Liverpool moves to within one point of United

Soccer Betting Lines

03/22/2009 - Liverpool, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Steven Gerrard scored three times to lead Liverpool to a resounding 5-0 win over Aston Villa at Anfield on Sunday, reducing Manchester United's lead over the Reds to just one point.

United still has a game in hand but they have lost their last two games, while Liverpool is flying with four straight wins by a combined 15-1 score.

Aston Villa's Champions League hopes take another huge hit with the loss and the Villains are now three points behind fourth-placed Arsenal after a five- game winless skid.

The game got off to a great start for the hosts as Gerrard's free kick was deflected off the crossbar by the head of Xabi Alonso and Dirk Kuyt smashed home the rebound after eight minutes.

John Carew almost had a response for Villa in the 25th minute when he turned a strong header on goal that forced Pepe Reina to make a great reaction save, but Liverpool went up two goals 10 minutes later.

Reina punted the ball long and the Villa defense failed to deal with it, allowing the ball to bounce once while Alberto Riera ran under it and ripped a volley off the underside of the crossbar and in.

The lead then grew to 3-0 before halftime as Riera got into the box and was brought down by Villa's Nigel Reo-Coker, allowing Gerrard to step to the penalty spot and send goalkeeper Brad Friedel the wrong way.

Things got worse shortly after the break when Gerrard found the bottom right corner from a free kick at the edge of the area, and Friedel's nightmare afternoon was complete when he brought down Fernando Torres inside the box, earning himself a straight red card.

Gerrard then completed his hat trick with another successful penalty kick, capping another comprehensive win for Liverpool.

Manchester City moved into 10th with a 1-0 win over 10-man Sunderland as George McCartney was sent off after 15 minutes, while Robinho missed a penalty kick five minutes later. However, City did eventually go ahead with Micah Richards scoring his first goal of the season in the 56th minute to win the game.

Sunday's other contest saw Wigan take over seventh place as Ben Watson scored in the 84th minute to give the Latics a 1-0 win over Hull City.

Roolingstone Soccer Betting News

<< Goya, 20, gets first European Tour win
Porto Santo, Portugal (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Estanislao Goya held off Callum Macaulay to win the Madeira Islands Open on Sunday, closing with a two-over 73 in the final round to claim his first European Tour victory. Goya, a 20-year-old

<< Naylor saves draw for Celtic
Dundee, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Celtic failed to take hold of the Scottish Premier League as the Hoops needed an 80th-minute goal from Lee Naylor to salvage a 2-2 draw with Dundee United at Tannadice Park on Sunday. Celtic could ha

<< Blackhawks activate RW Sharp
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Blackhawks have activated right wing Patrick Sharp off injured reserve. Sharp had missed Chicago's last 16 games with a lower body injury. He was hurt in a February 14 game against San Jose a

<< BU earns top seed for NCAA hockey tourney
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Boston University has been rewarded with the top overall seed for the 2009 NCAA hockey tournament. The Terriers (31-6-4) will be the top seed in the Northeast Regional, while the other No. 1 seeds f

<< Bruins host Devils in clash between East's top teams
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The top two teams in the Eastern Conference will clash today in Beantown, as the Boston Bruins welcome the New Jersey Devils for a showdown at TD Banknorth Garden. The Bruins leads the Northeast Division as well as the con

Twente closes gap to nine points >>
Enschede, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Twente revived its fading title hopes on Sunday with a 2-1 win over 10-man Groningen at Arke Stadion, while leaders AZ Alkmaar finished 0-0 with Feyenoord. Groningen was reduced to 10 men just 12

Not So Hard: Syracuse advances to Sweet 16 >>
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Eric Devendorf scored 21 points and Andy Rautins added 17, as Syracuse advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament with a 78-67 victory over Arizona State at American Airlines Arena. Rick Jackson chipped

Top-seeded Huskies cruise into second round >>
Storrs, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tina Charles piled up 32 points and 11 rebounds, leading the top-seeded Connecticut Huskies to a 104-65 rout over the 16th-seeded Vermont Catamounts in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Charles

Guerrero's double helps Hamburg keep pace >>
Gelsenkirchen, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jose Paolo Guerrero scored two goals in a four-minute span in the second half to lead Hamburg to a 2-1 win over Schalke at Veltins Arena on Sunday. Guerrero didn't crack the scoreboard until th

Biron, Flyers cool off Pens >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Martin Biron made 27 saves to lead the Philadelphia Flyers to a 3-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins in an important Eastern Conference playoff race matchup at the Igloo. Simon Gagne and S

Online Sportsbook Football Betting

The NFL preseason is approaching. Time for players, coaches and teams to turn over a new leaf. General managers have hired some new coaches, while coaches have added some offensive and defensive assistants to try and improve things. Here’s a look at some changes to look for in the preseason.

New York Jets: The Jets were one of the surprise teams in the NFL last season, making the playoffs under hard-driving first-year coach Eric Mangini. Mangini rebuilt the offensive line with rookies D'Brickashaw Ferguson (the No. 4 pick in the 2007 Draft) and Ohio State center (the 29th pick in the first round). This season he upgraded the defense with rookie linebacker David Harris (Michigan) while the secondary picked up a much needed top-notch corner in Pitt CB Darrelle Revis (No. 14 overall).

The Jets have added balance to the offense for QB Chad Pennington with RB Thomas Jones, essentially stolen from the Bears. He will upgrade a New York ground game that was 20th in rushing with a weak 3.5 yards per carry. They have their first true feature back since Curtis Martin. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer prefers ball control, like his father Marty. In preseason, behind Pennington you’ll see second-year QB Kellen Clemens and mobile newcomer QB Marques Tuiasosopo.

