Montpellier joins PSG at the top of Ligue 1
Soccer Betting Lines
02/11/2012 - Montpellier, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Montpellier scored three second-half goals in the span of 14 minutes en route to a 3-0 win over Ajaccio at the Stade de la Mosson on Saturday.
The victory moves Montpellier level on points with PSG, although the capital club can take back the top spot with a win or draw at Nice on Sunday.
Montpellier always looked to be the club to open the scoring, but the hosts had to wait until the 53rd minute when Younes Belhanda converted a penalty kick after Henri Bedimo was fouled inside the penalty area by Ajaccio's Benjamin Andre.
Olivier Giroud set up the second goal for Remy Cabella in the 65th minute before Giroud found the back of the net himself two minutes later, netting his league-leading 16th goal with a wonderful volley that put Montpellier out of reach.
The hosts have now claimed wins in their last four matches, while Ajaccio saw its six-match unbeaten streak come to an end.
Auxerre 1, Lorient 1
Auxerre, France - Auxerre failed to move out of the bottom three on Saturday as the home side conceded a stoppage-time equalizer to 10-man Lorient in a 1-1 match.
Willy Boly had Auxerre in front after 18 minutes, while Lorient goalkeeper Fabien Audard was sent off two minutes later for handling the ball outside his own penalty area.
But the visitors showed plenty of fight and claimed an unlikely point in stoppage time when Innocent Emeghara met Mathieu Coutadeur's corner kick at the near post and redirected it past goalkeeper Olivier Sorin with his head.
Lorient has drawn its last four games in Ligue 1 with Auxerre sitting two points adrift of safety.
Caen 2, Lyon 1
Lyon, France - Lyon fell further off the title pace on Saturday as the club sustained a 2-1 defeat at home against relegation-threatened Caen.
The visitors beat Lyon earlier this season and completed the double on Saturday with Romain Hamouma opening the scoring after 13 minutes for Caen, while Livio Nabab doubled the advantage in the second half.
Lisandro Lopez managed to pull a goal back from the penalty spot four minutes from time for Lyon, but the result leaves them 10 points back of the leaders, while Caen moves three points clear of the relegation zone.
Valenciennes 1, Nancy 0
Valenciennes, France - Valenciennes snatched a last-gasp win on Saturday against Nancy as Mamadou Samassa scored the lone goal in stoppage time of a 1-0 win.
Valenciennes came close to scoring in the first half when Brazilian defender Gil struck the crossbar. The hosts were also denied on a good scoring chance in the second half by a goal line clearance from Nancy's Massadio Haidara.
But in the dying minutes, Samassa claimed all three points for his team when he scored from close range following a scramble in front of goal.
Rennes 1, Sochaux 0
Rennes, France - A first-half goal from Mevlut Erding was enough for Rennes to claim a 1-0 win against last-place Sochaux on Saturday.
Erding's goal arrived after 15 minutes when he headed home Jonathan Pitroipa's cross, while Rennes came close to adding another goal before halftime when a volley from Vincent Pajot struck the crossbar.
Sochaux didn't offer up much in attack but the visitors still had a chance to claim a point in the 89th minute when a shot from Charlie Davies just barely sailed over the crossbar, extending Sochaux's winless streak to nine games.
Brest 1, Dijon 1
Brest, France - Brest snatched a late draw against Dijon on Saturday as Santiago Gentiletti scored three minutes into stoppage time to level the match at 1-1 for Brest.
Dijon's Gael Kakuta scored his first goal of the campaign in the 76th minute to put the visitors in front, while Brest was reduced to 10 men in the 89th minute when Issam Jemaa picked up a second yellow card.
But despite playing a man down, the home side grabbed an unlikely point as Gentiletti scored just before the final whistle to move Brest five points clear of the drop zone.
Newark, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Jersey Devils surely won't miss seeing Florida's Kris Versteeg for the rest of the season. Versteeg put the Panthers ahead in the second period with his fifth goal in four meetings against New Jer
<< Callahan's hat trick helps Rangers beat Philly again
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan Callahan's second career hat trick
helped the Rangers continue their winning ways against the Flyers this season,
as New York exited Philadelphia on Saturday with a 5-2 victory.
Marian Gaborik add
<< Georgia upsets No. 20 Mississippi State in OT
Starkville, MS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Gerald Robinson netted eight of his 13
points in overtime and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope added 20 points and eight
rebounds as Georgia upset No. 20 Mississippi State, 70-68.
Dee Bost had a chance
<< Dortmund maintains lead atop Bundesliga
Dortmund, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Borussia Dortmund escaped its match at
Signal Iduna Park on Saturday with a 1-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen to maintain
its lead at the summit of the German Bundesliga.
Dortmund's 15-game unbeaten run
<< Missouri handles Baylor in Big 12 battle
Columbia, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Phil Pressey scored 19 points behind four
three-pointers and No. 4 Missouri used a second-half surge to down No. 6
Baylor, 72-57, on Saturday.
Marcus Denmon and Michael Dixon added 16 points and six
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tyler Seguin and Patrice Bergeron scored in the shootout and the Boston Bruins beat the Nashville Predators, 4-3, on Saturday afternoon. Bergeron, Daniel Paille and Milan Lucic had goals in regulation as the
Islanders down Kings in OT >>
Uniondale, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mark Streit netted the game-winning goal 96
seconds into overtime as the New York Islanders downed the Los Angeles Kings,
2-1.
