When you talk about futures markets, we don’t mean stocks and shares and speculating on the exchanges. Instead, what we are talking about is future sports betting markets that are open for events set to take place at some point in the future.

With 2021 on the horizon, and a massive number of top sporting events to take place throughout the year, we have decided to take a look at some of those big tournaments, matches and events and give you our picks and tips from the futures (or ante post in the horse racing world) markets which we feel offer you a great chance of landing a winner or two!

So, if you fancy having a flutter on some of the tips we outline below for a number of the biggest sports events to take place in 2021, then you will need a top quality betting service that offers extensive ante post and futures betting to facilitate this.

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So with so many options available to you, let’s now take a look at some of the future and ante-post bets we will be making on some of the top sporting events set to come in 2021.

Our Top Futures and Ante Post Betting Tips for 2021

NFL – Superbowl LV Winner

The final weekend of the NFL season is coming up this weekend and there is still plenty to play for in both conferences for teams seeking to land a spot in the post-season playoffs. They begin in January with the teams seeded 2nd to 7th contesting three playoffs in each conference. The top seeds get a Bye week to rest ahead of their first game which will be the Conference Semifinals.

The two winners of those games contest the Conference Championship game and then the two winners of each Conference Championship will go on to Tampa Bay, to face each other at the Raymond James Stadium in Superbowl LV.

The date for SuperBowl LV is February 7 and at the moment, the Kansas City Chiefs are the 15/8 favourites to win the tournament and after such a dominant season, it is hard to disagree with that price and in truth, as the playoffs wear on, I expect that price to shorten considerably so taking the Futures price now is a good option.

Horse Racing- Cheltenham Gold Cup Winner

Perhaps no jump meeting of the season is more eagerly anticipated than the Cheltenham Festival which is scheduled to take place across four days, starting on Tuesday March 16 2021.

The great news for fans of the festival is that bet365 is offering a wide range of ante post betting markets on a wide selection of races at the festival, including the likes of the RyanAir Chase, the Pertemps Network Final Handicap Hurdle, the Marsh Novices Chase and the Albert Bartlett Novices Hurdle.

The big race of the event however comes on the final day and is the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Bet365 is offering short odds of just 4/1 on Al Boum Photo to win the race, with three selections rated as 10/1 chances in the ante post markets, Santini, Champ and Minella Indo.

However, my pick for the race is the 16/1 chance Frodon who ran superbly to win the King George VI’ Chase on Boxing Day and has shown the quality to go well in these high-quality fields.

Horse Racing – Aintree Grand National Winner

Tiger Roll was denied the chance to win an unprecedented third Grand National in succession this past year when the race was cancelled, but the winner of the last two National races will likely be at the head of the betting for the field for the 2021 running of the race in April 2021.

Other runners such as Cloth Cap and Burrows Saint are reckoned to be the closest challengers to Tiger Roll as he seeks to join Red Rum as only the second horse to ever win the race three times in total. However with Tiger Roll available in the ante post market as a 20/1 shot, that looks a good value bet to me.

Golf – Ryder Cup Winner

You can enjoy plenty of futures market betting on the 2021 golf season right now with bet365 Sport as you have betting available on which golfer will win outright all four of the Majors scheduled for the season (Masters, USPGA, US Open and British Open).

However, it is September’s Ryder Cup, postponed from this year, that has caught my eye. The tournament will take place at Wisconsin’s famous and spectacular Whistling Straits course and with qualification for the event set to start in 2021, it promises to be an intriguing battle between the USA and Europe for the trophy.

Europe have dominated the event in recent times, but I think on home soil, Team USA may well find their feet and at 4/6 to win the event, I feel that they are the smart bet at the moment.

Football – Euro 2020 Champions

Postponed from last summer, the 24 teams that have qualified for the Euro 2020 Championships will contest the tournament this summer, starting in six groups of four teams in the opening Group Stage. After these games 8 teams will be eliminated from the event, with the remaining 16 competing in a straight knockout through to the semifinals and finals, which are slated to be played at Wembley.

Belgium, England and France are now all the joint-favourites to win the event at 11/2, with Spain 13/2, Netherlands 7/1, Germany 15.2, Italy and Portugal both 12/1 and after that it moves right out to Croatia at 33/1 Wales are rated as 100/1 shots with Scotland an even more distant 150/1 outside bet.

My pick here is France, at 11/2, who are for me the quality team in this tournament and reigning World Champions. They haven’t found their best form since that win in Russia in 2018, but they will peak just in time for this tournament I am sure.

Football – Premier League 2020/21 Champions

It’s been a strange old season in the Premier League so far with a lot of unusual results and no teamSkyBet In Play service running away with the league as has been the case in recent seasons. So with a lot more teams involved who are set to claim the title this year?

Manchester City are 15/8 to win the title this year having drifted out from being favourites earlier in the season, while Manchester United’s odds have shortened to 9/1. Tottenham and Chelsea’s recent form has seen them drift in this market too, to 16/1 and 25/1 respectively while Leicester are 40/1 shots and Everton 50/1.

However, my cash would be going on Liverpool at even money as they are top despite a horrific injury list over the first half of the season, they have a number of players on the way back from injury, can strengthen in the January transfer window and have played Everton, Man City and Chelsea away from home already this season.

Football – Champions League 2020/21 Winners

Last season’s winners Bayern Munich are the 11/4 favourites to win the Champions League once again this season, but holding onto this trophy is especially tough and as things stand, I would not be putting my money on the Germans to repeat that success this time around.

Other interesting bets include Liverpool at 11/2, Juventus (who had been my original pick) at 8/1, Paris St Germain at 12/1 and Chelsea at 14/1. The trio of Spanish giants, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid are all 16/1.

For me though, the smart pick is Manchester City who are long overdue success in this tournament and who at 4/1 I feel represent excellent value for money, especially with a favourable Round of 16 draw.