Entering the final race before the cut to the final eight drivers in the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, only 27 points separate No. 6 from No. 11. That makes for a potentially dramatic race to the checkered flag in Sunday's Bank of America ROVAL 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course. Sitting precariously in the sixth position is regular-season champion Martin Truex. He has remained above the cutoff line in large part due to the 36 playoff points he started off with. Truex has not finished better than 17th in the past five playoff races, with an average finish of 21.6. He is just 17 points ahead of Tyler Reddick, who enters Charlotte in ninth place, just two points behind Brad Keselowski for the final spot to advance in the playoffs. Keselowski has never won a Cup Series race on a road course. Nor has Chris Buescher, who enters the weekend in fifth place. "Ever since we went to the NextGen car, everything has been closer, and it makes it challenging, for sure," Truex said. "It's harder to find an advantage. It's harder to run at the front every week, consistently. "Everything is tighter, closer together, less room for error — and you really have to be on top of things. The points situation is the same as every other race. It's really, really hard to be at the front all of the time, and this weekend we just need a solid day to hopefully get us through with some good tracks for us coming up." BANK OF AMERICA ROVAL 400 Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course Date: Sunday, Oct. 8, 2 p.m. ET Distance: 400 miles; 109 laps on the 2.32-mile, 17-turn circuit Stages: 25 | 50 | 109 Purse: $7,689,910 Defending Champion: Christopher Bell Cup Series Leader: William Byron TV: NBC Radio: SiriusXM NASCAR Radio 5 BEST BETS Chase Elliott (+600 at BetMGM) Elliott is the pre-race favorite despite lacking a win this year and failing to qualify for the playoffs at all. He qualified sixth before finishing 34th in the spring Charlotte race, but Elliott does have four career victories in October — including 2019 and 2020 in this race. He has four top-10s in his past six races and has an average finish of 7.8 since the playoffs began. Elliott is the book's second-biggest liability as he leads all drivers with 11.3 percent of the bets and 24.9 percent of the money backing him to win. Tyler Reddick (+700) Reddick needs a strong performance to advance to the Round of 8, and he's at a good track to do it. He has finished second and eighth in his last two starts at Charlotte, where he has an average finish of 7.33 — tops among the remaining playoff drivers. Reddick has been backed by 8.7 percent of the bets and 10.4 percent of the money since opening at +800. William Byron (+725) Byron leads the standings and he leads the Cup Series with six wins already this year. He also has 12 top-5s, 17 top-10s and is second with 895 total laps led. He qualified first here in the spring before finishing second. Kyle Larson (+800) Larson is seventh in the standings despite leading the series with 898 total laps led. He has three wins but is also second among all drivers with seven DNFS – only Austin Dillon has more with 10. Larson took the checkered flag at Charlotte in 2021 en route to the Cup Series title in his first season with Hendrick Motorsports. Kyle Busch (+1200) Busch sits in 12th place, 26 points below the cutoff line. However, he's BetMGM's biggest liability this week as he has been backed by 9.7 percent of the bets and 18.6 percent of the money since opening at +2000. He qualified fifth and finished sixth in the spring race at Charlotte, but has struggled in the Round of 12 with no finishes better than 20th in his past three starts. LONGSHOT PICK Alex Bowman (+3000) To say 2023 has been a disappointment for Bowman would be a massive understatement. He has an average finish of 16.25 in 28 races and has a lone top-10 in his past five starts. However, Bowman has finished in the top-10 in each of his previous four starts on the Charlotte road course, topped by a runner-up effort in 2019. —Field Level Media Relatedsportsbook listnew betting siteonline betting appssportsbooks with live bettingsports live streamingsportsbooks with cash out
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Verdict: Chelsea win and under 3.5 goals
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Chelsea have been handed a major Premier League top four boost ahead of a pivotal Monday night clash against Burnley at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea
Starting with the hosts, although they may have gone about it the hard way last week, Chelsea s 4-3 win over Slavia Prague saw the Blues book their spot in the semi-final of this year s Europa League. With their sights firmly set on securing a return to the top four, the mood in Maurizio Sarri s camp will be on a high following Tottenham, Manchester United and Arsenal all slipping up over the weekend. Sat just one point adrift of the Champions League positions and with the chance to climb as high as third on Monday night, a huge part of Chelsea …
Manchester United are interested in signing Michael Olise from Crystal Palace, according to the .
Olise has been on terrific form lately. Having overcome a hamstring issue which kept him out of action for the first 11 rounds of the Premier League campaign, the 22-year-old winger now has five goals and one assist in nine league appearances for Palace this season. His brace against Brentford on December 30th was particularly important, either side of a goal from Eberechi Eze as the Eagles came back from a goal down to win 1-3 at the Brentford Community Stadium.
United have been struggling greatly upfront, with wingers proving a particularly problematic part of the squad this term. Jadon Sancho remains frozen out and very likely to leave in January, while Antony still hasn…
Lifelong Livingston fan Dave Black has been appointed the club’s new chief executive after John Ward moved up to become chairman.
Ward has been chief executive since 2016 and replaces Robert Wilson, who announced his retirement last week.