Michael Grabner scored the lone goal in regulation for the Islanders, who
Varejao out indefinitely with wrist fracture >>
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cleveland Cavaliers forward Anderson Varejao
is out indefinitely after an MRI on Saturday showed a non-displaced fracture
of the right wrist.
A timeline for his return to action will be established next we
Malkin's five-point game helps Penguins down Jets >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Evgeni Malkin had a goal and four assists,
as the Penguins downed the Jets, 8-5, on Saturday.
Kris Letang added two goals and an assist and Jordan Staal scored in his
first game back from a knee in
Martens lifts AZ to top of Eredivisie >>
Alkmaar, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A second-half brace from Maarten
Martens handed AZ Alkmaar a 2-0 win over Excelsior on Saturday, lifting AZ
into the top spot in the Eredivisie table.
A 6-0 win in midweek moved AZ level wit
2007 NFL Football Betting Preview
“You play to win the game!”
Those are the words of notoriously intense head coach Herman Edwards. Unfortunately, from a bettors’ perspective, most coaches don’t feel that way about the NFL preseason. August is a time to evaluate young players, finalize the depth chart and pray your star players stay healthy.
The trick to making money during the exhibition schedule is identifying coaches – like Edwards – who can’t stand losing even when there's nothing on the line.
The New York Jets betting won 15 of 21 preseason games and went 14-7 against the spread (ATS) during Edwards’s five-year tenure with the club. In his first season as the Kansas City Chiefs field boss, the team improved from 0-4 to 2-2.
Identifying win-a-holics like Edwards is a good start if you plan betting the preseason – even though most say you shouldn’t ... but what the hell do they know anyway?
Here’s a brief rundown of two teams that have a habit of winning during the second-stringers’ season, and another club that has a good chance of exceeding this year.
Playing in the media hub of North America can be stressful but the press can’t write anything negative about the way Tom Coughlin’s boys play in the preseason. The Giants won and covered all four games last summer, improving their record to 7-1 both straight up (SU) and against the spread over the last two years.
Coughlin has shown he’s not afraid to give his starters more time in the second preseason game than most of his colleagues, no doubt one of the reasons his team has been so dominant.
Bettors can count on America’s team early on. The Cowboys are 14-6 both SU and ATS since 2002 in warm-up contests. Former coach Bill Parcells, the coach of the team the last four years, has an intimidating, in-your-face presence – surely a reason Dallas has had so much early success.
The Big Tuna won’t be strolling the sidelines with looks of disgust, but new coach Wade Phillips will be anxious to make a good first impression for owner Jerry Jones.
Dallas plays the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos before things get serious. They then face the Houston Texans in their third contest (the game starters see most game time) and finish off with the Minnesota Vikings.
Expect a Dallas team able to walk away with another 3-1 preseason record.
This team scored a league-worst 12 offensive touchdowns last season, so the rookies and veterans each have something to prove. There’s a bounty of first-unit jobs up for grabs and plenty of bodies competing for those slots.
First-time head coach Lane Kiffin will be eager to impress an owner who employs the philosophy, “Just win, baby!”
The 32-year-old Kiffin has to command respect from a locker room full of players older than him. All of these factors should lead to purpose in preseason.
Don’t forget: before playing like a team that belonged in NFL Europe, Oakland went 4-1 (both SU and ATS) in exhibition games.
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Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds
Super Bowl XLIII, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers.Super Bowl XLIII is now set, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers will meet each other on February 1st in Tampa's Raymond James Stadium to battle it out for the coveted Lombardi Trophy. The game kicks off at 6:00pm ET on NBC with announcers Al Michaels and John Madden covering the on-field action. Super Bowl XLIII betting odds at online bookmaker MySportsbook.com have the Steelers listed as an early -6.5 against the spread favorite.Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds
Pittsburgh earned their passage to the big game by beating their division rival, the Baltimore Ravens, 23-14 in yesterday's AFC Championship Game. The Steelers jumped on Baltimore early, building a 13-0 first half lead, and never let up on their way to a fairly easy win. Although the Ravens did close to within two points in the fourth quarter, it never appeared as if they had enough offense to pull off the upset.
The Steelers dominating defense held Baltimore to a total of 198 yards while allowing them to convert just three third downs in 13 attempts. Pittsburgh also forced quarterback Joe Flacco into three interceptions, one of which safety Troy Polamalu returned fourty yards for a touchdown.
The Cardinals, by far the playoff team with the longest odds to reach Super Bowl XLIII, did so yesterday with a 32-25 upset of the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship. Arizona charged out of the gates and built a 24-6 halftime lead that had the Eagles venerable defense reeling. Quarterback Kurt Warner and wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald did most of the damage, connecting on three first half touchdowns.
Arizona, however, could not sustain their momentum and the Eagles took a 25-24 with 10:45 left to play in the fourth. The Cardinals, with the franchise's first Super Bowl appearance hanging in the balance, mounted a fourteen play, 72 yard touchdown drive that consumed 7:52 off the clock. Warner hit running back Tim Hightower on a short screen for the go-ahead, game clinching score that will forever live in Cardinal infamy.
MySportsbook.com's Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds:
Pittsburgh Steelers -6.5 (-110), Over 46.5 (-110), -260 (Money line)
Arizona Cardinals +6.5 (-110), Under 46.5 (-110), +220 (Money line)
Matt Foust won both of his conference championship plays yesterday and he is ready to serve up plenty of Super Bowl action. Each individual play costs $15.00, however, MySportsbook.com recommends purchasing Matt's NFL Playoff Package which includes all of Matt's Super Bowl props and picks from just $45.00.
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