09/05/2008 - Bridgeview, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Red Bulls and the Chicago Fire renew their Eastern Conference rivalry in Major League Soccer action on Saturday at Toyota Park.
A lot has changed for both teams since the Fire went to New York and dominated the Red Bulls, 5-1, on May 25. Since then there have been numerous roster changes as well as a change in the fortunes of the clubs.
At that time the Fire were tops in the league, but have since fallen to third in the East by going 4-5-4. At that time the Red Bulls were last in the East, but have since climbed into a tie for fourth, just three back of the Fire and eight back of league-leading Columbus. New York has gone 5-4-5 since that May 25 game and currently holds the last spot in the 2008 MLS Cup playoffs.
"Obviously, it's a very important game for us," New York coach Juan Carlos Osorio said. "Three points separates the two clubs at the moment. It's getting really tight up in the table, so this is a great opportunity to shorten that distance and hopefully, we manage to do that this weekend."
The Red Bulls (8-6-8) are currently on a six-game unbeaten streak, with a three-game winning streak snapped with a scoreless draw at D.C. United - the team New York is tied with in the East - last week.
"I think we did enough to win the three points but in a way we let them off the hook," Osorio said after the D.C. game. "But I'm very pleased to have a clean sheet and contained a very good team going forward, especially at home. A clean sheet will prove to be very good for us and for what we're trying to do here."
The Fire (10-7-5) are coming off a 2-1 loss at Houston in which they were completely dominated by the Dynamo's suffocating defense.
"We know Houston is a very good team," Fire coach Denis Hamlett said. "We knew that they were going to come out and compete. They're at home, and they're a team that's been on a good roll lately, so we felt that it was a big challenge for us to come down here and try to get some points. I was happy with our group here. We competed until the end."
Both teams will be missing key players on Saturday, with Red Bulls midfielder Jorge Rojas and defender Andrew Boyens on international duty. Defender Kevin Goldthwaite will also miss the game due to yellow card accumulation. The Fire will be without midfielders Cuauhtemoc Blanco and Marco Papa and defender Gonzalo Segares because of international duty and forward Patrick Nyarko because of injury.
"I can only say that Cuauhtemoc is a very good player, very important player for them," Osorio said of the Mexican international missing the game. "But at the same token, we're missing Jorge Rojas so I would rather concentrate how to replace our player and try to get out of our squad the most we have as opposed to try to second-guess what they will try to do."
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While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.
Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.
The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.
What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.
These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.
College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.
Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.
Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.
Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.
I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.
Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.
It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.
As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.
Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.
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