William Burns Handicapper Reviews & Picks

(#927) Philadelphia Phillies | ML | .

Jesus Luzardo (10-5, 3.32 ERA) vs. Connor Prielipp (3-5, 4.79 ERA) .

Coming into this game, Jesus Luzardo has been fantastic. I'm especially looking forward to watching him pitch on the road again this season where he owns a flawless 6-0 record & a 2.01 ERA. I believe that he's going to be ready for Minnesota on Saturday with the extra day off yesterday. This should be a great young lineup to go up against as well.

Minnesota will turn to Connor Prielipp who hasn't been too great this year. Although he's been significantly stronger in home games this season, I believe that the Twins are significantly worse of a side than the Phils. Philadelphia's lineup is hungry. It stays hot here on Saturday.

Burns' Prediction: 6-3 Phillies.

(#201622) US Catanzaro 1929 | 3-Way ML | .

Sudtirol finished in 16th place of the Serie B (20 teams) a season ago and have a very difficult opening match to begin the campaign. While this is "just" the Coppa Italia, this tournament means much more to some teams than others. I believe that Sudtirol is going to try and simplify things here today. But, I'm just not sure that things are going to work out too well considering it lost in this round a year ago as well.

US Catanzaro 1929 also plays in the Serie B. However, it finished in the top five last season and definitely are seeking promotion for the upcoming season. Now, rankings don't really mean much when it comes to different competitions as I've seen first league teams drop games to third division teams across Europe before. But, following a 3-0 win to finish off preseason, I simply believe that Catanzaro should be able to get the job done here at home in the opening game of the year.

Burns' Prediction: 2-0 Catanzaro.

(#201801) Getafe CF | ATS | .

Fixtures are slightly hard to predict early in the season. However, if we see a Getafe team that's anywhere close to what we saw a year ago, the defense should once again be elite in 2026-27. Getafe may have had a -6 goal difference at the end of the season. But, it conceded just one goal per game which was the third best mark in the entire La Liga (behind Barcelona & Real Madrid.) Coached by José Bordalás once again this campaign, expect a similar approach.

Deportivo Alaves can be a sneaky team at times. But, it suffered 17 defeats last season and was just a single point away from the relegation zone which is very important to note. There is expected to be some debuts for Alaves in this match, which could be dangerous. However, I like Getafe's style of play to at least record a draw in the opening fixture of the year. Grab the half a goal.

Burns' Prediction: 1-0 Getafe.

(#24334) Vicente Luque | ML | .

From being an underdog at open, the oddsmakers have shifted the odds towards Vicente Luque for this fight & it's now around "pick-em" for this UFC 330 bout in Philadelphia. I believe that the odds have moved for good reason. Tresean Gore is just 6-4 over his pro career, with a 3-4 record at the UFC level.

On the other hand, Vicente Luque is a veteran inside the octagon & would be considered a proven fighter in this industry. He's fresh off a submission win over Kelvin Gastelum in the opening round of his latest fight & I could definitely see a submission being done in this one as well. He's got the stand up, and the ground game to overwhelm Gore. Expect nothing less than a win from Luque.

Burns' Prediction: Luque via. 2nd Round Sub.

(#693) Saskatchewan Roughriders | ATS | .

Having won with Saskatchewan in consecutive weeks now, some could say I'm being slightly greedy playing on the Roughriders for a third straight time. That being said, I'm more than willing to role the dice on them once again. Despite the one interception last weekend, Saskatchewan's offense definitely looked like it was clicking again with QB Trevor Harris throwing for 400+ in the 21pt win. I expect him to keep slinging it on Saturday against this Tiger-Cats defense that lost to a struggling BC team last weekend & gave up 44 to Montreal the week prior.

Before the past couple of weeks, Hamilton had been one of the teams that had not been a part of too many shootouts in 2026. But, times have changed and the Tiger-Cats might need to start playing in those games to be successful. They've lost three consecutive games now & are significant dogs again this weekend for a reason. With the Roughriders beating them by a score of 38-7 in early/mid July, I expect them to win this game by at least a touchdown in Week 11.

Burns' Prediction: 33-21 Saskatchewan.