England vs. Australia Betting Tips: Three bets for Third Ashes Test

After another pulsating Test match, England are officially 2-0 down and staring down the barrel of a first home Ashes defeat since 2001.

Captain Ben Stokes nearly did the impossible and England close to the total but they fell 43 runs short as Australia held their nerve.

Of course, the win wasn’t without its controversy either, as Alex Carey stumped Jonny Bairstow as he walked out of his crease thinking it was the end of the over.

That could all mean that the Third Test at Headingley has some real needle. 

Who are the favourites to win the Third Ashes Test?

The bookies are unsurprisingly expecting another close Test, but are backing Australia to win the Third Test and go 3-0 up in the series, sealing an Ashes victory.

The Aussies are 7/5, while England are 6/4 to win the Headingley Test. The draw is the outside bet at 10/3.

I'm backing Australia to take this game. Given how the Lord’s Test ended and the controversy surrounding the finish, England could easily lose their heads a bit knowing that they can’t afford to slip up.

Unfortunately for England, this Australia team is looking in imperious form and England hasn’t shown the application to stick in games when they are under pressure. 

This is a real outside bet, but there’s real value in it.

Thanks to Nathan Lyon’s calf injury that has ruled him out of the series, Todd Murphy will step into the role of Australia’s number-one spinner.

He showed in India that he can be dangerous and extremely accurate, and will threaten batsmen.

England will see Murphy as an opportunity to attack and will try and take him on. That may well work, but if it doesn’t, Murphy could easily end up with a boatload of wickets in this game, making him a tempting bet at 25/1 to be crowned Man of the Match.

Steve Smith showed why he is one of the greatest batsmen of all time in the first innings of the Lord’s Test and England didn’t have any answers for him.

It was such an imperious innings that we’re backing him to do it again at Headingley.

His record in England is absolutely ridiculous and he loves big moments and big games, he could be the difference once again in this game, where he's priced at 9/2 to accumulate 100+ runs in the first innings.

The value here is found in the fact that Mark Wood  - 11/4 for top England bowler in the first innings - may not be selected, and if he isn’t you’ll get your stake back.

If he is, he will bring something completely new to the attack and something that England are desperately missing, especially if they are going to bowl as many bouncers as they did in the Lord’s Test.

Wood is capable of bowling 95 mph plus and can hurry some of the Australian batsmen that have looked so comfortable.

It’s expected that one of Broad, Robinson, or Anderson will drop out for Wood and he could be extremely important at Headingley.