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07/27/2010 - Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manchester United has not been very impressive in its two exhibitions against Major League Soccer opponents, but veteran Ryan Giggs believes the English club "will be up for the challenge" against the MLS All-Stars on Wednesday night.
United started its North American preseason tour with a 3-1 win over Scottish rival Celtic but only edged the expansion Philadelphia Union, 1-0, and lost to the Kansas City Wizards, 2-1.
The English giants battle an MLS All-Star squad likely void of a number of its top players, including Landon Donovan, at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas at 8:30 p.m. (ET), but Giggs doesn't expect any less of a challenge.
"When you play for United, every game teams are motivated to beat you," Giggs said. "We have seen that in the first two games against American teams already and we don't expect anything different."
MLS All-Star coach Bruce Arena has major selection issues ahead of the match, as five MLS First XI players are likely going to be unavailable. Donovan and the rest of the Los Angeles Galaxy play a CONCACAF Champions League match one day before the All-Star game.
Donovan, MLS leading scorer Edson Buddle, Omar Gonzalez and Donovan Ricketts, who all play for Arena in L.A., will likely be unavailable if they participate against the Puerto Rico Islanders.
Toronto FC captain Dwayne De Rosario, third in MLS with eight goals, may play in the CONCACAF tournament as well and is another player Arena may not be able to use who was selected to the First XI.
"It's difficult to say," All-Star assistant Dominic Kinnear said. "You can't put the players' health at risk. I know the fans voted the players in and the fans want to see them play, but as far as the time on the field they spend, it's a big decision for Bruce."
Arena will still have a solid team, regardless of whether those five play, but will suffer offensively without United States star Donovan and Buddle. Donovan is first in MLS with 11 assists and has teamed with Buddle to lead L.A. to the best record in the league.
United boss Sir Alex Ferguson is also without a few of his top guns, including star striker Wayne Rooney and center back Rio Ferdinand.
Ferguson has veterans Giggs and Paul Scholes available, among others, and will also likely debut offseason addition Javier Hernandez.
Hernandez was signed just before the World Cup and he had a strong performance for Mexico in South Africa with two goals. He just joined United on Monday but Ferguson hopes to be able to use his new player for the first time.
"We want to try to integrate him into the team as quickly as possible," said Ferguson.
MLS has a great record against English opponents in the All-Star game, beating Chelsea, Fulham and West Ham, before falling to Everton in penalty kicks after a draw last season.
"It will be a tough challenge," Giggs said.
<< Report: Bengals sign Terrell Owens
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A report on the Cincinnati Bengals'
website cites a league source as saying the team has agreed to terms on a one-
year contract with wide receiver Terrell Owens.
The source indicated Owens is expected to
<< MLS names inactive All-Stars
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Major League Soccer announced the final seven
All-Stars on Tuesday, although the additions are inactive for Wednesday's game
against Manchester United at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas.
Goalies Jimmy Niels
<< Marlins release Robertson
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Florida Marlins released pitcher Nate
Robertson a week after designating him for assignment.
Robertson allowed eight runs (seven earned) in five innings and took the
loss in last Tuesday's game
<< Patriots place WR Welker on unable to perform list
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) -The New England Patriots say they have placed wide receiver Wes Welker on the active/physically unable to perform list.Welker, who has made a strong recovery from knee surgery in February, could come off the list at any time,
Rockies activate Tulowitzki from DL >>
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Rockies activated shortstop
Troy Tulowitzki from the 15-day disabled list on Tuesday.
The 25-year-old has missed the last 33 games with a fractured left wrist he
sustained on June 17 when
Phillies' Rollins to miss several days >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Jimmy
Rollins may miss several days while recovering from a foot injury.
Rollins fouled a pitch from Colorado's Jason Hammel off his left foot early
in Monday's 5-4
Philadelphia's Seger named WPS Player of Week >>
West Chester, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Philadelphia Independence midfielder
Caroline Seger was named the Women's Professional Soccer Player of the Week
for Week 15 on Tuesday.
Seger tied the WPS record for assists in a match with thre
Pats place Welker, two others on active PUP list >>
Foxboro, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New England Patriots on Tuesday placed
wide receiver Wes Welker and two others on the active/physically unable to
perform list.
Welker, who sustained season-ending ACL and MCL injuries to his
In any football or basketball game (the main sports that use point spreads) there are two teams playing against each other.
Those teams, though, are rarely exactly evenly matched – meaning that typically one team has a better chance than the other to win the game. If bettors were allowed to bet on who was simply going to win the game, smart ones would obviously bet on the better team (likely winning more than 50% of the time in the process).
If winning were that easy the Las Vegas and online sportsbooks would stop taking any bets! This is where the point spread comes in: the basic function of the point spread is to balance the likelihood of each team “winning” by adjusting the final score by the point spread. After this adjustment is made you get the Against The Spread result (ATS result for short).
Let’s look at Super Bowl XXXIX, New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles. Most people believed the defending champ Patriots to be the better team – so if betting were simply based upon which team would win the game, an uneven majority of people would have wagered on New England. But, by using the point spread, the bookmakers adjusted the terms of the bet, evening the proposition so about half the people believed the Pats to be the smart bet, while the other half considered Philly to be the smart bet.
New England Patriots -7 vs. Philadelphia Eagles
The better team, called the Favorite, is expected to win the game and must “give” or “lay” points to the weaker team. The favorite is listed with a minus sign and the number of points they are favored by (e.g., New England -7)
In the case of our example, New England must not only win the game, but they must win by more than 7 points for Pats bettors to have a winning ATS result. An Eagles bettor wins his bet either if:
There was also the possibility that the final score could land exactly on the spread number (for example, the Pats winning 28-21 when -7), which is called a “push” or “no action” and a refund is then issued to bettors of both teams.
The same game with the same point spread can be considered from the weaker team’s perspective: The Underdog (Philly in the case of our example) is not expected to win the game and online football betting thus receives or “gets” points given by the stronger team. When a game is stated from the underdog’s perspective the team is listed with a plus sign and the number of points they are underdogs by:
Philadelphia Eagles +7 vs. New England Patriots
Keep in mind that Philadelphia +7 and New England -7 is the same point spread on the same game, simply stated differently. The first is from the underdog’s perspective; the later is from the favorite’s.
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
Let’s look at the actual result of Super Bowl XXXIX: New England 24 Philadelphia 21
The favorite, New England, won the game but not by more than the point spread they were favored by (7), so the ATS result was a LOSS for Pats bettors.
Looking at it from the underdog’s perspective, Philly did not win the game, but they lost by less than the point spread (7), so the ATS result was a WIN for Eagle bettors.
Mathematically considered, 24 for the favorite Pats minus 7 equals 17, which is less than the 20 the Eagles scored, so the underdog Eagles win the ATS result (or you could figure 20 plus 7 equals 27 for the Eagles, which is more than 24 for the Pats).
Emily’s boyfriend understood the point spread and wagered $100 on the Eagles at +7. The Eagles may not have gotten a Super Bowl ring, but since they won the ATS result Emily’s boyfriend cashed his bet – giving him money to take her out to a nice dinner.
And now hopefully you understand how to read point spreads, putting you one step closer to joining the fun of sports betting.
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