Posted on September 30th, 2008 by JJ Duque
Here is a list of the fixtures and betting picks of the upcoming football matches for Matchday 2 of the UEFA Champions League on October 1.
CFR Cluj-Napoca vs Chelsea. Chelsea may seem to have the disadvantage going into unfamiliar territory at the home pitch of CFR Cluj-Napoca, but they are the strong favorites to win against CFR Cluj-Napoca. Chelsea are currently at the top of the English Premier League standings, and have yet to lose a match this season. Chelsea has stars like John Terry, Frank Lampard, Michael Ballack, Nicolas Anelka and Joe Cole that can certainly provide a win on Matchday 2 of the UEFA Champions League. However, CFR Cluj-Napoca cannot be taken lightly as they were able to score an impressive away win against Roma during Matchday 1 of the UEFA Champions League with CFR player Emmanuel Culio scoring 2 goals and is one of the top scorers of the UEFA Champions League thus far.
Bordeaux vs AS Roma. Bordeaux and Roma will be looking for their first win in the UEFA Champions League. Roma seem to be better on paper, especially since Bordeaux got thrashed by Chelsea 4-0. Roma might have difficulties with the home pitch advantage favoring Bordeaux, but its stars like Christian Panucci, Francesco Totti, Philippe Mexes, John Arne Riise and Julio Baptista make them a real threat in winning over Bordeaux despite playing away.
Anorthosis Famaqusta vs Panathinaikos. Anorthosis Famaqusta fared well in their first UEFA Champions League match, getting a scoreless away draw against Werder Bremen while Panathinaikos lost out to Inter Milan 2-0 even with the home pitch advantage. Panathinaikos are slight favorites, but the home pitch advantage should make a difference for Anorthosis Famaqusta who are hungry for their first ever UEFA Champions League victory.
Inter Milan vs Werder Bremen.Inter Milan certainly look like they will be dominant over Werder Bremen, especially when playing at their home pitch in the San Siro. Of course, Inter Milan has an impressive roster which includes the likes of Adriano, Hernan Crespo, Julio Cruz, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Patrick Vieira, Luis Figo and Christian Chivu.
Shakhtar Donetsk vs Barcelona. Barcelona are the clear favorites to win against Shakhtar Donetsk despite not having the home pitch advantage against Shakhtar Donetsk. Shakhtar Donetsk defeated FC Basel 2-1 while Barcelona beat Sporting Lisbon 3-1. Barcelona have the luxury of soccer stars like Thierry Henry, Samuel Eto’o, Bojan Krkic, Lionel Messi and Andres Iniesta to help them book a win against Shakthar Donetsk.
Liverpool vs PSV Eindhoven. PSV Eindhoven will find it difficult to defeat Liverpool at Anfield Park, the home of Liverpool FC. Liverpool came out with a 2-1 victory over Marseille in matchday 1 of the UEFA Champions League, and have also been successful in their English Premier League campaign tied with Chelsea at first place in the standings. PSV Eindhoven suffered a 3-0 home loss against Atletico Madrid. Liverpool stars like Fernando Torres, Dirk Kuyt, Steven Gerrard, Ryan Babel and Xabi Alonso will surely be at the top of their game in order to beat out PSV Eindhoven.
Atletico Madrid vs Marseille. Atletico Madrid are on a roaring start to their UEFA Champions League campaign as they beat out PSV Eindhoven 3-0 as visitors in the Philips Stadion. Marseille weren’t as successful, losing out 2-1 at home against Liverpool. Atletico Madrid will surely make the most of the home pitch advantage to book their second win in a row, and Atletico Madrid player Sergio Aguero will be looking to add some more goals to keep him among the top scorers of the UEFA Champions League tournament along with the likes of Steven Gerrard of Liverpool, Emmanuel Culio of CFR Cluj and Alberto Aquilani of Fiorentina, who each have 2 goals each so far.
Sporting Lisbon vs FC Basel. Sporting Lisbon are the favorites to win against FC Basel as they will surely exploit the home pitch advantage to earn a win over FC Basel. Sporting Lisbon will rely heavily on key players like Tonel, Helder Postiga and Adiren Silva to put them past FC Basel.
Posted on September 30th, 2008 by JJ Duque
Here is a list of the fixtures and betting picks of the upcoming football matches for Matchday 2 of the UEFA Champions League on September 30.
Zenit St Petersburg vs Real Madrid. Real Madrid are favorites to win against Zenit St Petersburg, but Real Madrid haven’t been very impressive when playing away from their home pitch at the Santiago Bernabeu. Real Madrid might seem shaky at the Petrovski Stadium, especially without the likes of Wesley Sneijder and Fernando Gago in the line-up due to injuries. Meanwhile, Zenit St Petersburg are at full strength.
AaB vs Manchester United. Manchester United are favored to win over AaB at the Aalborg Stadion, but Manchester United have yet to show their championship form that won them the English Premier League and UEFA Champions League titles last season. Cristiano Ronaldo is back and playing well, with the likes of Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov and Carlos Tevez able to find the goals expected of them.
