The morning line

MLB The marquee game of the holiday slate is the San Diego Padres visiting the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium, where the 58-31 Dodgers have been the class of the league all year — the heart of their order has been leaving the yard with regularity and the bullpen has been stingy, so the Padres will need to get into the starter's stuff early or this one could get ugly in a hurry. For the earlier crowd, the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals renew their NL Central rivalry at Wrigley Field in what figures to be a getaway day pitchers' duel, with the Cubs sitting as sizable favorites on the moneyline. Also worth a look is the Milwaukee Brewers, the hottest team on the board at 54-32, rolling into Chase Field against the Arizona Diamondbacks — their starters have been going deep into games all season and the bullpen hasn't been asked to carry much load.

WNBA The marquee game on this slate is Indiana Fever at Las Vegas Aces, a top-of-the-conference showdown where the 15-5 Aces are looking to keep their stranglehold on the league against an 11-8 Fever squad that has enough firepower to make it ugly. Vegas is favored by 5.5 with the over/under sitting at 183.5, so expect buckets in the paint and neither team taking the L quietly. Earlier in the day, the 12-8 Dallas Wings roll into Toronto as road favorites over the Tempo, a team right on the playoff bubble that needs this one bad.

World Cup The marquee fixture tonight is Brazil hosting Norway at MetLife Stadium, with the Seleção favored to keep a clean sheet and advance — though Norway's Erling Haaland is exactly the kind of striker who can turn a half-chance into a through ball and punish any lapse in concentration. Later, England travel to Estadio Banorte to face Mexico in what shapes up as the can't-miss clash of the round, with the Three Lions coming in as slight underdogs on the odds despite having the better of recent form. A draw would be a brilliant result for Mexico on home soil, but England will fancy themselves to find the net if they can weather an early onslaught from the crowd.