Jacksonville Jaguars: The heat is on Jack Del Rio in Jacksonville as the Jaguars flopped last season despite a ton of talent. Keep in mind that under Del Rio the Jaguars have been outstanding in preseason with a 12-4 SU, 11-5 ATS August mark. online football betting Their defense is loaded, it’s the offense that has been stuck in first gear the last few years.

Enter a new offensive coordinator in Dirk Koetter, the former Boise State and Arizona State pass-happy coach. He will try and upgrade a passing game that ranked 24th last season. Del Rio has criticized wide receivers and Matt Jones this summer, both of whom have battled injuries. It will be interesting to watch the “new” Jaguars passing game in preseason.

Arizona Cardinals: Word out of Arizona is that the players like new coach Ken Whisenhunt, who was the Steelers offensive coordinator last year. We think of Arizona as all-passing because their running game has been awful of late because of a poor offensive line. However, keep an eye on the running game in preseason as they’ve made a lot of changes.

The new coach brings in Russ Grimm to coach the offensive line (Grimm did a marvelous job building the Steelers line). They took Penn State OT Levi Jones in the first round and signed two offensive linemen, Mike Gandy and Al Johnson, to provide depth. Reggie Wells was moved from right tackle to left guard and they want more speed out of the offensive line for pulling and traps, a Pittsburgh staple under Bill Cowher.

Atlanta Falcons: While all the attention has been focused on QB Mike Vick’s off-field problems, new coach Bobby Petrino is revamping the Falcons from an all-running team to a more balanced one. Petrino likes the experience of backup QB Joey Harrington and he has veteran backup Chris Redman, who used to play for Petrino at Louisville and knows his offenses better than anyone. Petrino wants Vick to be more of a pocket passer.

The addition of FB Ovie Mughelli is a sign Petrino wants a power rushing attack behind a physical fullback and newcomer WR Joe Horn should upgrade what was a below average wideout corps. Petrino is changing their old zone-blocking scheme to a more traditional in-line blocking scheme and the offensive line is bigger. Rookie DE Jamaal Anderson was grabbed in the first round and the secondary got younger with former Auburn cornerback David Irons, who the Falcons think was a steal as a sixth-round pick.

Cleveland Browns: The 2007 Browns look like a double-edged sword. There was the excitement of the offseason, trading for RB Jamel Lewis, upgrading the offensive line with Wisconsin’s Joe Thomas (the No. 2 pick in the draft) and free agent LG Eric Steinbach, then trading for Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn when he fell to No. 22. GM Phil Savage and head coach Romeo Crennel feel they have a talented, balanced offense with these new pieces, plus TE >Kellen Winslow and WR Braylon Edwards.

However, were these moves made in desperation? And were they foolish ones? The Browns gave up their 2008 first-round pick for Quinn and we all know QBs take time to develop. And even first-round QBs can be busts (Joey Harrington, Akili Smith). We also don’t know if the offensive line is that much improved (31st in rushing in 2007) and they did nothing to improve a defense that was awful against the run (142 yds pg allowed).

The Browns have a new offensive coordinator in Rob Chudzinski. This is a young offense and Quinn looked tentative, indecisive and inaccurate early in camp. Crennel will play Charlie Frye, Quinn and Derek Anderson in preseason. And there is a mixed bag for rookie QBs receiving significant starts: Tim Couch (14), Kerry Collins (13), Ben Roethlisberger (13), Vince Young (13), Joey Harrington (12), Matt Leinart (11) and Kyle Boller (nine). While all the focus will be on the Browns new-look offense, I’m more concerned with the defense.

Carolina Panthers: Coach Jon Fox loves the ground game, but Carolina has made some interesting changes for 2007. Fox fired offensive coordinator Dan Henning and brings in Jeff Davidson to run the offense. Davidson has brought in zone-blocking schemes to the Panther offense, a dramatic change for a system that's been built around a power-running style.

In zone-blocking, offensive linemen are responsible for blocking any defender who appears in their zone, instead of focusing on one defender. The Broncos and Falcons have had success with the system, which features smaller, more athletic offensive linemen and can create running lanes on the inside and outside. Keep an eye in preseason on how Carolina adjusts as it will take time to learn the system. Fox has been one of the top coaches in preseason, with a 15-5 SU, 12-7-1 ATS August record.

Dallas Cowboys: WR Terrell Owens is still here, but QB Drew Bledsoe and Bill Parcells are gone. New head coach Wade Phillips takes over, replacing Parcells. He ran the Chargers defense last season. Phillips was chosen by teary-eyed owner Jerry Jones partly because he is one of the best 3-4 coaches in football and the Cowboys have loaded up on players for that scheme.

Remember that Phillips was blitz-happy with the Chargers last season and early reports out of the Dallas camp have mentioned how the Cowboys have been blitzing a lot, a departure from Parcells. The theme of the 2007 Dallas defense appears to be one of attack.

MySportsbook is considered one of the finest football sportsbooks according to several surveys performed by independent industry analysts considering such factors as payout accuracy and timeliness, overall quality of website, and bettor satisfaction.

MySportsbook is a large company with strong financial backing. Considered the best sportsbook for betting football online You will find their customer service is second to none and their web site is extremely user friendly and easy-to-use. All major professional sports games are available. Once you signup with MySportsbook, you may never use another online sportsbook again.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your nfl football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.