Max Allegri appeals as man to make Paul Pogba tick long term

Mark Langdon
Max Allegri to start 2019-20 season as Man Utd manager
16-1 Coral

Paul Pogba won his battle with Jose Mourinho for Old Trafford supremacy and if Manchester United are keen to make the most of their huge investment on the World Cup-winner they could do a lot worse than bring in Max Allegri to be their next permanent boss.

Allegri, who played a key part in Pogba's career at Juventus, has been learning English in case a big Premier League club comes calling and is a value alternative to current favourite Mauricio Pochettino.

James Milton
Joe Clarke to play a Test match for England
7-2 Betway

An abundance of all-rounders means England’s Test batting line-up is a movable feast but the highly-rated Joe Clarke could be the next specialist batsman to earn his cap.

Having moved from Worcestershire to Nottinghamshire, the 22-year-old should rack up the runs on good batting pitches at Trent Bridge and he gave the selectors another nudge with his second-innings 107 in England Lions' unofficial Test against Pakistan A in November.

Matthew Ireland
John Degenkolb to win Paris-Roubaix
14-1 Coral, Ladbrokes

It has been a long way back to the top for John Degenkolb, who capped his comeback from a career-threatening training crash at the beginning of 2016 with victory on stage nine of the 2018 Tour de France.

Fittingly, the cobbles of northern France were the scene of his first World Tour triumph success since the accident, three years after winning the prestigious Paris-Roubaix, a race the German will undoubtedly be targeting once again.

Henry Hardwicke
Richard Veenstra each-way BDO World Championship
50-1 BoyleSports

Richard Veenstra has reached the semi-final and quarter-final in two of three visits to the Lakeside and he looks overpriced to go one better in 2019.

The Dutchman is housed in the opposite half of the draw to favourite Glen Durrant and looks to have a tasty path to the latter stages. Veenstra has little to fear from the likes of Scott Waites, Mark McGeeney and Michael Unterbuchner, who are in his section, and 50-1 is a huge each-way price.

Adam Scriven
George Russell to score more points than Lando Norris in 20192-1 Sky Bet

Former titans of Formula One McLaren and Williams were regularly found near the bottom of the timesheets in 2018. Both teams field all-new driver line-ups for this season with Formula Two champion George Russell joining Williams and runner-up Lando Norris in at McLaren.

Williams possibly have the greater scope for instant improvement and Russell is worth a bet to better in the pair’s F1 debut seasons.

Ian Wilkerson
No playoff in all four Golf Majors
9-4 Betway

This bet copped last year at the same price of 9-4 when 2018 became the fifth year this century when none of golf's four top tournaments went to extra holes and it would be no surprise if that happened again.

Sergio Garcia's Masters victory in 2017 and Zach Johnson's Open Championship triumph are the only Majors that have needed playoffs in the last 23 top tournaments in a run that goes back to Adam Scott's Masters triumph in 2013, and it is worth chancing that the trend continues for another 12 months.

Joe Champion
T Pieters & T Detry both to win on the European Tour
15-2 Sky Bet

Belgian besties Thomas Pieters and Thomas Detry finished 2018 by capturing the World Cup of Golf and a punt on both of them winning individually on the European Tour this season makes plenty of appeal.

Pieters was not at his best last season but he remains a unique talent capable of winning Major championships while Detry looks a winner waiting to happen following a series of promising displays towards the end of the year.

Alex Hilton
Catalans Dragons to win 2019 Ladbrokes Challenge Cup
14-1 Betway

The French raiders won their first Challenge Cup in 2018 and look a touch of value to successfully defend it.

Hull FC showed in 2016 and 2017 that when one trophy comes along another can often follow and the Dragons - who have recruited well in the winter with new signings Sam Tomkins and Matty Smith - have enough talent and experience in their squad to suggest another lengthy run in the competition.

Adrian Humphries
N Djokovic to win Australian Open
13-10 188Bet

Punters can consider chancing the 11-2 with Sky Bet that Novak Djokovic wins the Australian Open and Wimbledon, but it may be wiser simply to back the world number one to rule the roost at Melbourne Park in January.

Concentrating on a single bet could be prudent as there may be more dangers to Djokovic's title defence on the London grass in July than there are in the opening Grand Slam of the season.

Max Oram
Max Deegan to make Ireland World Cup squad
8-1 Paddy Power

Ireland are blessed with an abundance of brilliant back-rowers and two supremely versatile locks in Iain Henderson and Tadhg Beirne but there still looks to be a bit of value in 22-year-old Leinster number eight Max Deegan being a bolter for Joe Schmidt's squad for the World Cup in Japan this autumn.

The breakdown battle is an increasingly attritional area in modern rugby and Deegan, who was named player of the 2016 U20 World Championship, has scored eight tries in 31 Leinster outings. He should get plenty more gametime as the province push to retain their Champions Cup and Pro14 crowns.

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