The Week Ahead: Five 'must have' bets for the coming seven days

We're banking on Liverpool and Besiktas scoring in Turkey

The team just about broke even with their debut column last week thanks to Dustin Johnson's solid performance on the PGA Tour, but 'must do better' was the general feeling amongst the betting.betfair editors. Here's this week's five 'must have' bets...

1. Besiktas v Liverpool (Thursday) - Back Both Teams to Score @ 1.910/11

With a slender 1-0 first-leg advantage Liverpool know that an away goal in Turkey will go very close to killing this tie, Besiktas would then need at least three, so we're confient that Brendan Rodgers will field a strong side that will go in search of that away goal rather than defend what they've already got.

Besiktas need to score no matter what, so we know that Slaven Bilic' men will attack also, so this game is perfectly set-up for an entertaining affair. The Turkish side were in superb form prior to losing at Anfield, winning 13 and drawing one of their previous 15 league and cup outings. They've averaged two goals per game on home soil since early November and we can easily see both sides getting on the scoresheet here.

We just don't want a repeat of this performance please Liverpool, well, not unless you concede one of course.

2. Honda Classic (Thurs - Sun) - Back Chris Kirk Top 10 Finish @ around 7.06/1

Chris Kirk enjoyed a breakout season on the PGA Tour in 2014 and this class operator looks a little undervalued in Betfair's Honda Classic market this week. Let's take advantage.

The test at PGA National is right up Kirk's street. A straight-hitter (take a look at the clip below) with a top-class short game, Kirk has the all-round skills to perform well on a course that will reward good strategists. And conditions should suit our selection who lives on the coast in Georgia, the state above this week's venue (Palm Beach, Florida).

Kirk enjoyed two wins on tour last season, with three top fives to accompany those victories, and it seems a missed cut at Pebble Beach has boosted his price up to a very generous 7.06/1 to finish inside the top 10 this week. We like over-reactions like that, so we're backing Kirk to follow up Dustin Johnson, who landed Top Five honours at the Northern Trust Open at 4.84/1.

3. West Indies v Zimbabwe (Tuesday, 03:30 GMT) - Back Lendl Simmons Top West Indies Batsman @ 6.5n/a

There aren't too many compelling betting propositions from this week's World Cup fixtures - you have to wait until Australia v New Zealand on Saturday for a game the markets consider to be close - but there are of course plenty of sidemarkets to look at, which is where we're headed here, courtesy of cricket tipster Richard O'Hagan.

The top batsman markets can sometimes be priced up more on reputation than form, which explains why Chris Gayle is favourite to top score against Zimbabwe tomorrow morning. But he hasn't looked anywhere near his best so far, unlike Lendl Simmons who looks excellent value at around 6.5n/a.

Simmons has scored half centuries in both his matches so far and is likely to be pushed up the order to no3 in the wake of Darren Bravo's hamstring injury, meaning he will still be a lively runner even if the Windies only have a small target to chase and, if they bat first, he'll have plenty of time to rack up a big score. We're on.

4. Premier League Darts (Thursday) - Back Dave Chisnall @ 2.111/10 to beat Kim Huybrechts

We were a little unfortunate with last week's bet in the arrers, Barney, with a 102 average somehow throwing away (no pun intended) a 5-1 lead against Peter Wright to draw 6-6. Our confidence hasn't been waned however, and we're throwing another dart - pun most certainly intended - at this week's Premier League action.

Dave Chisnall is the man to be with on Thursday night when the bandwagon rolls into Belfast. The world number nine has started his campaign in excellent form, winning his first two matches before drawing 6-6 with James Wade last week. His opponent Kim Huybrechts is still trying to find his feet in the Premier League and has just one point to show from his first three matches.

The Belgian averaged just 88 last week, and against an in-form Chizzy that won't be good enough. Fingers crossed Dave leaves Kim's head spinning after this match.

5. Argentina Open Tennis (all week) - Lay Rafa Nadal @ 1.664/6 to win tournament

While acknowledging he's the best clay court player that's ever lived, a far from at peak form (and fitness perhaps) Rafa Nadal looks worth taking on at odds-on to win this week's Argentina Open.

As our tennis expert Sean Calvert says here, Nadal looks way short of his best as he builds towards the French Open following a series of injuries in the last 18 months, and we'll have at least five chances to get him beat this week. One defeat of course and Nadal is out, and we collect.

The King of Clay would win in a canter at his best, but the question is how hard will he push himself with bigger targets ahead. He lost to Fabio Fognini in the semi-final in Rio last week, and with the Italian, and other excellent players, in this week's field, we're taking on the Master of Mud.

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Have we missed the most obvious 'must have' bets this week? Let us know what you fancy during the next seven days by leaving a comment below or Tweeting us at @BetfairExchange

The Week Ahead P/L

Staked: 5pts
Returned: 4.8pts
P/L: -0.2pts