15:00 Naas

Probably not too many late Cheltenham clues here, as only Ha D’or has a Supreme Novices’ Hurdle entry, but it’s still an interesting race nonetheless with the top four in the betting all laying claim to capture the prize on the pick of their form. Of the top three in the betting, Flame Bearer was the most impressive in winning last time out and it’s easy to see why he’s slightly favoured over Ha D’or – whose most recent form took a knock yesterday – but whether he deserves to be quite so short in the betting is a moot point and in any case, MEET AND GREET (NAP) (best price 4-1) makes far more appeal looking at the morning prices.

A game winner over the smart Top Bandit in a well-run bumper at Leopardstown last season, Oliver McKieran’s gelding has made a bright start to his career over hurdles and following an encouraging effort on debut over today’s C&D in November, he went on to build significantly on that initial promise when capturing a similar event on his return to the Co Kildare venue 98 days later. Staying on strongly in the latter stages of a well-run affair, the son of Mustameet beat a useful field that included the likes of Brooklynn Glory and Harald Hadrad and with his time figure coming out by some margin better than the other four hurdles races on the card (Brazil, Journey With Me and Goven the three notable winners), it’s clear he ran to a pretty high level. The fact he’s now run two solid races over today’s stiff track is likely to count for plenty in the final analysis and hailing from a stable who took this prize with Lean Araig back in 2015, the six-year-old looks set to outrun his odds in a major way.

16:30 Sunday

The Carabao Cup Final takes centre on Sunday afternoon from Wembley and it promises to be a fascinating tactical affair from two German coaches who are well versed with each others style and ideologies.

Thomas Tuchel has had plenty of success already with Chelsea, taking them from outsiders to negotiate some tough games in the Champions League last season as well as recent victory at the Club World Cup. He’s shown he has the qualities to succeed in the knockout format and that experience could prove vital in keeping them in this final but they face a rampant Liverpool side who even the best find hard to keep a lid on.

The Reds have warmed up nicely for this one, winning nine straight games the latter of which was a 6-0 demolition of Leeds at Anfield. They’ll have to do without Roberto Firmino but there’s potential for Portuguese frontman Diogo Jota making the squad, elsewhere there is a fully fit roster for Jurgen Klopp to choose from.

From a betting perspective it’s Liverpool who have been favoured and continue to been seen as the good thing at 4/6 to lift the trophy. However, with the record of Tuchel and the ability for Chelsea to at least get a draw in a large amount of his games I’m not sure you could trust Liverpool to win in 90 minutes.

Both teams to score makes appeal at the price though with some 19/20 about. Liverpool hardly ever fail to score but there have been signs that they’re penetrable at the back and Chelsea can take great heart from not losing either of the encounters between the pair earlier in the season. Even if the out of sorts Romelu Lukaku doesn’t start it may cause a few more headaches from a movement perspective for the Liverpool backline.