Villareal vs Celtic. Villareal will have the home pitch advantage at the Estadio El Madrigal against Celtic, and both teams will hope to book a win after getting scoreless draws on their first match of the UEFA Champions League. It won’t be a surprise if this match ends up with another draw.
Fiorentina vs Steaua Bucuresti. Fiorentina drew against Lyon in their first match of the UEFA Champions League while Steaua Bucuresti lost to Bayern Munich. Fiorentina will have the home pitch advantage, and will be strong favorites to defeat Steaua Bucuresti with the likes of Alberto Gilardino capable of scoring goals for Fiorentina.
Bayern Munich vs Lyon. German Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich are favorites to win over French Ligue 1 champions Lyon at the Bayern Munich home pitch at the Allianz-Arena. Of course, Lyon won’t be that easy to beat as star striker Karim Benzema has been racking up goals for Lyon. Bayern Munich stars Philipp Lamm, Franck Ribery, Luca Toni, Miroslav Klose, Luckas Podolski and Bastian Schweinsteiger will definitely be a hard squad to defeat.
Arsenal vs FC Porto. Arsenal are favorites to win against FC Porto at the Arsenal home pitch in the Emirates Stadium, especially with the likes of Robin van Persie, Emmanuel Adebayor, William Gallas and Cesc Fabregas in the Arsenal line-up. However, Arsenal suffered an unlikely loss as visitors to Hull City in the English Premier League and it might bring down their confidence going up against FC Porto. FC Porto - with the likes of Hulk and Raul Meireles - haven’t suffered a loss yet this season in the Portuguese La Liga, and have come up with draws when away. Arsenal vs FC Porto will indeed be a close match, and could end up with a draw.
Fenerbahce vs Dynamo Kiev. Dynamo Kiev will be looking for their first win against Fenerbahce, who lost 3-0 against FC Porto in their first match of the UEFA Champions League. Fenerbahce will be hoping to bounce back to keep their hopes alive. Dynamo Kiev had an impressive run during the qualifying rounds of the UEFA Champions League to reach this part of tournament in the group stages. Fenerbahce have not been consistent in the Turkish Super Lig, and have yet to gain their bearings to do well in the UEFA Champions League. Hopefully, the home pitch advantage will favor Fenerbahce, who have booked wins when playing at home.
BATE Borisov vs Juventus. Juventus are the clear favorites to win against BATE Borisov even with the disadvantage of being visitors to the Horodskiy Stadium. Juventus has a very talented roster that includes Alessandro del Piero, Tiago, Mohamed Sissoko, Cristiano Zanetti and David Trezeguet.
Posted on September 30th, 2008 by JJ Duque
Defending Spanish La Liga champions Real Madrid will be visitors at the home pitch of Russian Premier League champions Zenit St Petersburg for Matchday 2 of the UEFA Champions League as they hope to earn another 3 points to remain at the top of the Group H standings.
Real Madrid defeated BATE Borisov 2-0 in their first Champions League match while Zenit St Petersburg suffered a 1-0 away loss to Juventus on their first Champions League match.
Real Madrid, of course, have a very solid line-up, which includes the likes of Ruud van Nistelrooy, Raul Gonzalez, Sergio Ramos, Fabio Cannavaro, Iker Casillas, Arjen Robben, Gonzalo Higuain and Guti.
Zenit St Petersburg have star striker Andrei Arshavin hoping to make a strong impact on the game against Real Madrid, but will need the full strength and cooperation of the entire squad should they hope for a favorable result against Real Madrid.
Real Madrid are the favorites to top Group H along with Juventus, but Zenit St Petersburg feel that they can be a top contender to advance to the round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League. Juventus may have squeaked by Zenit St Petersburg 1-0 with a very late goal by Alessandro del Piero, but their excellent performance in their recent football matches of the Russian Premier League have boosted their confidence entering their match against Real Madrid.
Posted on September 30th, 2008 by JJ Duque
A UFC middleweight bout between
Michael Bisping vs Chris Leben will be the main event of UFC 89, which will be held in Birmingham, England this coming October 18, 2008.
Michael Bisping has an impressive 16-1-1 record, winning his last 2 UFC fights by TKO, punching out Jason Day and striking out Charles McCarthy. Michael Bisping’s only loss in his UFC career was during UFC 78, when he lost a split decision to Rashad Evans. Had Michael Bisping won that match against Rashad Evans, perhaps he could’ve been the top contender to go up against Chuck Liddell and maybe even be the one to score the KO against the iceman. But, of course, that didn’t happen, and Michael Bisping will have to go through Chris Leben.
Chris Leben has an 18-4 MMA record, going 3-3 in his last 6 fights. He got KOed by Anderson Silva in UFC Ultimate Fight Night 5. He got submitted by Jason Macdonald in UFC 66. Then, he lost a unanimous decision against Kalib Starnes in UFC 71. However, he’s won 2 in a row, including a very impressive KO against Terry Martin in UFC Fight Night 11 and a really impressive TKO against Alessio Sakara in UFC 82, winning him also the KO of the night honors.
