Elite Sports Betting Tips: September 23

MLS - San Jose Earthquakes vs LA Galaxy - 1x2 LA Galaxy @ $2.24

Nick

For a weekend that will be starved of high-standard club football, the next edition of the California Clasico couldn’t have come at a better time.

LA Galaxy broke a run of winless games last week with a comprehensive 4-1 over Colorado.

They’re currently occupying the last playoff position and will look to consolidate their place with another winless against the hapless Earthquakes.

Its been a bleak season for San Jose, with a defence that has leaked 64 goals in just 31 games.

Of course there’s the extra motivation of a derby game, but just feels like Galaxy have so much more to play for.

Riqui Puig is really starting to find his feet in the competition, and Chicharito is still a force.

We’ll back LA Galaxy to gain some momentum heading into finals. 2 units

NFL - Houston Texans vs Chicago Bears - Texans Moneyline @ 2.20

Blake

The Texans may have had a mixed start to the year with a 20-a-piece tie in Week 1 followed by a low-scoring loss in Week 2 but they find a nice match-up here. Davis Mills has not had the perfect start to his quarterback career but it's impossible to deny he has showed the chops to suggest he will make this team his own in time. After spending the last part of last year as the starting QB, he's shown glimpses this year that he will develop fairly quickly. This match gives him the opportunity to showcase that in enemy territory as Houston head to Chicago for this battle. The punters and bookies have made The Bears slight favourite here but the upset looks more than in play so we’ll massage one unit into the money line and hope Mills can do us proud. 1 unit

NRL - Penrith Panthers v South Sydney Rabbitohs - Winning Margin Penrith by 1-7 @ 4.80

Brad

It’s Preliminary Final weekend in the NRL as the remaining four teams battle it out for a place in next Sunday’s season decider.

We have a 2021 Grand Final rematch to look forward to this weekend as Penrith Panthers take on South Sydney in the Second Preliminary Final.

Penrith head into this one with the benefit of having last weekend off thanks to their 27-8 win over Parramatta in the first week of the finals.

While that end score may look like Penrith had an easy night, they did trail 8-7 when Mitchell Moses left the game injured early in the second half, an event which greatly swung the momentum of the match.

South Sydney backed up their hard-fought win against Sydney two weeks ago with a brilliant display against Cronulla, winning 38-12 to kick the Sharks out of Premiership contention.

While the Panthers are deserved favourites, the market should be tighter than what it is and a low margin is expected in this one.

These two played twice in the finals last year with the Rabbits winning in Week 1 by six points before the Panthers won the Grand Final by a margin of just two points.

Matches between these two have traditionally been close affairs with the Panthers winning eight from the past nine, but only won three of those games by more than a converted try.

While the Panthers are deserved favourites for not only this game but the Premiership next weekend, we’re expecting another close win over the Bunnies. 2 units

NCAAF - North Carolina Tar Heels v Notre Dame Fighting Irish Under 58.5 points @ 1.97

George

We travel to Kenan Memorial Stadium in Chapel Hill this weekend, where we see an undefeated North Carolina team face a Notre Dame outfit that has started their 2022 campaign in horrible fashion.

This match looks to be a genuine scrap between two teams hoping to make a big statement early on in the season, with most of the pressure placed on the travelling Fighting Irish desperate to build some momentum upon their gutsy 24-17 victory at home over Cal last weekend.

Despite their 1-2 record, they look to boast one of the strongest defensive units in the country, led by the front line consisting of defensive end Howard Cross III and handy outside linebacker in Isaiah Foskey.

They will have to concentrate on penetrating the pocket in order to disrupt Tar Heels QB Drake Maye, who has had an unbelievable first three weeks amassing a whopping 11 touchdowns and only one interception, resulting in an elite 88.5 PFF grade which ranks him 21st amongst all play-callers in the NCAAF.

Conversely, Notre Dame’s QB Drew Pyne must turn around his abysmal production over the past fortnight that has resulted in him being ranked 268th out of 272 quarterbacks in college football.

It won’t be easy coming up against this Tar Heels defensive unit that is ranked 9th in pass rushing and coming up against a pass-blocking unit graded at a lowly 63.3.

Considering the game’s importance for both programs it looks like a game where both teams will hope to employ a consistent and efficient ground game to chew up the clock, gather momentum and take control of the game.

This will be especially important for Notre Dame who are facing the sixth-highest scoring team in the nation, and will need to execute multiple defensive stops to restrict Maye’s influence on the game.

I think the Fighting Irish turn things around to even their ledger at 2-2, and eventually run out 24-14 winners this Saturday afternoon. 3 units

UEFA Nations League - England v Germany - Asian Total Goals Under 2.5 @ 1.72

Dom Rae

Two old rivals meet at Wembley in the Nations League with both nations in contrasting form ahead of the World Cup.

England's Nations League campaign has been an unmitigated disaster so far, without a win from four games, only scoring one goal and their latest result a 4-0 humbling at home to Hungary.

Germany are unbeaten so far in this group and head to Wembley off the back of a 5-2 thumping of Italy.

England's competition for places in defence means players their back line will be desperate to perform, while Germany don't have an out and out forward to top form, meaning this could be a low scoring encounter.

The last time these sides met was a 1-1 draw in Munich and before that in the last 16 of Euro 2020 with England coming out 2-0 victors, these fixtures rarely produce a large number of goals and the same can be expected here. 1 unit

ATP Metz 2022 - Winner - Daniil Medvedev @ 1.72

Caelum

The Russian superstar is coming off a disappointing US Open campaign where he lost his World No.1 ranking to Spanish starlet Carlos Alcaraz.