Black has been the club’s business development manager since 2020 and also head of commercial and media operations but has a long-standing affiliation with the club.
Ward said: “I took on the role of CEO when the club had back-to-back promotions as the board felt we needed to put a formal structure around the business side of things.
“It was always an unpaid, voluntary role for me and my business interests outside the club have meant that I am travelling most weeks and rarely based at the club itself.
“…
As the FA Cup replays get underway on Tuesday night, there are plenty of intriguing midweek fixtures that can tide us all over.
Ahead of a Tuesday schedule that offers a string of heavyweight affairs from across the continent, we have taken an in-depth look at a couple of noteworthy betting markets that are worth keeping an eye out for.
19:00 Getafe vs Sevilla
While Getafe might have spent the majority of last season at the heart of a La Liga relegation scrap, Tuesday’s hosts have certainly made a string of improvements this time around. Battling it out in the top half of the table, the Blues will be dreaming of the chance to mount a genuine Copa del Rey charge in 2024.
Extending on their adventure last week as they snatched a 1-0 victory away at Esp…
Bournemouth are on the verge of signing Justin Kluivert from AS Roma in the summer transfer window, according to Fabrizio Romano. The Italian journalist has reported on that Premier League club Bournemouth will pay Serie A outfit Roma an initial transfer fee of £9.5 million to secure the services of the 24-year-old winger.
Romano has added that Kluivert is on the verge of agreeing personal terms with Bournemouth and will sign a new contract with the Cherries until June 2028. It appears that it is only a matter of time before the 24-year-old Netherlands international winger officially becomes a Bournemouth player.
Kluivert spent last season on loan at Spanish club Valencia from Roma. The winger made 15 starts and 11 substitute appearances in La Liga for Los Che, scorin…
While England might have stormed their way to a 3-1 victory away at British rivals Scotland on Tuesday night, it is no secret that Gareth Southgate has once again seen his position come under increasing scrutiny this month.
With the Three Lions eventually forced to settle for a 1-1 draw against Ukraine last weekend as they dropped their first European Championship qualifying points, Southgate’s squad selection has been a major talking point over the past fortnight.
Controversially electing to call up the likes of Jordan Henderson, Harry Maguire and Kalvin Phillips for this month’s international break, Southgate and his often pragmatic approach haven’t endeared him to some sections of the England fanbase.
With the Three Lions’ current superstar crop now b…
Market: Both teams to score
Odds: 10/11 @
Two sides who find themselves battling it out at the top of the Ligue 1 table, Brest will welcome Nice to the Stade Francis-Le Ble on Sunday afternoon.
Starting with the hosts, while Brest might have spent the majority of last season at the heart of a Ligue 1 relegation scrap, the Pirates have continued on a real domestic flurry this time around. Last seen mounting a dramatic late comeback away at defending champions PSG as they snatched a 2-2 stalemate, Eric Roy’s side have cemented their spot as one of Europe’s ultimate surprise packages this year. Riding what has been a famous wave of momentum, the one-time Nice boss will be desperate to get one over on his former employers and make another statement. Opening this…
While the Champions League qualifiers might steal most of the midweek headlines, we still have a host of interesting affairs from across the footballing globe.
With a hectic schedule from the likes of Asia and South America on Tuesday, we have created your ultimate midweek betting double.
11:30 Anyang vs Cheonan City
Making a welcomed return to winning ways last weekend thanks to an action-packed 3-2 victory away at Asan, Tuesday’s hosts will be more than aware that they face a must-win showdown here. With their sights still firmly set on securing a top-flight return in 2023, Lee Woo-hyung’s men sit just two points adrift of breaking into the top-two.
Losing just a pair of their previous eight K League 2 appearances, the former Shenyang Dongjin bos…
Kylian Mbappe reiterated his commitment to Paris Saint-Germain, though he is set on winning the Champions League.
Mbappe became PSG s record goalscorer as he sealed a 4-2 win over Nantes on Saturday.
The 24-year-old surpassed Edinson Cavani s tally of 200 for the club when he slammed home in stoppage time. Mbappe took just 247 matches to reach 201 goals – Cavani s 200 strikes came from 301 appearances.
Having won the 2018 World Cup with France and five Ligue 1 titles, the Champions League has evaded Mbappe, who has a runners-up medal from the 2020 final when PSG lost to Bayern Munich.
Bayern stand in the way of PSG s progress this season, with the Bundesliga giants holding a 1-0 lead heading into the second leg of their last-16 tie on Wednesday.
West Ham United are interested in signing James McAtee from Premier League rivals Manchester City in the summer transfer window, according to . The report has claimed that the Hammers are looking at a potential move for McAtee if Lucas Paqueta leaves for the defending Premier League champions.
City, who won the Premier League, the UEFA Champions League and the FA Cup last season, wanted to sign Paqueta in the summer of 2023 and remain keen on securing the services of the Brazil international attacking midfielder. So, if the Hammers have to sell Paqueta, then, according to SportsLens, they will try to sign McAtee.
McAtee can operate as a midfielder or as a winger. The 21-year-old England Under-21 international is on loan at Sheffield United at the moment. He has made 18 …