D.C., Columbus clash for top spot in East
Soccer Betting Lines
07/03/2009 -
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - D.C. United coach Tom Soehn was excited to have
last weekend off in MLS and thinks the Eastern Conference leaders are refreshed
for Saturday's trip to the Columbus Crew, even though they continued defense of
their U.S. Open Cup title Tuesday.
United lost for just the second time in its last 12 games in its last MLS game,
3-0 at the Colorado Rapids, and used the off week to rest and defeated the PDL
Ocean City Barons City 2-0 on Tuesday.
"We need a break right now," Soehn said after the loss to Colorado. "That's the
point we're at. We need to get some guys rest, and we're going to use that time
to get everybody where they need to be."
Soehn didn't use his top squad for the U.S. Open Cup match, which will be key
this weekend with veteran Jaime Moreno out, Luciano Emilio questionable, Fred
probable, and Dejan Jakovic (Canada) and Santino Quaranta (U.S.) playing in the
Gold Cup.
D.C. (5-3-8) has just one win away from RFK Stadium but is 1-3-4 overall on the
road. United will try to maintain its lead in the Eastern Conference at Crew
Stadium, where Columbus (5-3-7) is unbeaten in seven matches this season.
The Crew are one of four unbeaten teams at home - United, Houston and Colorado
are the others - and can overtake United for the top spot this weekend with a
win.
Columbus is also hurt by the Gold Cup, with Chad Marshall - who scored the lone
goal in its 1-0 win over Red Bull New York last week - and Robbie Rogers absent
to play for the United States.
In addition, Adam Moffat is out through injury, but luckily the Crew welcomed
back right back Frankie Hejduk and goalie Will Hesmer last weekend. Midfielder
Emmanuel Ekpo was rested last week also, so he should be fresh.
Hejduk was playing for the first time in six games and for just the fourth time
all season because of injuries and U.S. national team duty.
"It's tough always getting back into the swing of things," Hejduk said. "You
have to pace yourself, I'm still trying to get my fitness back and I think I'm
about 90 percent."
Hesmer made his first appearance in 10 games and posted the Crew's second clean
sheet in four matches.
Columbus also played mid-week, and was eliminated from the U.S. Open Cup with a
penalty-kick loss to the Rochester Rhinos. The Crew are on a roll in MLS though
and despite the close scoreline against struggling New York, have just one loss
in their last 11 MLS games.
"I think [New York] came to Columbus to get a point. We created a couple of
chances especially with our set pieces," Columbus coach Robert Warzycha said.
"Basically in the end of the first half we got a goal which was huge for us. In
the second half we created a few chances and I have to say in the end of the
game I wasn't worried too much."
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Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.
As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.
Bet 2010 Super Bowl Odds
The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.
Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).
But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.
Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.
Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:
Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1
Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2
New York Giants - 9 - 2
Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).
Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.
So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.
And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.
They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.
Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.
But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.
Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.
Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.
Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.
Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?
Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.
In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.
Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.
Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.
The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.
The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.
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