West Ham tries to overcome Bolton disappointment

Soccer Betting Lines

03/12/2010 - London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Last weekend's 2-1 loss at home against fellow relegation-strugglers Bolton did not sit well with West Ham manager Gianfranco Zola.

But he is calling on his team to recover and pull off a stunning win at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea on Saturday, which would move the Hammers closer to safety.

West Ham is currently three points above the bottom three with 27 points, and Zola has said that he believes 37 or 38 points will be enough to ensure survival.

With that in mind, last weekend's loss is even more frustrating because in the eyes of the manager they gave away a great chance at adding to their point total, something that will be difficult to do with away games at Chelsea and Arsenal the next two weeks.

"We have to pick ourselves up and go again this week as we have a massive game to come at Chelsea," Zola told the club's official website.

"I told the players that we lost three points that we should have won and we need to get them back as soon as possible. I don't care that we are playing Chelsea on Saturday or Arsenal after that. We are going to go to Stamford Bridge and fight for our lives. I have no doubt about that."

Zola's men have lost three of their last five games with two more tough matches in the near future, but one thing that will help their cause on Saturday is a goalkeeping crisis for Blues boss Carlo Ancelotti.

With first-choice keeper Petr Cech sidelined by a calf injury, Ancelotti no doubt was disappointed to see backup netminder Hilario suffer an abductor injury in last Sunday's 2-0 win over Stoke City in an FA Cup quarterfinal.

Those injuries have forced Chelsea to turn to Ross Turnbull and Rhys Taylor in goal, with that duo likely to have to play against Inter Milan in the Champions League on Tuesday.

Chelsea has lost two of its last three games in the Premiership, which has dropped the club two points behind Manchester United in the league table.

Ancelotti's men have a game in hand on United, but they must return to winning ways with Arsenal also carrying 61 points into this weekend's games.

The Gunners will visit the KC Stadium to face second-from-the-bottom Hull City, while fourth-placed Tottenham hosts Blackburn.

Manchester City is level on 49 points with Spurs and they visit Sunderland, Birmingham entertains Everton, Wigan travels to Bolton with both sides in the bottom half of the league, Wolverhampton and Burnley meet up at Turf Moor and Aston Villa invades Stoke City.

Sporsillustrated Soccer Betting News

<< Cards bolster O-line with Hadnot, Claxton
Tempe, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Arizona Cardinals announced Friday they have agreed to terms on contracts with offensive linemen Rex Hadnot and Ben Claxton. Hadnot's is a three-year pact and Claxton's a one-year deal. Financial t

<< Eagles bring back WR Baskett
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Eagles announced Friday they have signed wide receiver Hank Baskett to a one-year contract. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Baskett spent his first four years in th

<< Karl to miss remainder of Denver road trip
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Denver Nuggets coach George Karl will miss the remaining three games of the team's road trip as he continues his treatment for neck and throat cancer. Karl missed the opening game of the trip on Wednesd

<< Bengals make it official with Bryant
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cincinnati Bengals announced the signings of wide receivers Antonio Bryant and Chris Davis Friday. Terms of the contracts were not released, but Bryant's deal is believed to be for $28 million

<< George Karl to miss 3 more road games
DENVER (AP) -George Karl will skip the last three games on the Denver Nuggets' road trip as he adjusts to a feeding tube that was placed into his stomach as part of his cancer treatment.The Nuggets coach has already missed two games since being diag

Two-Year-Old Champ Returns to the Races >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In what could be the sign of the times, Lookin At Lucky, last year's Eclipse Award-winning two-year-old, will have just two prep races prior to the Kentucky Derby. If the Bob Baffert-trained colt winds up c

Losing starts at the top >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - March is when college basketball vaults to the top of the sports scene. It also happens to be when I really start to pay attention to the college game with an eye on June's draft. Conventional wisdom says

Owls top Bonnies to start quest for A-10 three-peat >>
Atlantic City, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Juan Fernandez scored 17 points and doled out seven assists, as No. 17 Temple advanced to the semifinals of the Atlantic 10 Tournament with a solid 69-51 victory against St. Bonaventure at Boardwalk Hall.

Duke uses late surge to fend off Virginia in ACC quarters >>
Greensboro, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kyle Singler scored 18 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, as fourth-ranked Duke pulled away late to earn a 57-46 victory over Virginia in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament at Greensboro Coliseum. Jon Sc

Turner's heave beats buzzer as Buckeyes survive Michigan >>
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ohio State star Evan Turner buried a desperation three-pointer with no time on the clock to lift the fifth-ranked Buckeyes to a thrilling 69-68 victory over rival Michigan in the quarter

Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com

Additional sports lines can be found at: www.Sportsbooks.com

To bet on March Madness games this online sportsbook accepts credit cards.


Online Sportsbook Football Betting

LaDainian Tomlinson Favorite to be 2007 NFL MVP

With the first NFL preseason game less than two weeks away, it is time to start thinking about football once again at MySportsbook.com. Reigning NFL MVP LaDainian Tomlinson is currently the 5-1 co-favorite to win the award again alongside Super Bowl MVP Peyton Manning.

This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone after his all out assault on the record books last season. For those suffering from amnesia or were under a rock last football season, all L.T. did last season was set the NFL record for rushing touchdowns (28), total touchdowns (31) and total points scored (186) to go along with his 1815 rushing yards and 508 receiving yards. At 6-1, Tom Brady is next in line which isn’t surprising considering all of the firepower the Pats added over the off-season. With the addition of Randy Moss, Donte Stallworth and Wes Welker; it would be quite difficult for Brady’s numbers not to improve from last years 3529 yards and 24 touchdowns. There appears to be some decent value in Drew Bees at 10-1 considering he probably would have won the award last year if it wasn’t for L.T.’s record breaking season.

There is no reason to think the Saints will come back to earth this season and playing in a weak NFC, they should have as good a shot as any to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl. At 15-1, Donovan McNabb could also be worth a look. Remember, many felt he was the MVP of the first half of the season before going down with a season ending injury. Reportedly, he is in great shape and well ahead of schedule to return to form. Also, he could have some added motivation to put up big numbers this season with the Eagles using their first pick in the draft on McNabb’s future successor Kevin Kolb.

Be sure to log on to MySportsbook.com to check out the complete odds for NFL MVP as well as all of the new football related futures. With the popularity of NFL futures, these betting lines will be sure to change as the money comes in; get the early sports lines now.

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 football gambling needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.