His start to the Moselle Open couldn't have been better with a first round bye.

His next matchup will potentially be Stan Wawrinka, but should he get through that, the rest of his side of the bracket is very manageable.

Medvedev does hold a 2-1 record against the Swiss veteran, so we'll back him in to get the job done should Wawrinka dispatch of Joao Sousa in the round of 32.

The only other real threats to Medvedev would appear to be Dominic Thiem and Hubert Hurkacz, who will only face him should they all reach the Final.Given his poor US Open run, he'll be wanting to get back to winning ways heading into the end of the year and Metz would be a great place to start. 2 units

AFL - Geelong Cats v Sydney Swans - Geelong Cats & Under 160.5 @ 3.10

Matt R

It’s the last day in September and the biggest match on the Australian Football calendar.

Geelong & Sydney have battled to get here and it’s going to be a cracker.

Geelong are bringing an extremely high form line into this match and will be hard to stop.

The midfield of Dangerfield, Selwood and Guthrie will be tearing up the MCG and have been doing it all year.

The Sydney defence is going to be under fire trying to stop Jeremy Cameron and Tom Hawkins along with Gary Rohan.

Sydney have come off a nail biter at home against the pies.

The Swans will not go down lightly in this clash however I do not believe they will be able to get the W against the Cats.

Expect a huge score from Geelong in a landslide with Sydney not scoring anymore than eight goals. Final score Geelong 94 - Sydney 53. 2 units

NFL - New England Patriots vs Baltimore Ravens - Winner: Ravens @ 1.64

Alex

One of Week 3's more intriguing games. Each team has one victory and one defeat this year, both coming at the hands of the Miami Dolphins.

The Pats defeated the Steelers in the second round, while the Ravens triumphed over the New York Jets in the opening week.

The Ravens' offensive has been their best strength so far this season, but their defence hasn't exactly been stellar.

Both clubs are anticipated to play a strong defence this match.

However, considering Lamar Jackson's incredible form this season, the Ravens offence is sure to put on another strong performance.

Taking the Ravens. 1 unit

UEFA Nations League - Spain vs Switzerland - 1x2 & Total Spain & Under 3.5 @ 1.99

Cesar

The UEFA Nations League is back this weekend!

Spain is back to business against Switzerland who they haven’t lost to against in their last five clashes.

Spain’s squad has been put under questioning in recent weeks as in form players haven’t been included for this years World Cup so far.

Players such as Iago Aspas, Ansu Fati and Canales for example, have not been called up for this tournament or the World Cup even.

There is no doubt these players have the quality to perform on the big stages, however, Spain’s squad is full of depth and I am confident the squad that has been called up is able to do the job.

More so, there are a few players who have received the call up to Spain who are ready and eager to prove themselves and make a statement as they have the chance to do so for their country for the first time.

Newcomers Borja Iglesias and Nico Williams have been included after stellar performances, and the best thing is they seem to be getting better match by match.

Switzerland is no new rival for Spain, thankfully for the Spaniards, it is a team they have usually always got a result out of.

This time they will go up against a Switzerland team that is lead by the Arsenal captain Granit Xhaka, who has been putting on top performances for the Gunners.

Other players such as Akanji seem to also be in form and good spirits as he has been performing well for Man City and enjoying victories week in week out.

However, up front, the Swiss team seems to be struggling as their main Striker Embolo has experienced a drop in form in recent months and Veteran Shaqiri may not be the man he once was on the pitch.

That being said, I don’t underestimate Switzerland but I put my confidence in Spain to secure a win via a dominating football of their typical possession play, who will likely run the clock down, tire their opponents and open gaps in the later stages of the game.

Hopefully we also see a goal or two from Borja Iglesias, so he can boost his confidence even more for the upcoming World Cup. 2 units

NFL - Pittsburgh v Cincinnati - Cincinnati -5.5 @ 1.80

Nathan Pap

The most special time of the year is back and could not think of a better way to kick off the season than with a classic AFC North rivalry.

Riding high from their dream run last season and strong off-season, the Bengals begin their quest to get back to the Super Bowl.

The Steelers are have a lot of unknowns and will be starting the season for a new QB for the first time in over a decade.

Paycor Stadium will be rocking in Ohio and Joe Burrow and company start their year off in hot fashion.

Bengals to win and cover fairly comfortably. 1 unit

UEFA Nations League - Germany vs Hungary - Correct Score Germany 2-0 @ 6.00

Germany have been an international force to be reckoned with on the pitch.

The German team has scored at least one goal in their last 10 international showings.

Last time these two faced we saw a close 1-1 result, this time I'm expecting Germany to make the correct adaptations.

I'm looking forward to a fast paced match with Germany drawing more out of their forward chances and holding strong on defence.

Hungary have looked competitive with their huge 4-0 win over England, I just don't see Germany making as many mistakes that can be capitalised on. 3 units

NCAAF - Wake Forest Demon Deacons vs Clemson Tigers - Clemson -7.5 @1.91

Tangy

An unlikely blockbuster ACC matchup on the early slate of College Football weekend as Wake Forest play host to the Clemson Tigers.

You’ll have to look back 13 years to find the last time the Demon Deacons got the better of the ACC giants albeit only TWO of those games had Clemson start as less than double-digit favourites.

This weekend will be the third instance and in both cases last time out, the Tigers had no trouble covering the single-digit spread.

In their one conference match so far this season, the Tigers were able to get the cover against Georgia Tech, and with DJ Uiagalelei starting to find some rhythm and heat up, back them to continue their trend towards sheer ACC dominance. 3 units