Month in Sport: Manchester derby kicks off hectic March schedule with 1473/1 cross-sport acca
Content Editor at Free Super Tips, Alex was born in the shadow of Old Trafford and is an avid Man Utd fan. After graduating from university he combined his love of football, writing and betting to join FST and now closely follows goings-on in all of the top European leagues.
February ended with another winning tip from FST as Liverpool lifted the first domestic silverware of the season and now we’re thrown headfirst into yet another hectic sporting schedule in March.
This weekend kicks off with UFC 272 followed swiftly by the Manchester derby. The events continue to come thick and fast, with The Players Championship, Cheltenham Festival, the return of Formula 1 before ending the month in Leeds for the rematch of Josh Warrington and Kiko Martinez.
But first, here’s a roundup of some of our winners from February:
- Liverpool to win the Carabao Cup
- Senegal to win AFCON 2021
- Cincinnati Bengals +4 point spread vs LA Rams in the Super Bowl
Now, let’s build on that success in March!
FST’s 1473/1 Month in Sport acca
Colby Covington vs Jorge Masvidal – Saturday 5th March
Best bet – Colby Covington to win by decision / technical decision
Welterweight rivals Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal finally get to settle their long-running feud at UFC 272.
It’s an interesting match-up stylistically between wrestler Covington and striker Masvidal, although the former does possess a decent stand-up game too.
Masvidal has 16 wins via KO but he tends to struggle to land power punches once fights go beyond the opening two rounds.
Covington doesn’t boast the same level of power, winning just four of his fights by KO. He does, however, have great depths of cardio and is known for outworking his rivals. It’s likely that he will stay out of range during the first 10 minutes before looking to pick his shots and possibly shooting for takedowns in the latter rounds.
Half of Covington’s victories (8) have come via a decision, including five of his last six, and that looks the most likely outcome this weekend.
Manchester derby – Sunday 6th March
Best bet – Both teams to score
The Manchester derby is one of the biggest events in the Premier League calendar and this Sunday Manchester United could have a potentially crucial say in the title race when they visit the Etihad.
The defending champions are a ridiculously short 2/5 to win and while they may well do just that I’m leaning towards the both teams to score market.
The Red Devils aren’t exactly performing to the best of their abilities right now but they are creating chances and they have scored in each of their last 20 competitive away games, including every single trip this season.
Manchester City have failed to score at home just twice this season but they shipped three when Spurs came to visit a couple of weeks back and conceded another three at home to Leicester in a 6-3 thriller in December.
The Players Championship – Thursday 10th March
Best bet – Hideki Matsuyama to win
Winning the Masters can prove a millstone around the neck of some players, but that is not happening to Hideki Matsuyama and he can claim another of golf’s big prizes at the Players Championship.
Being Japan’s first Major winner has not been a burden to Matsuyama who has triumphed at the Zozo Championship and the Sony Open in Hawaii since his April Augusta triumph and there is every indication that he can put up a bold challenge at Sawgrass, where the Players start on 10 March.
The 30-year-old has two top-ten finishes at the Florida venue and the course sets up well for this quality ball-striker.
Nine of the top 15 players in the strokes-gained:tee to green statistics 12 months ago were at least tied for ninth and winner Justin Thomas was top of that metric.
Matsuyama is ranked 12th in that statistic on the PGA Tour this season and has demonstrated he deserves respect whenever the world’s top players congregate, so he should make a bold challenge to claim the crown.
Cheltenham Gold Cup – Friday 18th March
Best bet – Protektorat to win
The Boodles Gold Cup has an open feel and it’s not hard to have doubts over a few at the head of the market.
Minella Indo has plenty to prove on this season’s form, and at 5-1 there doesn’t seem much value in last year’s winner, even if the Henry de Bromhead-trained gelding does save his best for Cheltenham.
Protektorat, part-owned by Sir Alex Ferguson, was extremely impressive when winning the Many Clouds Chase at Aintree in December and the fast-improving seven-year-old looks an overpriced alternative.
Trainer Dan Skelton is confident “grafter” Protektorat will see out the trip and at the odds rates the best bet to win the blue riband event at the festival.
Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix – Sunday 20th March
Best bet – Lewis Hamilton to win
Lewis Hamilton may have put his controversial loss in last year’s World Drivers Championship behind him but that last-lap defeat will have stung the seven-time champion and the last time he was dealt a blow like that he bounced back with a vengeance.
The year after Nico Rosberg pipped him to the World Drivers Championship Hamilton won nine of the 20 races and reclaimed the championship by 46 points over Sebastian Vettel. I expect him to kickstart this fresh challenge with his 104th Grand Prix win later this month.
The first pre-season test in Barcelona last week confirmed that Mercedes will once again be strong in the coming year. Hamilton put in the fastest lap of the week, leading Sergio Perez by over four-tenths, and while you can never read too much into pre-season testing it is unlikely to be completely off the mark.
Ferrari and McLaren did show some promising pace over those three days and caused Hamilton’s odds to lengthen slightly, but it’s incredibly difficult to bet against the 37-year-old in Bahrain. He has won the Bahrain Grand Prix a record five times and all of those have come in the last seven years, including wins in each of his last three races there.
Kiko Martinez vs Josh Warrington – Saturday 26th March
Best bet – Warrington to win
Josh Warrington faces a rematch against Spain’s Kiko Martinez in a crucial fight in terms of his next career move.
The Leeds native was stopped by Mauricio Lara as he suffered a first professional defeat in February last year, then was denied a chance of redemption as an accidental head clash resulted in their rematch being called off in the second round due to a cut to Lara.
Martinez has enjoyed some excellent results and stopped a below-par Kid Galahad in his last outing, but he lost via a majority decision to Warrington in 2017 and revenge doesn’t look on the cards. Warrington should be fired up for this one and it is hard to see anything other than a win for the overwhelming favourite.
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