United braces for hostile Everton crowd
Soccer Betting Lines
09/10/2010 - Liverpool, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manchester United has had plenty of success against Everton at Goodison Park over the years, but United manager Sir Alex Ferguson never looks forward to making the trip.
"It's always a nightmare going there," Ferguson told the club's official website. "It's a hard place to go. The atmosphere is fantastic and we've had to deal with it for many years."
United will have to deal with it again on Saturday when they face a Toffees side with just one point from its first three games, but the crowd will have some extra venom to direct at striker Wayne Rooney.
Rooney left Everton in 2004 to join United, so he is never the most popular figure upon his return. But revelations about his private life and claims that he met a prostitute while his wife Coleen was pregnant will only add to the usual abuse that Rooney normally faces.
There are reports that Ferguson may drop Rooney from his starting 11 in order to keep him from the barrage of abuse he is sure to endure, but the United boss was unwilling to discuss the issue at his pre-match press conference on Friday.
United has claimed seven points from its first three games and the club could see the return of defender Rio Ferdinand to the lineup after he declared himself to be fit on Friday.
The club has a Champions League match with Rangers on Tuesday before hosting Liverpool next Sunday, so Ferguson will likely be cautious with Ferdinand's return.
Everton beat United, 3-1, in the last meeting between the two sides at Goodison Park, but manager David Moyes will have to do without midfielder Jack Rodwell for the next three months after it was determined on Friday that he will be sidelined with ankle ligament damage.
Everton has scored only one goal in its first three games this season, so Moyes will be looking for signs of improvement in front of goal.
Chelsea has gotten off to a flying start with three wins from its first three games, and the club will face former manager Avram Grant on Saturday when the Blues travel to Upton Park to face a West Ham side that has lost its first three games.
Arsenal entertains Bolton, Fulham tries for its first win of the season against Wolverhampton after three successive draws, Manchester City entertains Blackburn, Blackpool travels to Newcastle, Tottenham duo William Gallas and Rafael van der Vaart will likely make their debuts for Spurs against West Bromwich, while Wigan tries to build on its surprising win over Tottenham when the Latics host Sunderland.
The lone match on Sunday features Birmingham hosting Liverpool, while Aston Villa visits Stoke City on Monday without new manager Gerard Houllier, who is still under contract with the French Football Federation.
Normal, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Defensive back Bo Flowers, an Illinois transfer, was cleared by the NCAA to compete immediately for the Illinois State Redbirds, the team's athletic department announced. Flowers, a graduate student at Illinois
<< Playoff Pickups
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It's playoff time in the world of fantasy
baseball and if your lineup needs a little boost because some of your veterans
haven't performed up to par, then you should be scouring the waiver wire.
Fortunate
<< Bills place Mitchell on IR, sign Ayodele
Orchard Park, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Buffalo Bills have placed linebacker
Kawika Mitchell on injured reserve because of a foot injury and signed veteran
linebacker Akin Ayodele to fill the roster spot.
Mitchell was hurt in practice on
<< Giants try to further close gap on West-leading Padres
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The battle for National League West supremacy between the
San Francisco Giants and San Diego Padres resumes this evening with the second
installment of a four-game series from Petco Park.
The Giants drew first blood with T
<< Rockies aiming to remain red-hot in opener with D-Backs
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Rockies have once again caught fire in
September to get themselves back into the postseason races. Tonight they'll go
for an eighth straight win when they open a three-game set with the Arizona
Diamondbacks at Co
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Villanova is reportedly evaluating the prospect of moving up to the highest level of college football. The Philadelphia Daily News reports that the reigning Football Championship Subdivision champio
Lille hopes for spark in derby match with Lens >>
Lens, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With four successive draws to start the Ligue
1 season, Lille's Ludovic Obraniak is hoping that Saturday's derby match with
Lens at the Felix-Bollaert Stadium will be enough to help his team raise its
level o
Gaming: Ride the Sun Belt train for another week >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After the first Five-Star play of the
season proved victorious (Arkansas State plus the points at Auburn), let's roll
with another Sun Belt Conference squad, this time against a Big East foe.
Florida Int
Milan ready to unveil Ibrahimovic against Cesena >>
Cesena, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - AC Milan made a big statement in its 4-0
opening-weekend win over Lecce, while defending champions Inter Milan and
runners-up, Roma, both were held to 0-0 draws.
Now, Milan is set to add to its big
South Carolina CB Culliver cleared >>
Columbia, SC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - South Carolina senior cornerback Chris
Culliver will be back on the field when the Gamecocks host 22nd-ranked Georgia
on Saturday.
Culliver, who earned Second-Team All-SEC honors as a junior safety
Football Betting
NFL Football Betting OnlineThe San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.
Thursday, August 21
NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37
NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road
In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.
Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):
* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games
Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.
Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.
Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.
That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.
Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.
CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)
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