Michael Bisping and Chris Leben were scheduled to fight on UFC 85, but Chris Leben was arrested for an earlier charge of driving under the influence of alcohol, and was sentenced to 35 days in jail for violating his probation, and thus cancelled the fight.
If Chris Leben can remain sober, then perhaps he might have a chance in defeating Michael Bisping, who is in awesome shape.
MMA and UFC oddsmakers have put the odds in favor of Michael Bisping to win over Chris Leben.
Find out all the odds on all UFC 89 fights with the UFC 89 Sportsbook.
Posted on September 30th, 2008 by JJ Duque
4 weeks of NFL football have passed, and while I missed giving betting picks for the NFL Week 4, I woud’ve been able to tell you to bet on
Buffalo Bills and
Tennessee Titans.
As it stands, the Buffalo Bills are at the top of the AFC East with a perfect 4-0 record. Likewise, the Tennessee Titans are also 4-0, leading the AFC South.
Early AFC favorites were the New England Patriots, but a serious injury suffered by star quarterback and NFL MVP Tom Brady will keep him out of the entire season, and making it more difficult for the Pats to be the solid force they were predicted to be.
In the NFC, defending Super Bowl champions New York Giants have a perfect 3-0 record, and got a bye on Week 4 to leave their record untainted.
Early NFC favorites Dallas Cowboys suffered a dramatic loss to the W ashington Redskins during Week 4, and go to 3-1 just behind the Washington Redskins in the NFC East who are also 3-1, but lead by point difference.
A quick look at the team stats of the NFL show that the Denver Broncos have the number one ranked offense, and the Buffalo Bills are not even among the top 10. Even the Tennessee Titans are ranked even further down. However, despite what the stats site about passing yards per game and rushing yards per game, what counts the most is the number on the win column, and the Buffalo Bills and Tennessee Titans have a good standing there.
In fact, the stat that counts the most is in scoring, and the Buffalo Bills and Tennessee Titans are ranked in the top 5 of the AFC in scoring.
In the upcoming Week 5 of the NFL, the Buffalo Bills will try to remain unbeaten when they visit the Arizona Cardinals while the Tennessee Titans host the Baltimore Ravens.
Find out the latest odds, betting lines, NFL game prop bets and NFL player prop bets with the NFL Sportsbook.
Posted on September 30th, 2008 by JJ Duque
With 6 weeks of
English Premier League football played,
Chelsea lead the premiership standings with 14 points and a favorable goal difference over
Liverpool, who also have 14 points.
Aston Villa stepped up to the third spot of the standings after Arsenal dropped to the 4th spot with a loss against rookie Premier League club Hull City.
In fact, the biggest surprise in this season’s English Premier League is the unexpected success of Hull City, who were promoted this season to the Premier League from the 2nd Division. Hull City have a 3-2-1 record and currently sit at the 6th spot of the standings.
Back-to-back Premier League champions Manchester United are looking for their 3rd consecutive Premier League title, but have to get their bearings together as they sit at 11th in the standings. Perhaps things might improve as Cristiano Ronaldo returns to the roster, but there are still several teams to overtake on their way to the top of the standings.
Upcoming fixtures and betting picks for Week 7 of the English Premier League include:
Posted on September 18th, 2008 by JJ Duque
New York Jets at San Diego Chargers -8.5
The San Diego Chargers (0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS) are being given a lot of respect by NFL oddsmakers, who consider the Chargers as 8.5-point favorites to win against the New York Jets, who have a 1-1 record straight up and are 1-1 against the spread.
Maybe the oddsmakers are looking at the fact that the San Diego Chargers can score touchdowns and put points on the board as they average 31.0 points per game as opposed to the New York Jets, who average 15.0 points per game for their offense.
However, the New York Jets have a solid defense that has only allowed an average of 16.5 points per game, and has one of the best rush defenses, only allowing an average of 76.5 yards rushing against their defense.
The New York Jets definitely have a lot of the stats going for them, but the one stand out stat that the San Diego Chargers enjoy is their 293.5 yards average for passing. Even though the San Diego Chargers have lost both games to start their NFL season, the good news is that San Diego Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers has been consistent in passing, and was the leading performer among quarterbacks in Week 2, completing 21 of 33 passes for 377 yards, including 3 TD passes.
New York Jets quarterback Brett Favre hasn’t put up the same MVP numbers that we’ve seen in his previous years as a Green Bay Packer, but of course, the presence of Brett Favre as one of the best quarterbacks of the NFL cannot be taken lightly. Of course, the New York Jets offensive line better get things on track as they have already allowed 5 sacks to get to Brett Favre, and it’s not certain if the “old” Brett Favre can take much punishment.
The San Diego Chargers will hope to exploit the home field advantage at the Qualcomm Stadium. However, it looks like the New York Jets might be able to hold off the San Diego Chargers and book a win against the spread.