Daily Sports Betting Preview 9/29/2020: MLB Wild Card, French Open, Carabao Cup

• The New York Yankees face off against the Cleveland Indians in the Wild Card, and are -123 favorites in Game 1.
• Aryna Sabalenka (+4.0) and Jessica Pegula battle it out in a matchup that could be closer than the spread indicates.
• Tottenham and Chelsea face off in the Carabao Cup, and Chelsea have -250 odds to go through to the next round.

LAS VEGAS - Today’s edition of the Daily Sports Betting Preview covers three excellent betting opportunities.

First, in MLB, the Wild Card games kick off today, and the Preview takes a look at the matchup between the New York Yankees and the Cleveland Indians.

Then, the French Open continues today as well, and the Preview examines the battle between Aryna Sabalenka and Jessica Pegula. Finally, in the Carabao Cup, Tottenham takes on Chelsea, and that excellent soccer matchup makes up the last of today’s three highlights.

There’s a lot to cover, so let’s get started!

MLB Wild Card - Yankees vs. Indians

The New York Yankees entered the season tipped to be the best team in the American League, and sat atop the World Series odds along with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

That path was disrupted when they suffered serious injuries during the season, with arguably two of their three most important players missing serious time.

Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton are back in the lineup, but that hasn’t exactly made them the worldbeaters they were expected to be.

The Yanks limped into the playoffs, and now face perhaps their polar opposite in the Cleveland Indians.

The Yankees are known for monstrous bats and mediocre pitching (at least, when Gerrit Cole isn’t on the mound).

The Indians, on the other hand, are known for the exact opposite: they have some of the best pitching in the majors, and some very bad hitting.

The Indians finished two games above the Yankees overall, and have two trends going for them in this series.

First, the Indians have won eight of their last 10 games - they enter this series hot, while the Yankees enter it on a confusing 4-6 record in their last ten.

Second, the Indians have a good record at home and away, while the Yankees are well below .500 on the road, and well above it at home.

In other words, the Indians are relatively consistent, and have been in good form recently, while the Yankees are remarkably inconsistent, and have not been in good form.

Overall, the presence of Gerrit Cole seems to give the Yankees the edge in Game 1, but they’re going up against Shane Bieber, an AL Cy Young candidate in his own right.

Cleveland’s pitching staff allowed the fewest runs in the league, full stop. They allowed almost a full run per game less than the Yankees pitchers did.

They say that pitching is the most important aspect of a championship team in baseball - this series will put that to the test.

French Open Betting

The French Open continues today, as the Women’s side is where the Preview lays its eyes.

In an interesting matchup, Aryna Sabalenka faces off with Jessica Pegula, and enters as a favorite on the moneyline.

Sabalenka is ranked 12th in the WTA’s rankings, while Pegula clocks in at 60th, which explains a bit of the differential here.

That said, Pegula has won the one time these women have faced off before.

They have never faced each other on clay before, but it’s not like their previous match is far removed - it happened in August of this year.

Here’s where things get interesting - according to UTR, the two women are actually much more evenly matched than either their rankings or the odds suggest.

This raises the question of the spread, which favors Sabalenka as well.

Pegula seems like a fairly solid bet at +4 given the information and the implication that they are fairly closely matched.

This matchup should be a great one for tennis bettors to enjoy, and might be better than what the odds imply about it.

Carabao Cup Betting

Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea supporters are likely more nervous for this matchup in the Carabao Cup than either will let on.

While it is “only” the league cup, the two teams are jockeying for positioning in the Premier League, and will likely do so all season.

Chelsea made excellent additions to its roster over the course of the shortened offseason in the form of Kai Havertz and Timo Werner.

Meanwhile, Tottenham received Gareth Bale on loan from Real Madrid, where the former-now-current Tottenham star shined and disappointed in equal measure.

However, given that this is the Carabao Cup and not the Premier League or Champions League, not all of these players will see the pitch.

The teams will be deploying a mixture of starters and backups, and keeping especially vulnerable players out of this one.

Havertz, for example, is expected to make an appearance, while Werner and Bale are not.

That said, the matchup should still be an excellent one for Premier League bettors to enjoy.

The three way moneyline sees Chelsea as a heavy favorite. Keeping that in mind, let’s check out the odds to advance to the next round of the cup.

With the possibility for a draw removed from the equation, Chelsea find themselves -250 to finish off Tottenham.

Spurs, for their part, are respectable +175 underdogs.

Happy Betting!