Morning Coffee: The stage is set for epic finale to the Summer of Soccer

The Summer of Soccer on TSN has exceeded all expectations.

The stage is set for a pair of epic finals this weekend.

England, which was the pre-tournament favourite to win Euro 2024 at FanDuel, advanced to the final with a 2-1 win over the Netherlands on Wednesday.

If it is in fact coming home, England will need to pull off an upset win over the updated favourite Spain in the Euro 2024 final on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Colombia was the most popular pick to win the Copa America at +1200 at FanDuel before the start of the tournament.

After an upset win over Uruguay in the semi-final on Wednesday, Colombia will meet the pre-tournament favourite Argentina in the Copa America final on Sunday.

As if getting the Euro 2024 and Copa America finals on the same day wasn’t enough, TSN will also feature the Wimbledon men’s final, Sunday Night Baseball, Sunday Night Football, and the NASCAR Cup Series.

I hope this Sunday is still open in your calendar.

It’s worth reiterating the point that chalk has dominated at Euro 2024 since the start of the knockout stage.

I’m expecting that trend to continue in the Euro 2024 final, which is why I’m trying to get ahead of the curve with a FanDuel Best Bet for Sunday’s final. 

This is the Morning Coffee for Thursday July 11th, 2024.

The Stage Is Set For Epic Finale To The Summer of Soccer

England entered Euro 2024 as the favourite to win it all.

It marked the first time since the 1970 World Cup that the English football team was the betting favourite to win a major tournament.

Despite blazing a trail to the final, Gareth Southgate’s side will head to the Euro 2024 final as an underdog.

Spain emerged as the betting favourite to win the tournament entering the quarters.

After impressive wins over a pair of top contenders in Germany and France in the knockout stage, Spain is -160 to lift the cup in the final.

England is +100 to pull off the upset in the final.

I’ll lock in Spain to win Euro 2024 as my FanDuel Best Bet for Sunday’s final.

Spain is the first team in European Championship history to win six consecutive matches within a single tournament.

While they were forced to rally in their semi-final versus France, it didn’t take long at all for them to take a 2-1 lead after trailing early.

Dani Olmo is just the third player ever to score in three straight knockout matches at a European Championship.

Lamine Yamal is the youngest male scorer in the tournament’s history.

Spain leads all teams at Euro 2024 with 13 goals – one of just three teams to hit double-digits in the tournament.

Their 108 total attempts is nearly double the 66 total attempts that England has registered.

Spain has a tournament-best 37 attempts on target compared to just 19 for England.

The fact that Spain has been so dominant is even more impressive when you consider they’ve played three of the top-seven choices to win Euro 2024 in France, Germany, and Italy.

I’ll lock in Spain over England as my FanDuel Best Bet for the Euro 2024 final.

Meanwhile, I’ve emphasized this point repeatedly and it remains true.

There’s nothing more frustrating in this industry than selecting a FanDuel Best Bet from a long list of bets, only for the best bet to be the only pick that loses amongst a slew of winners.

That was the case for me on Wednesday when I was on England to advance versus the Netherlands, Both Team To Score in that Euro 2024 semi-final, and Colombia to upset Uruguay.

I could have gone with any of those picks as my FanDuel Best Bet for Wednesday.

Instead, I went with the Baltimore Orioles to beat the Chicago Cubs.

It’s the type of decision that can keep me up at night.

Regardless, I’m turning the page this morning with another FanDuel Best Bet for tonight’s slate.

I’ll parlay the Boston Red Sox to win with the Montreal Alouettes to win at -115.

The Red Sox went on a 7-1 run before dropping a 5-2 decision to the visiting Athletics last night.

Boston is 8-1 in Tanner Houck’s previous nine starts.

The Red Sox haven’t been very good at all at Fenway Park this season, but Oakland is just 13-34 as the visiting team after last night’s win, and I can’t see them winning two in a row in Boston.

Meanwhile, the Alouettes are the Grey Cup favourite after opening the season with five straight wins.

They’re a 6.5-point favourite for tonight’s contest against the Argos, who Montreal beat by 10 in Toronto back in Week 4.  

I’ll parlay the Red Sox and Alouettes to win at -115 as my FanDuel Best Bet for Thursday night.