There will be no room for sentiment when England and Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford faces hometown club Sunderland for the first time in his superlative professional career.
The 31-year-old shot-stopper rose through the ranks at the Stadium of Light after joining the Black Cats as a boy and made 31 appearances before joining the Toffees eight years ago.
Despite the move and a new life on Merseyside, he has often been picked out by the cameras when attending Sunderland matches and has brought his son up to follow the Wearsiders and is sure to receive a standing ovation when he steps on to the pitch before the kick-off.
Emotions will rocket through the roof and the match will likely rank right up there with his best moments in the game, which include two European Championship finals and a World Cup semi-final with the Three Lions, but while it will be gloves on and down to business for Pickford once the first whistle blows it will be gloves off as far as the home crowd is concerned with any sentiment going out of the window.
Everton manager David Moyes is also making a return to a former club having been in charge of the Black Cats from 2016 to 2017 when he resigned following a disastrous season when Sunderland finished bottom of the Premier League with just 24 points, 16 short of safety, and it is probably fair to assume he won’t receive such a warm welcome as his goalkeeper.
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Neither will make the long journey home in a happy mood. Sunderland, the surprise package of the still fledgling season, will be playing on home soil for the fifth time this term having won four starts and drawing the other while scoring eight and conceding just two and can extend that unbeaten record.
Everton have one win and three defeats in their four away days in which they have scored four, three of which were at woeful Wolves, and let in seven and although tricky Jack Grealish is always difficult to contain they lack punch in attack.
The hosts are 17/10 with William Hill to gain the maximum points needed to leave them just five behind leaders Arsenal and France striker Wilson Isidor is 13/2 with Unibet to open the scoring with his fifth goal this season.
He is also worth backing at 12/5 with BetMGM, StarSports and Bresbet to add to the goal he grabbed in last weekend’s 2-1 triumph against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge at any time.
FA Cup first-round odds
Leyton Orient will be seeking to put the Lambs to the slaughter when they visit mid-table National League opponents Tamworth in the first round of the FA Cup. The O’s are a solid outfit, even though they are no better than 14th in League One, and cannot afford to be complacent as their hosts reached the third round of the famous competition for the fourth time last season.
But given they will leave nothing to chance, Orient should be backed at 4/6 with Ladbrokes, Coral, William Hill and many others to win while an away victory with both teams to score also appeals at 9/4 with bet365.
Aaron Connolly has scored six times this season and is 11/2 with Sky Bet and Paddy Power to add to his tally with the opening goal of the tie and 13/8 with the former firm to score at any time.
2026 baseball odds
Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Will Smith hit a Hollywood home run to lead his side to a 5-4 extra innings game seven victory against the Toronto Blue Jays as the defending champions became the first team in 25 years to win back-to-back World Series.
The Dodgers, partly owned by Chelsea chairman Todd Boehly, owed a huge amount of their success to Japanese pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who threw two and two third innings in relief at the end of a white knuckle ride just a day after throwing 96 pitches to secure a crucial game six victory to stave off defeat. Yamamoto also threw a complete game in the best of seven-of-seven encounter and was named World Series MVP.
He will be a key component in the Dodgers next quest which is to match the 1998-2000 New York Yankees by becoming a dynasty with three titles to their eternal credit and they are 7/2 with Paddy Power and Sky Bet to achieve that stunning feat.