Inter Milan Leads Points Down Serie

Soccer Betting Lines

Manchester United has lost two straight Premier League contests to help Tottenham climb back into the title race, entering the weekend tied with Spurs on 45 points apiece. United will aim to keep the pressure on City as the Red Devils host Bolton at Old Trafford on Saturday.

 

Chelsea has its hands full with a Saturday clash against Sunderland at Stamford Bridge. Under new manager Martin O'Neill, the Black Cats have won four of six Premier League games to improve to 24 points on the year. The Blues, meanwhile, have taken just six points from their last five games and are quickly fading away from the title picture.

 

Wolfsburg, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wolfsburg signed Switzerland defender Ricardo Rodriguez from FC Zurich on Friday on a 4 1/2-year contract. Rodriguez, 19, becomes the 10th new signing for Wolfsburg manager Felix Magath this winter. He debuted for Switzerland last year, and has already appeared in four matches.

 

Paris, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carlo Ancelotti has led three European giants in Italy and England, and the Italian now has the task of developing a fourth in France. Ancelotti was named PSG's new coach late last month, and he inherits a team at the top of the Ligue 1 standings after the first half of the season. But, the former Juventus, AC Milan and Chelsea boss needs to produce better results.

 

Kombouare was under pressure after the spending spree - and every result, even wins - were scrutinized by the club's free-spending owners.

 

Ancelotti will make his Ligue 1 debut Saturday at the Parc des Princes against Toulouse, when a win - and a convincing one - will be expected. But Ancelotti, who has changed the team's formation, knows nothing will come easy.

 

"We have to work hard to improve and I don't know how long that will take," he said.

 

Ancelotti acknowledged he might have to "change things for the next game," but no concrete decisions were disclosed before the fixture against seventh-place Toulouse.

 

PSG had already been eliminated from the Europa League, so the French Cup and Ligue 1 title are both targets for Ancelotti. The first step is a victory this week, or his tenure will be off to a rocky start.

 

In Saturday's other matches, Ajaccio hosts Auxerre, Brest hosts Nice, Bordeaux hosts Valenciennes, Caen hosts Rennes, Dijon hosts Evian, Nancy hosts Lorient, and St Etienne hosts Sochaux.

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Football Betting

NFL Football Betting Online

The 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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