The United States are the early favourites to win the 2018 Ryder Cup, which takes place in September at Albatros Course in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines in France.

The U.S. team are -140 favourites to retain the title they won 17-11 in 2016 at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Minnesota. Team Europe can be backed at +110, via OddsShark.

The tournament takes place every two years and pits Europe's best golfers against the top players from the United States. The Ryder Cup is a match play tournament with each team consisting of 12 players.

Jim Furyk will captain Team USA and his team is already starting to take shape. The eight automatic qualifiers are Rickie Fowler, Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed, Jordan Spieth, Webb Simpson, Justin Thomas and Bubba Watson.

Furyk will name his three wildcards after the 2018 Deutsche Bank Championship. Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Bryson DeChambeau should get the nod, according to former European Ryder Cup captain Mark James:

Thomas Bjorn captains Team Europe and will be hoping to reclaim the trophy after a comprehensive defeat in 2016. That run ended a period of dominance by Europe who had won the previous three tournaments.

Tommy Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton, Rory McIlroy, Francesco Molinari, Alex Noren, Justin Rose and Jon Rahm have already confirmed their places in the European team. Matt Fitzpatrick, Thorbjorn Olesen and Eddie Pepperell are all in contention to take the last automatic qualification spot.

Americans have dominated the major golf tournaments in 2018. Koepka won the PGA Championship and the U.S. Open while Reed won the Masters. However, Europe's Molinari claimed the final major of the year at The Open.

Although America are the favourites, they will be aware that Europe possess an excellent record on home soil. The team have not lost a home Ryder Cup in 25 years, their last defeat coming at The Belfry in 1993.