2021 has been a good year for major sporting events. There was the Olympic Games, which saw some outstanding performances from Team GB athletes and other athletes around the world. We also saw England reach a major international final, succumbing on penalties to Italy in the final of Euro 2020.
We also saw Lionel Messi inspire Argentina to his first ever trophy with the national team at the Copa America while Manchester City won the Premier League title, but missed out on the Champions League as Chelsea defeated the 1-0 in the final to claim the trophy.
Now as we race towards the end of the year, it is time to look forward to some of the big sporting events set to take place next year and of course, any odds shown for these events are courtesy of bet365 Sport.
The Top Ten Sporting Events To Look Forward To In 2022!
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The Remainder Of The NFL Season And Playoffs
It has been an amazing season of NFL action this year and there are still two weeks
left of the regular season, with plenty to play for for a number of different teams, particularly in the AFC. Those final two weeks of the regular season will define how the playoffs shape up and with a number of quality teams set to compete in the post-season, with a place in the Super Bowl at stake, it promises to be a fantastic January and February for NFL fans.
Bet365 has the Chiefs the 7/2 favourites to win the Super Bowl with the Packers 4/1, the Bucs 6/1 and Rams 8/1.
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PDC Darts World Championship Conclusion
Gerwyn Price landed the World Darts Championship on New Years Day 2021 and the new champion will also be crowned on New Years Day this year. Currently, the tournament is at the Third Round stage with a number of top players still very much in the hunt for the title.
Price, along with Michael van Gerwen, Jonny Clayton, Peter Wright and Michael Smith seem to be the bookmakers clear favourites to reach the final and win the trophy but it is going to be an exciting finish to the tournament over the coming week.
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Carabao Cup Semi Finals
Early on in the year, Liverpool will face Arsenal and Chelsea will take on Tottenham
in the two Carabao Cup semifinal ties to be played. The games will be played about a week apart in March over two legs with the two winners earning a place in the final at Wembley later in the month.
With a chance to claim a trophy, it is going to be interesting to see how the teams approach these two games and how strong a team they pick to try and earn a place in the final.
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The Cheltenham Festival & Aintree Grand National
Horse racing fans have a lot to look forward to at the start of a new year with the famous Cheltenham Gold Cup meeting scheduled to take place in the Spring. The cream of the best steeplechasers will be taking part in this massive event which takes place over five days in the glorious surroundings of Gloucestershire, with the famous Gold Cup just one of many Group 1 races contested at the meet.
Don’t forget too that early April sees the Grand National take place at Aintree, with a host of horses reportedly set to compete in the famous race and that could include Minella Times, the winner of the 2021 races as well as Tiger Roll, the winner in 2018 and 2019.
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World Snooker Championship
Another great sporting event taking place early on in the year is the World Snooker Championship at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, with a host of the world’s top stars including Judd Trump, Ronnie O’Sullivan, Mark Selby and many more hoping to win the top prize.
O’Sullivan has won six World titles after his victory in 2020, drawing him level with Ray Reardon and Steve Davis in the all-time list. He can join Stephen Hendry on seven wins with another victory when the tournament gets underway in April.
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Premier League Season Finishes
The Premier League season will reach its climax at the end of April and beginning of
May and at the moment it looks like being a three horse race with Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea the three teams in with the best chance of success.
City have won the title most recently winning it last year, with Liverpool winning it before them and City once again lifting the title before Liverpool in 2019. With a number of key games coming up, particularly in January, it promises to be an exciting race for the title, as well as the teams battling it out for places in the European Competitions and those battling to avoid the drop too.
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Champions League Final
The biggest club competition in world football reaches a climax on Sunday 28th May 2022 at the Krestovsky Stadium in Saint Petersburg as the two teams that reach the Champions League final will battle it out for the trophy.
Chelsea were the winners last year and they are one of the 16 teams competing in the Round of 16, which gets underway in February. After which we will have a draw for the quarterfinals and semifinals of the competition, as well as designating which of the teams from which path will be the home team in the final.
Manchester City are bet365’s favourites to win the trophy for the first time but they face stiff competition from the likes of Paris St Germain, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Chelsea and Bayern Munich.
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Nations League Group Stage
From June through to September 2022, the six rounds of action in the Nations League will take place and for England fans, it is a chance to renew rivalries with three teams that they have faced very recently in international competition.
Drawn in Group 3 of League A, England will play Italy, Germany and Hungary home and away over the course of the group stage to try and earn a place in the semifinals of the competition and a chance to win their first international trophy since 1966.
Portugal were the first winners of the trophy and they were succeeded by France this past year.
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Anthony Joshua v Oleksandr Usyk II
British former World Champion Anthony Joshua will attempt to regain his
heavyweight world titles once again after he exercised his right to a rematch against Oleksandr Usyk. The Ukrainian star easily beat Joshua in their first fight and the Brit has been scouring the United States to get the best coaches to help him in the rematch.
Other big heavyweight fights will likely include Tyson Fury defending his titles against Dillian Whyte, while a number of other potential heavyweight candidates are also set to see action over the first few months of the year.
And remember in February the battle of Sheffield takes place as Amir Khan and Kell Brook finally lock horns.
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The Masters 2022
Golf’s big tournament of the spring sees a top quality field descend on Atlanta Georgia to compete for the coveted trophy and Green Jacket at The Masters. Hideki Matsuyama was last year’s winner, but this year could well see the long-awaited return of Tiger Woods to major action.
With a host of top stars hoping to build on strong performances in 2021 including the likes of Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson and Xander Schauffele, this event should be a cracking start to the Major season in golf.
So, with so many great sporting events to look forward to around the world, which ones will you be betting on this year?
Tags: bet365 Sport
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