Chelsea’s failure to score against Crystal Palace when they opened their Premier League campaign at Stamford Bridge on Sunday was slightly alarming as their £250million attackers failed to make an immediate impact.
The Blues used six forwards in an attempt to unlock a resilient Eagles defence but, if Eberechi Eze had not had a goal from a 13th-minute free-kick controversially ruled out, the hosts would have tasted defeat in their first competitive match since winning last month’s Club World Cup final against Paris Saint-Germain.
Joao Pedro, Jamie Gittens, Pedro Neto, Cole Palmer, Estevao Willian and Liam Delap all failed to find the back of the net and in a sport where knee-jerk reactions run riot at the drop of a hat, let alone a couple of points, it would be easy for critics and cynics to be wringing their hands in delight and despair, depending on their perspective.
Fortunately for chairman Todd Boehly and Blues boss Enzo Maresca, Chelsea’s next match is under the Friday night lights at the London Stadium where they face a West Ham side who were woeful when beaten 3-0 at newly promoted Sunderland on Saturday.
The Hammers are already facing a long, hard winter and will be lucky to find three teams worse than them if they don’t buck up their ideas.
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Any thoughts of kick-starting their campaign may have to wait until after the first of four tough London derbies in their first eight games with home matches against Tottenham and Crystal Palace and the short trip to Arsenal on the horizon.
Chelsea are 7/10 with William Hill to win and 13/8 with StarSports and Bresbet that they lead HT/FT while 9/5 with William Hill their victory is by more than one goal looks a gift. The 9/2 offered by Hills, bet365, Betfred and many others is also very tempting.
Nicolas Jackson transfer odds
Who will be the first Chelsea striker off the mark this season? Well, it won’t be Nicolas Jackson who is 11/8 with bet365 to join Newcastle as a replacement for Alexander Isak while Aston Villa are 4/1 with the same company, Paddy Power, Sky Bet and Betfair to take him on board.
Palmer is 9/2 to break the deadlock against the Hammers and 11/8 with Betway to score at any time, with former Brighton forward Pedro 9/5 with BetMGM and Unibet to bag his first goal for Chelsea at some stage.
Tennis odds: US Open
Jannik Sinner’s withdrawal from the final of the Cincinnati Open due to illness is worrying as it was just six days before the start of the US Open at Flushing Meadows on Sunday.
The defending champion was trailing 5-0 to Carlos Alcaraz when he withdrew from the action, complaining he had been ill for a couple of days.
The Italian should recover in time to add the last grand slam of the year to his Australian Open and Wimbledon successes and it shouldn’t be forgotten he reached the final of the French Open at Roland Garros where he lost a five-set thriller with Alcaraz after leading by two.
Sinner is the obvious choice to prevail in New York at 11/10 with Paddy Power, Betfair and many others while Novak Djokovic, chasing a record 25th slam success, should not be overlooked and can be backed each-way at 14/1 with Betfred.
Wimbledon winner Iga Swiatek is back with a bang after a dip in form earlier this year which saw her drop to eighth in the world rankings, and she has just won the Cincinnati Open without dropping a set.
That makes the 24-year-old from Poland the one to side with as she bids to win a second US Open crown and seventh slam overall and she appeals at 10/3 with StarSports.
Golf odds
There are just 30 golfers remaining as the hunt for FedExCup glory boils down to the Tour Championship finale at East Lake.
There’s a new format to the tournament which closes the PGA Tour season with the rules reverting to the usual stroke-play format with the winner being the man with lowest score after 72 holes rather than the handicap system which put most of the field out of realistic contention.
Scottie Scheffler is the obvious selection to win after a last-round rally clinched victory at the BMW Championship on Sunday even though he’s short at 13/8 with Ladbrokes, Coral and bet365 among others. Brave punters, though, can back him to lead from start to finish at 15/2 with bet365.
Value seekers should note that Ben Griffin leads our each-way brigade at 25/1 with Ladbrokes and Coral while Sam Burns is 20/1, Robert MacIntyre 25/1 and Brian Harman 55/1 with the same firms.