient support to them. On the whole, there is no problem for France to win.

FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA) -- England vs Albania

England with six wins and two draws from eight outings so far, England currently hold a three-point lead atop the rankings. While they disappointed in their last qualifying game, stuttering to a 1-1 draw with Hungary, England are still unbeaten in their group and have scored 24 goals while only conceding three in return. Before the draw with Hungary, England got a comprehensive 5-0 thrashing of Andorra.

 

 

 

Albania are still in with a shot of a top-two finish as they occupy third place. After recording their third victory and third clean sheet of Qualifying on the bounce against Hungary, Albania fell 0-1 at home to Poland in the previous round only after conceding a late goal in what was the only shot on target by the Polish team, which made them below their counterparts in the standings. Albania conceded only one goal in the last four World Cup qualifiers.

 

This is the clash between the top two defensive lines in the group. England are under pressure to respond following their disappointing showing against Hungary. Knowing how tough Albania have been to break down recently, expect Albania not to lose by two or more goals difference.

FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA) -- Georgia VS Sweden

Georgia currently rank 93rd in the world. Since the disastrous defeat to the Netherlands in the friendly game, the team once encountered the reference of five consecutive defeats in various events. During this period, they were zero blocked by the opponent for four times, and the total number of goals conceded was as high as 14. They didn't win until facing Kosovo, which rank 115th in the world in the last round, showing their combat power was quite limited.

 

 

 

 

Sweden currently rank 17th in the world. They have played an excellent performance in the European Cup for drawing with Spain and defeating Poland. Unfortunately, they were finally eliminated by Ukraine. They also performed well in the group stage of the European qualifier of the world cup. The team temporarily rank the first place in the group with a record of 5W-1D.

From the current situation, Georgia have been out ahead of schedule with 1W-1D-5L in the group, while Sweden's current 15 points are only 2 points higher than Spain behind them. Sweden are undoubtedly expected to win this game to keep their group position.

NBA Match Preview -- Utah Jazz vs Atlanta Hawks

 

The Utah Jazz have dropped consecutive games and rank fourth in the league in offensive efficiency. On Sunday, Utah was outscored by 17 points during the fourth quarter of a surprising 107-100 road loss against Orlando. Donovan Mitchell is averaging 25.8 points and 5.3 assists, while Bojan Bogdanovic is averaging 16.9 points and 4.6 rebounds. Mike Conley is the third double-digit scorer and Rudy Gobert is grabbing 16.1 rebounds. The Utah Jazz are averaging 111.7 points on 45.2 percent shooting and allowing 102.6 points on 43.7 percent shooting.

 

 

 

 

 

This will be the second of a back-to-back on the road for Atlanta, who was outscored by 21 points during the third quarter of a 127-113 loss against Golden State last night. The Hawks (4-7) were outscored 44-30 in the paint and shot 46 percent from the field. Trae Young is averaging 23.3 points and 3.6 rebounds, while John Collins is averaging 16 points and 2.5 assists. Cam Reddish is the third double-digit scorer and Bogdan Bogdanovic is grabbing 4.3 rebounds. The Atlanta Hawks are averaging 107.8 points on 44.6 percent shooting and allowing 110 points on 45.9 percent shooting.

 

 

Mike Conley did not play in Sunday’s loss due to his right knee injury management, but he is expected to play in this game. The Utah Jazz are rested, off a loss and the Hawks are playing on consecutive nights. So predict the winner will be the host.

NBA Match Preview -- Los Angeles Lakers vs Charlotte Hornets

The Los Angeles Lakers were on a three-game winning run, but they suffered a home loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder and then had no chance of beating the Portland Trail Blazers on the road. The Lakers are 5-5 following a 105-90 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday. Los Angeles played without LeBron James and leading scorer Anthony Davis. Anthony Davis is leading Los Angeles in scoring and rebounding with averages of 25.4 points and 11.9 rebounds per game. The Lakers have the 12th offense in the league that is scoring 110.1 points per game, while their defense is 26th with 111.3 per game allowed.

 

 

 

 

The Charlotte Hornets are 5-5 and third in the Southeast Division 2 ½ games behind first-place Miami. The Charlotte Hornets suffered one of the biggest losses in recent franchise history as they conceded 140 points in a 140-110 defeat to the Sacramento Kings on the road. Miles Bridges is the leading scorer for Charlotte with an average of 22.7 points per game, while LaMelo Ball is the second leading scorer and leader in assists with averages of 19.9 points and 7.0 assists per game. Charlotte Hornets are shooting an average of 45.3% overall and 38.8% from three-point territory.

Although Los Angeles Lakers could be shorthanded and play without both LeBron James and Anthony Davis (questionable), it’s believed the Lakers will bounce back from a disappointing effort.

English Premier League -- West Ham United VS Liverpool

West Ham United have achieved a wave of unbeaten point grabbing climax in Premier League, League Cup and Europa League. At present, they have been unbeaten for six consecutive games in various competitions. The team rank 1st in the group of Europa League with 3W-1D, and advanced to the elimination stage two rounds in advance. They have an excellent record even against strong rivals such as Everton, Tottenham and Manchester City recently. Benrahma is in excellent condition for having contributed 5 goals and 3 attacks this season.

 

 

 

 

Liverpool have been unbeaten this season so far. Since August, they have maintained an amazing record of 20 consecutive unbeaten games in various competitions. Recently, there has been a wave of climax in Premier League, League Cup and Champions League, which firmly grasp the promotion quota in Champions League. At present, the goal rate of Liverpool is as high as 3 goals Per game, which shows their pierce offense. Moreover, they have a strong ability to fight away from home for a unbeaten record in 13 consecutive away games across the season, and most of them have been won smoothly. But recently Liverpool encountered a wave of collective injuries of midfielders such as Milner and Keïta.

 

Liverpool have defeated West Ham United many times in recent years, occupying an absolute psychological advantage. West Ham United can make good use of Liverpool's lack of depth in the middle to score goals. However, Liverpool's amazing state and away performance this season, the number of goals in this game should be considerable. We look forward to Liverpool adding another 3 points in the table.