05/11/2008 - Madrid, Spain (Soccer Betting) - Diego Forlan scored as Atletico Madrid edged Deportivo, 1-0, to pull even in points with third-place Barcelona, which blew a two-goal lead in a 3-2 loss to Mallorca on Sunday in the Spanish La Liga.
Atletico and Barcelona both have 64 points with one match to play. Sevilla is just three points back after a 2-0 win over Real Betis on Sunday. The scenario means Barcelona could - although it's very unlikely - drop all the way down to fifth if it loses next week.
Third and fourth place qualify for the Champions League, and fifth place drops to the UEFA Cup. Atletico and Barcelona need a point or for Sevilla not to win next week to secure Champions League spots. None of the three clubs can finish worse than fifth.
Thierry Henry and Samuel Eto'o scored to give Barcelona a two-goal advantage, but Borja Valero, Pierre Webo and Daniel Guiza scored in the final 23 minutes - the last in the 90th minute.
Guiza's goal was his 26th of the season, which leads the league. Luis Fabiano scored his 24th goal of the season to lead Sevilla to its win over Real Betis.
Real Madrid settled for a 2-2 draw with Real Zaragoza, which dropped into the last relegation spot with one game to play.
Ruud van Nistelrooy and Robinho had Real Madrid's goals. Sergio scored in the 86th to help Zaragoza earn one point. Zaragoza is one point behind Recreativo and Osasuna and two behind Real Valladolid entering the final week.
Osasuna edged Real Murcia 2-1 and Recreativo defeated Almeria 2-0 to move past Zaragoza. Real Valladolid tied Getafe 0-0.
Valencia beat Levante 5-1 to secure its survival, Villarreal defeated Espanyol 2-0 and Atletico Bilbao tied Racing 0-0 in the league's other games Sunday.
Racing is still sixth and holds the final UEFA cup berth, but Mallorca is just one point behind.
Next week, Valencia hosts Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid hosts Levante, Mallorca hosts Real Zaragoza, Real Murcia hosts Barcelona, Getafe hosts Real Betis, Racing hosts Osasuna, Recreativo hosts Real Valladolid, Sevilla hosts Athletic Bilbao, Espanyol hosts Almeria and Deportivo hosts Villarreal.
<< Cubs top D-Backs
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Daryle Ward's two-run pinch-hit double in
the bottom of the eighth inning lifted the Chicago Cubs over the Arizona
Diamondbacks, 6-4, to complete a three-game sweep at Wrigley Field.
The start of g
<< Crawford's HR carries Rays to sweep of Angels
St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carl Crawford blasted the go-ahead
three-run homer in the sixth inning, and the Tampa Bay Rays used 15 hits to
beat the Angels, 8-5, completing a three-game weekend sweep.
Crawford had three h
<< Braun leads Brew Crew past Cards
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan Braun's fourth career multi-homer
game helped the Milwaukee Brewers to a 5-3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals in
the third of a four-game set at Miller Park.
Jeff Suppan (2-2) gave up one run
<< Twellman returns to lead New England over Chivas
Carson, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Taylor Twellman scored less than 15 minutes into
his season debut Sunday and the New England Revolution defeated Chivas USA 2-1
in Major League Soccer.
Twellman missed New England's first seven matches followi
Flyers' Coburn struck in face by puck, leaves game >>
PITTSBURGH (AP) -Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Braydon Coburn was struck in the face with a shot by Pittsburgh's Hal Gill early in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals Sunday night.Gill took a shot from the left point that apparently deflected o
Holm's first career homer propels Giants past Phillies >>
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Steve Holm's first major league home
run in the bottom of the seventh inning drove in the winning run, as the San
Francisco Giants edged the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-3, in the rubber match at
AT&
Flyers D Coburn leaves after getting hit with puck >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Braydon
Coburn left in the first period of his team's playoff game against Pittsburgh
after the puck hit him in the face.
Just 1:51 into the second game of the Easte
Astros bring out brooms against Dodgers >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hunter Pence went 3-for-4, drove in two
runs and scored twice as the Houston Astros fought off Hiroki Kuroda's no-hit
bid and rallied for six runs in the eighth inning and an 8-5 win over the Los
Angeles
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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