Kazeka1886

Brand has been very dominant in women's cyclo-cross this season, winning 16 of 18 races with two runner-up finishes. She won all 5 races in this X20 class in a superbly dominant fashion, so got to expect her to dominate here again and notch another win.

Mathieu van der Poel has been completely dominant in the sport this season winning on all 6 starts with 2 starts of it being in this X20 series and both of those he won super convincingly by at least 45 seconds so got to expect him to dominate here as well and open new year with another victory.

These two teams sit next to each other in standings with 26 points a piece so this should be a close game. However, Fulham is in better form having won 5 of their last 7 games and 3 straight heading into this one. On other side Crystal Palace is struggling as they lost 4 of their last 6 games including last 3 in which they got outscored by 1-8. Fulham is undefeated in last 4 visits to Selhurst Park with 2 wins including victory in their last visit so got to see nice value backing Fulham to win this one.

Brentford is 11th with 26 points, while Tottenham is 13th with 25 points. Brentford is fantastic at home with a 6-2-1 record, as they only lost to Man City while notching 3 wins against current top-6 sides in huge victories over Aston Villa, Liverpool, and Man Utd. On the other side, Tottenham is just 2-2-5 in their last 9 games. They are rather evenly matched, but Brentford will be cozy at home and are going against their former manager who left them to supposedly go to a better club, so the Bees will be eager to show him he made a mistake, which makes Brentford to win a solid pick to go with.

Sunderland is 7th with 28 points, while Man City is 2nd with 40 points. Man City is in great form, having won their last 6 matches, but all of those wins came against teams placed outside the top 10. On the other side, Sunderland has been fantastic at home this season with an undefeated record of 5 wins and 4 draws, including a draw versus league leaders Arsenal. Man City beat them head-to-head by 3 goals at the Etihad 3 weeks ago, but the Black Cats are playing superbly at home in the Stadium of Light, so expect this game to be much closer. Man City has 2 losses and 3 wins in their last 5 road games, of which 2 came by narrow 1-goal margins, so it feels like this one should hang in the balance and possibly finish in a split of points.

Both of these two lads are coming off strong showings as Humphries averaged 103 in his win over Doets while van Veen averaged 98 in win overManby. Their last 2 hth meetings went to last leg deciders in 6-5 and 11-10 van Veen wins so got to expect this one to be close back and forth battle that should go a long way and bring the total of sets to an over.

Both of these two lads are excellent 180s hitters as Humphries hit 8 180s in his last match over 5 total sets while van Veen hit 9 180s in his last match also over 5 total sets. This format is best of 9 sets and their last 2 hth meetings went to deciding last leg shutout so got to expect a tight back and forth battle that should go a long way and see plenty of 180s and bring the total to an over.

Rams have an excellent team all around, which is playing at a really high level this season. Their QB, Stafford, led them to the title in 2022, and he is playing some of the best football of his career this year under McVay's helm. They have a superb young defense this year, filled with talent all over it, and they are one of the least penalized teams in the league. Being that young on defense allowed them to add Adams to their receiving core alongside one of the best receivers in the league, Nacua. Rams also have a really good running game with Kyren Williams and a whole stable of solid tight ends. So, with an experienced, Super Bowl-winning QB like Stafford, who usually plays his best in the biggest games, you simply have to like the Rams to go all the way and win another ring in Santa Clara this season.