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MURRAY IN WONDERFUL FORM

September 3rd, 2016 | Ian Carnaby's Sports News

It was, of course, in the nature of things that Bristol City would put three past Aston Villa last week after failing to score against Newcastle. The ‘both teams to score’ bet would have paid out but you can’t chase after these things.

Newcastle are hitting their stride now and beat Brighton comfortably enough. I think they are the bet of the season to win the Championship but I have written enough on the subject already.

Although the Southampton v Sunderland game reached no great heights, I doubt that the Wearsiders will struggle this season. They are responding to Dabid Moyes’ coaching, they are considerably better now than they were at this stage last term and the spirit is good. They nearly won this match but were pegged back by a late home equaliser. As I wrote recently, I think Southampton have a season of hard work ahead of them and the main thing will be to decide on the right partnership up front. It is good that Rodriguez stays, especially as Charlie Austin looks out of sorts at present. He will do better in time, while Ryan Bertrand will bolster the defence but, in all probability, the Saints will be looking up at most of their rivals after the game at Arsenal next week.

I shall not be involved in the domestic programme when international matches take precedence this weekend but I believe ANDY MURRAY will win the US Open. Sometimes in the past I’ve been guilty of promoting Murray ahead of arch rival Novak Djokovic but, even in matches when he was beaten, I always felt Murray would become number one sooner rather than later.

Now, with the Serb troubled either by personal problems or a wrist injury – or both – the Scot is ready to build up a sequence against him. The value, of course, is poor. But the pair are miles ahead of their rivals and Murray has never played better. He would never admit it but actually looks a little bored in some games and has this wonderful knack of keeping rallies going, and even hitting winners, when all seems lost.

At anything above even money, I recommend backing him with some confidence and I am by no means convinced that Djokovic will make the final anyway. Juan-Martin del Potro still appeals as a possible threat if his wrist holds up, but Murray found a way to outlast him at the Olympics and I believe he probably would again.