08/28/2008 - Monaco, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manchester United, which won the Champions League last season, was drawn into Group E of the 2008-09 edition on Thursday with Scottish champions Celtic, Spanish runners-up Villarreal and Danish club AaB.
The two British giants played in the Champions League two seasons ago, with Man United coming out on top at Old Trafford by a 3-2 scoreline, while Celtic edged United 1-0 at Parkhead.
Last season's Champions League runners-up, Chelsea, has been paired with Roma, Bordeaux and shock Romanian champions CFR Cluj in Group A. Liverpool has been drawn alongside Marseille, PSV Eindhoven and Atletico Madrid in Group D.
Liverpool advanced to the group stages with a highly unconvincing 1-0 aggregate win over Belgian champions Standard Liege. Liverpool captured the second leg in extra time on Wednesday, 1-0.
England's fourth representative, Arsenal, is in Group G with FC Porto, Dynamo Kyiv and Fenerbahce. The Gunners powered through to the group stages with a commanding 6-0 aggregate win over Dutch side FC Twente.
The group stage starts in mid-September. The first matchday is Sept. 16, with games also on Sept. 17.
Following is the complete group draw:
Group A: Bordeaux, CFR Cluj, Chelsea, Roma.
Group B: Anorthosis, Inter Milan, Panathinaikos, Werder Bremen.
Group C: Barcelona, Basel, Shakhtar Donetsk, Sporting Lisbon.
Group D: Atletico Madrid, Liverpool, Marseille, PSV Eindhoven.
Group E: AaB, Celtic, Manchester United, Villarreal.
Group F: Bayern Munich, Fiorentina, Lyon, Steaua Bucharest.
Group G: Arsenal, Dynamo Kyiv, FC Porto, Fenerbahce.
Group H: BATE Borisov, Juventus, Real Madrid, Zenit St Petersburg.
(Courtesy of sportbox.tv)
<< Curlin makes Saratoga debut in Woodward Stakes
Saratoga Springs, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Reigning Horse of the Year Curlin
returns to the races Saturday in the $500,000 Woodward Stakes at Saratoga Race
Course versus seven rivals. This will be the first ever start for the colt at
his hom
<< Rocky Mountain rivals square off in rare Friday fixture
Salt Lake City, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Rapids and Real Salt Lake
resume their Rocky Mountain rivalry on a rare Friday night Major League Soccer
fixture at Rice-Eccles Stadium this week.
Both teams are in need a wins in the
<< Goodell reinstates Adam Jones
Dallas, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has reinstated
cornerback Adam Jones.
Goodell granted the former Titans cornerback his reinstatement on Thursday,
clearing the way for Jones to return to the field, this t
<< Golf Tidbits: Ladies, study that English
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A story earlier this week announced to the
world that the LPGA Tour is going to make all of its players learn how to
speak English or face suspension.
The announcement came in a story published on Golf Wee
Havret leads by two at Gleneagles >>
Perthshire, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Gregory Havret carded a five-under-par
68 Thursday to take a two-stroke lead after the opening round of the Johnnie
Walker Championship at Gleneagles.
Havret's fellow Frenchman Christian Cevaer is
Ferrer, Murray, Blake reach third round in Flushing >>
Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fourth-seeded Spaniard David
Ferrer, sixth-seeded Brit Andy Murray and ninth-seeded American favorite James
Blake were a trio of second-round winners Thursday at the 2008 U.S. Open, the
fourth and fina
Fiorentina signs Gamberini to five-year deal >>
Florence, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fiorentina defender Alessandro Gamberini has
signed a new five-year contract, the club announced Thursday.
Gamberini, 27, earned a call up to the Italy squad for Euro 2008 following his
impressive form in
Art Official favored in Cane Pace >>
Freehold, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Art Official, Meadowlands Pace champ, is the
9-5 morning-line favorite for Monday's Cane Pace at Freehold Raceway. The
$392,850 one-mile event is the first leg of the Pacing Triple Crown.
Coming off a
Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?
I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.
Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.
There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.
Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.
For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.
A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.
The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.
Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.
So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.
Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.
“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.
Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.
“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.
It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.
Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.
The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.
“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.
“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”
Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.
The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.
“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”
Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?
“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”
Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.
Elite 8 NCAA Tournament Betting at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com
In what should be an outstanding Saturday of March Madness betting action, the top four teams in the South and West Regions square off in what should be extremely close match-ups. Three of the four teams are coming off extremely close games on Thursday evening, only UCLA won semi comfortably over Pitt 64-55.
Ohio State is coming off their second game in a row where in all reality they should have lost. Of course that doesn’t matter now since the name of the game is “survive and advance” but as the tournament continues, they can’t afford to keep getting down to their opponents early. Kansas also avoided a scare by holding off a scrappy Southern Illinois squad. In the third thrilling game of the evening Memphis pulled off the minor upset (+3.5) despite being the higher seed to Texas A&M.
Although the spreads are fairly small for Saturday’s games, MySportsbook.com continue to bet against the underdogs. Despite OSU’s two scares, 86% of the “betting public” feels the Buckeyes (-1.5) have what it takes to make the Final Four. In fact, so much of the early money is on OSU that the line has already moved from -1 to -1.5. In the second game of the doubleheader, Kansas and their high-powered offense are 2 point favorites as they take on UCLA and their effective defense. About 63% of the early money thus far is once again backing the favorites. If those percentages stay that high, don’t be surprised if this line moves as well. If you like Kansas (-2) you might want to jump on it early.
Memphis vs. Ohio State
Both squads were involved in thrillers on Thursday evening and should come out fired up. OSU can ill afford to get behind early like they did versus their previous two opponents (Xavier, Tennessee). Greg Oden needs to stay out of foul trouble; the Buckeyes are a completely different team when he is on the court. Memphis definitely has the athleticism and length to match-up with OSU. Of Memphis’ five leading minute earners, the shortest of the bunch is 6’5”. Each team has a very effective defense; Memphis surrenders 62.3 PPG whereas the Buckeyes give up only 61 PPG. With those type of numbers, it isn’t surprising that Memphis covered the UNDER almost 69% of the time this season. As a favorite, OSU has covered the UNDER almost 66% of the time over the last three seasons. The major concern for Memphis which is magnifies this time of the year is their brutal foul shooting (62%). This season, OSU is 17-11 ATS versus teams with a winning record and 7-2 ATS in all tournament games. Memphis has been an extremely reliable cover in tournament play in recent years with a 23-8 ATS record over the last three seasons.
UCLA vs. Kansas
In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, UCLA will play in a role which they are very unfamiliar with that of the underdog. Only twice this season have they been getting points from the handicappers and both times they covered. Over the last three seasons UCLA is a reliable 23-7 ATS in this unfamiliar role. UCLA has not fared well against Big 12 opponents recently going 1-7 ATS since 1997. Giving up only 59.6 PPG, UCLA will definitely look to do what they do best: keep this game as low scoring as possible. Their defense has been especially tough during the tournament. UCLA opponents have been able to muster up only 48.7 PPG while shooting a combined 34.5% from the field. UCLA definitely has a challenge at hand with a Kansas team that is capable of putting points on the board in bunches. As a team, they average 79 PPG and shoot an impressive 49.6% from the field and 39.4% from beyond the arc. During the tournament Kansas has been “lights out” from the field having shot 56.2%.
With Friday -105 juice on Basketball betting, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on all of the “March Madness” action. Don’t forget to monitor who the public is backing at MySportsbook.com’s “Betting Trends”. By doing so, you have the best chance of predicting a possible line change, thus getting the best value for your wager.
To bet on March Madness games this online sportsbook accepts credit cards
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