11/22/2008 - Manchester, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It was not a great day to be one of England's Big Four as Arsenal's troubles continued in a 3-0 pounding at the hands of Manchester City, while Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United were held to 0-0 draws by Newcastle, Fulham and Aston Villa respectively.
Gunners captain William Gallas was left out of the squad after he spoke out against his teammates during the week, and things got even worse on Saturday as City snapped a four-game winless streak that handed Arsenal its fifth loss of the season.
A mix-up in defense between Mikael Silvestre and Gael Clichy handed City's Stephen Ireland the opening goal shortly after halftime, while Robinho doubled the home side's advantage in the 56th minute with a neat chip that beat goalkeeper Manuel Almunia.
Danny Sturridge then drew a penalty kick when he was brought down by Arsenal's Johan Djourou in the 90th minute, and Sturridge finished off the chance by converting the spot-kick to cap a big City win.
Chelsea and Liverpool both dominated their matches at home, but neither side was able to come away with the maximum points despite facing teams in the bottom half of the table.
This left Manchester United with a golden chance to gain ground on the leaders and put themselves right back into the mix in the title race, however the Red Devils suffered the same fate as both Chelsea and Liverpool as they came up against a determined Villa side.
After everything was said and done on Saturday, the title race still remains virtually unchanged, with Chelsea and Liverpool holding an eight-point edge on United, while Aston Villa jumps into fourth place, one point clear of Arsenal.
Bolton picked up a 3-1 win at Middlesbrough, Stoke City's hopes of avoiding relegation got another boost as the Potters downed West Bromwich 1-0 on a goal from Mamady Sidibe in the 84th minute, while Hull City's Noe Pamarot scored an own-goal in the 87th minute that kept the Tigers from three points as Portsmouth claimed a 2-2 draw.
<< Arminia Bielefeld upsets Bayer; Hoffe takes lead
Bielefeld, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Artur Wichniarek and Daniel Halfar scored
as Arminia Bielefeld knocked Bayer Leverkusen out of first place on Saturday in
the German Bundesliga with a 2-1 win at Schuco Arena.
Hoffenheim took advantage o
<< U.S. to play Brazil, Italy in Confederations Cup
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The United States men's national team was drawn
into Group B on Saturday along with reigning World Cup winners Italy, five-time
World Cup winners Brazil and African Cup of Nations winners Egypt for the 2009
FIFA
<< Bears put T Miller on IR
Lake Forest, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Bears placed offensive tackle
Fred Miller on injured reserve Saturday with a shoulder problem.
Miller appeared in six games this season for Chicago, playing mostly on
special teams. T
<< NHL Pacific: Boucher proves his worth to Sharks
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - When goaltender Evgeni Nabokov went down with a lower-body
injury, the San Jose Sharks listed him as day-to-day. Six games later, and the
33-year-old has yet to return to the net.
With the way backup Brian Boucher has been
Pettersen leads ADT Championship >>
West Palm Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Suzann Pettersen shot a four-under 68
on Saturday to move atop the leaderboard after the third round of the ADT
Championship.
Before the third round, the field was cut to the top 16 and scores we
Toronto C O'Neal has strained left knee >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Toronto Raptors center Jermaine O'Neal is
listed as day-to-day with a strained left knee, the team announced on
Saturday.
O'Neal suffered the injury early in the fourth quarter of Friday's 12
Griffin's big day carries No. 12 Oklahoma past Gardner-Webb >>
Norman, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Blake Griffin scored 35 points and grabbed 21
rebounds, as 12th-ranked Oklahoma needed a late rally to pull out an 80-76
victory over Gardner-Webb at the Lloyd Noble Center.
Griffin also led the team w
Muntari helps Inter topple Juve >>
Milan, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sulley Muntari's goal in the 73rd minute was
enough to lift Inter Milan to a 1-0 win over Juventus at the San Siro on
Saturday.
The result moves Inter four points clear of AC Milan at the top of the
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
American Idol odds : Blake Lewis the Early Standout
An important American Idol betting lines recap from February 20 Guys episode. The 12 men came out flat overall with Blake Lewis appearing to have the early edge after the first hour and a half.
Rudy - was quite good singing "Free Ride" to start off. Randy was not impressed though. Paula thought he started off fantastic. "Never had anyone stop off so lively" said Paula but Simon (who does not like Rudy) does not feel he has a distinct voice and was not impressed either.
Brandon was a little pitchy according to Randy and Paula agreed. Simon said he was a good singer but the song was "too safe" and he needs to make an impact. He was listed at +1200 odds or $1200 paid out on a $100 bet should he win the competition.
Big favorite Sundance came in with a flat version of "Knights in White Satin" and the judges let him have it, including Paula. Randy claimed the song was out of pitch throughout.
Korean American - and a Jenny Woo favorite - Paul Kim was up next. Another pitchy flat one but Randy said he still liked his potential. Kim at +3000 odds was said to have sung a "third rate version of that (George Michael) song" according to Simon Cowell. He sang "Careless Whisper".
22 year old Chris Richardson was up next. He was listed with +1100 odds coming in. He got the best response from the judges though Simon did not believe the vocal was that great.
Nick was boring and pitchy. Simon didn't think he was that bad though and predicted he would be back next week. Nick Pedro was a big +3000 dog coming into this competition.
Beat boxer Blake Lewis was listed with early +1000 odds or $1000 payout on a $100 bet if he were to become the next American Idol winner odds . These of course were the early odds. He was considered original for picking an "odd song". He did not beat box and the judges felt it was the best vocal of the night.
Sanjaya came in as the second biggest favorite after Chris Sligh but his performance Tuesday night was not very good.
Chris Sleigh was the early favorite at +450 odds. Great voice and a great sense of humor. He's a real standout. Randy felt it was on point but maybe ahead of the chorus a little bit. Simon Cowell said he felt like he was in some "sort of weird student gig".
Jared Cotter followed. He was listed with +2000 odds early on to win the competition. The judges felt he needs to take more risks but looked good.
22-year old AJ Talbado, who has tried out for American Idol five times, was up next. "Kind of a theme park performance" said Simon. Though the judges felt he performed okay. Simon did feel AJ might be better than he originally thought.
Phil - this season's military favorite - came into this competition with +1200 odds to win the competition. He was the last to perform. He was certainly strong enough to get through this stage of the competition and perhaps the best one after a shaky start.
Tomorrow night, the ladies perform and I sure hope they do a better job than the boys. Check out all the American Idol betting odds here.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.
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