Barcelona won LaLiga by 14 points last season, but that bald statistic does not tell even half the story as Atletico Madrid pushed the Catalan giants incredibly hard.
The title hinged on Atletico s trip to Camp Nou in early March, when a typically brilliant Lionel Messi free-kick earned Barcelona a 1-0 victory that put them in pole position for the league.
Diego Simeone thereafter switched his focus to the Europa League and Antoine Griezmann scored twice in a 3-0 defeat of Marseille in the final to justify that decision in some style.
Atletico who downed Real Madrid 4-2 in the UEFA Super Cup look poised to offer Barca their strongest competition again this term, with their city rivals adapting to a new era without Cristiano Ronaldo and Zinedine Zidane.
B…
Group A is the only one to contain two previous World Cup winners, France (1998) and Uruguay (1930 and 1950).
Mexico s best run in the finals saw them reach the quarter-finals in 1970 and 1986, which means that South Africa face a tough task if they re to escape Group A.
France are favourites on the Group A Index spread (25pts to the winner, 10pts to runner-up and 5pts to third-place), currently at 15-16.5pts. Although the French are ranked seventh in the Fifa World Rankings, buyers of their group win index will be concerned with their current form.
Qualification for South Africa came by an already infamous goal to get past the Irish and sellers of France s group index will also have noted that the side recently failed to score against the Spanish.
An…
Manchester United were the big losers of matchday six in the Premier League.
Tottenham piled the pressure on Erik ten Hag as they cruised to a 3-0 victory at Old Trafford, where Bruno Fernandes was sent off.
Spurs generated a huge expected goals (xG) figure of 4.59 on Sunday – the third-highest United have allowed a Premier League opponent since such records began in 2009.
Only versus Arsenal in December 2017 (a 3-1 win) and against Manchester City in October 2011 (a 6-1 loss at Old Trafford), have United given up a greater quality of chances in a Premier League match, so it is fair to say Spurs were deserving victors.
But, was that the case across the board this weekend? Who were the unlucky, and lucky, teams?
Lucky winners: Everton
Ev…
River Plate have retained their 2018 Copa Libertadores title after arch-rivals Boca Juniors appeal to have them disqualified was turned down by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
River claimed the title by defeating Boca 5-3 on aggregate after extra time in the second leg of the final in December 2018.
That match was played at the Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid after Boca s team bus was attacked en route to El Monumental for the initially scheduled return encounter.
After being shut down by South American confederation CONMEBOL, Boca appealed to CAS in an attempt to have River disqualified from the 2018 Libertadores over the behaviour of their supporters.
However, CAS declared that punishment would have been too harsh and instead ordered Marcelo Galla…
Ian Holloway left Blackpool to become Crystal Palace’s new manager, on this day in 2012.
Holloway signed a four-and-a-half-year contract to fill the vacant position at Selhurst Park, with the Eagles having allowed Dougie Freedman to join Bolton in October.
The move ended Holloway’s three-and-a-half-year stay with Blackpool, where he oversaw their promotion to the Premier League in 2010.
Holloway was unveiled to the Palace crowd at half-time of their Championship game with Blackburn.
A 2-0 win took the Eagles third in the table and Holloway was delighted with what he was seeing when he spoke to the crowd.
“How lucky are we to see a team like this? It’s fantastic,” he said. “I think I have got goosebumps on the back of my neck to get an …
The Dallas Cowboys are coming off a statement win last Sunday night and host the Denver Broncos as big NFL betting favorites in Week 9.
The Cowboys, who knocked off Minnesota without starting quarterback Dak Prescott in Week 8, are 10-point favorites this Sunday, expecting to have Prescott under center against a Broncos team that just traded away the face of the franchise. That has this contest lining up as a motivational mismatch, with Dallas pushing for the postseason and Denver possibly packing it in.
Here are our free NFL picks and predictions for Broncos at Cowboys on November 7.
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The Denver Broncos will visit the Seattle Seahawks for the opening Monday Night Football game of the 2022 season, or as some have been calling it, the Russell Wilson “revenge” game.
After 10 seasons in Seattle, Wilson has moved on to the Mile High City. Whether it was because the Emerald City squad wasn’t offering him enough green, or he just needed a change of scenery, Wilson is now favored to go in and beat Pete Carroll and his troops in front of the “12th Man” at Lumen Field.
Oddsmakers are of course offering a slew of prop plays involving Wilson in this game, and we’ve taken a long look at each of them. Here are our three favorite Russell Wilson prop picks for Monday, September 12.
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The first game of a brand-new NFL season is like a blank canvas. It sets the tone for the rest of the year, presenting endless possibilities and opportunities for teams to showcase their skills and make a lasting impression.
That’s especially true tonight, as football fans could be in for a masterpiece when the Detroit Lions take on the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium. TNF odds opened with the Chiefs as 6.5-point favorites with the highest Week 1 odds total at 54.5.
Patrick Mahomes’ artistry will surely shine for KC, but who will step up for Detroit? I’m putting my money on rookie running back Jahmyr Gibbs, who appears poised to eclipse his projected receiving yard total, even after sharps moved the NFL odds.
Here are my…
Packing on the points has meant very little to NFL underdogs this season. Even with the NFL odds giving them a buffer, teams getting the points have covered just 47% of the time heading into Week 11.
This is a drastic change in betting patterns compared to recent seasons, with NFL underdogs covering at a 57% clip in the opening 10 weeks of action over the previous four years (2019-2022). There are only six teams with winning ATS records as underdogs and three of those teams have been pups just once.
In terms of reliable underdog bets, the Pittsburgh Steelers (4-2 ATS), Houston Texans (4-2 ATS), and Minnesota Vikings (3-2 ATS) stand out from the crowd. But Houston and Minnesota are now among the hotter teams in the NFL and the betting markets are taking the bar…
The beauty of betting on football is that there is no difference between cashing a bet on a superstar or household name and cashing a bet on someone deeper down the depth chart. And with this being the Super Bowl odds, that is especially the case given that markets and offerings are infinitely wider and larger.
And while Justin Watson is no Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Isaiah Pacheco, or even Rashee Rice, he still is someone worth talking about. After all, he finished third on the Chiefs in both targets and receiving yards.
So strap in and continue reading for free Super Bowl prop picks and predictions for the Justin Watson odds in the Super Bowl on Sunday, February 11. And don’t forget to read our full 49ers vs. Chiefs picks preview for in-depth analysis an…