Injury-riddled England faces must win against Israel
Soccer Betting Lines
03/23/2007 - Jerusalem, Israel (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Saturday's Group E qualifier at Ramat Gan Stadium on Saturday will go a long way in determining the EURO 2008 fate of both England and Israel.
The two club's are level on points with seven after four games, three points back of group-leaders Croatia and one point adrift of second-placed Russia. Embattled England manager Steve McClaren brings his patchwork squad into the match on a four-game winless streak that includes two losses and two draws.
The Three Lions have not found the back of the net with great frequency in qualifying, scoring six goals in their four matches. Wayne Rooney will be counted on heavily once again to shoulder the scoring load, with untested Andrew Johnson joining him up top.
The England defense has yielded just two goals in qualifying thus far, but is facing a rash of injuries that will force McClaren to shake things up in the back. The club will be sound in the middle with regulars John Terry and Rio Ferdinand, but will have to push Jamie Carragher out wide. The other spot will be filled most likely by Phil Neville, whose bother Gary is not available because of injury.
McClaren will get a boost in the midfield as Owen Hargreaves returns from a broken leg, and the boss will look to young winger Aaron Lennon to provide pace out wide in his first start. With a trip to last-placed Andorra on Wednesday coming up, taking six points from this week's matches is vital to England's chances of qualifying.
Israel will be led by England-based midfielder Yossi Benayoun, and fellow Premiership player Tal Ben Haim, who will be expected to help anchor a back line that has struggled at times this campaign. Although a win would be ideal, a draw is a more realistic result for the home side, who would still be in contention with that result.
The top two sides in Group E are also in action on Saturday with leaders Croatia hosting Macedonia and Russia visiting an Estonia side that has yet to record a point.
There is a close race shaping up in Group A, with the top five teams separated by just four points. Serbia has a chance to move to the top of the group with a win at Kazakhstan, but Poland, Portugal and Belgium are there just behind them if they slip up. Poland will host Azerbaijan on Saturday in an attempt to slide into the top two, while a key matchup between Portugal and Belgium highlights the Group A slate. Portugal reached the finals of the EURO 2004 competition and advanced to the semifinals of the 2006 World Cup. However, success in qualifying has not come easily to the club, as they have won two games in their first four. A showdown with Serbia looms on Wednesday, and a pair of wins would get Portugal back to where they belong, near the top of the table.
Scotland has been the big surprise in Group B, where they currently hold a slight edge on heavyweights France and Italy. Scotland can maintain that cushion with a winnable match against Georgia on Saturday, while France, who is level on points with the Scots, visits Lithuania. The other contest in the group features World Cup participants Ukraine traveling to the Faroe Islands.
Group C is one of the softest groups in qualification and has been dominated so far by Turkey and Greece. Those two clubs get together for a top-of-the- table clash at Karaiskakis Stadium on Saturday. Both teams have won their first three games without conceding a goal, and the winner of Saturday's game will walk away with control of the group. Norway is sitting just three points behind the top two and will meet Bosnia-Herzegovina, while Moldova and Malta continue to try to collect points at the bottom.
Germany and the Czech Republic are the clear favorites to come out of Group D and both clubs have backed up that claim. They are currently level on points atop the group and meet on Saturday to decide who will take control. Ireland is still holding out hope for a qualifying spot and must pick up three points against Wales to keep in contention. Cyprus hosts Slovakia in the group's other contest.
Group F features two games on Saturday with the biggest contest being Spain's must-win game against Denmark. The Spaniards have secured just three points through three games and must win to give themselves a chance at qualifying. Denmark, meanwhile has gotten off to a good start with seven points through three games. The Danes are just five points behind group leaders Sweden, and have a game in hand. A win on Saturday against Spain would put Denmark in great position. The other fixture pits last-placed Liechtenstein, who is without a point, against Northern Ireland.
A large clash between Group G leaders the Netherlands and third-placed Belgium takes top billing in that group. The Dutch have taken 10 points from four games and hold a three-point edge on their opponents, who have played one less game. Slovenia and Albania have struggled so far and meet at Qemal Stafa Stadium, while last-placed Luxembourg hosts a Belarus team that is still hoping to grab a spot.
Irving, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Dallas Cowboys on Friday signed free agent safety Ken Hamlin. No further details of the signing have been released. Hamlin, who will be entering his fifth season, spent his first four years in the NFL i
<< Sacramento Monarchs (WNBA)
Acquired LaTangela Atkinson from the Indiana Fever in exchange for a 2008 second-round draft pick.
<< Sacramento Monarchs
Acquired LaTangela Atkinson from the Indiana Fever in exchange for a 2008 second-round draft pick.
<< Warriors need to make their move
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Golden State (32-37) is just one-half game behind the Los
Angeles Clippers for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western
Conference. It will play seven of its final 13 games at home.
The Warriors have n
<< Gophers officially name Tubby Smith coach
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tubby Smith was named the new head
coach at the University of Minnesota on Friday.
The 55-year-old Smith replaces Jim Molinari, who became the interim head
coach of Minnesota when Dan Mo
Santa Cruz, Madeira, Portugal (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Argentina's Daniel Vancsik fired a six-under 66 Friday to grab a one-stroke lead at the halfway point of the Madeira Islands Open. Vancsik completed 36 holes at 10-under-par 134. Chris
Jets sign QB Tuiasosopo >>
Hempstead, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Jets signed quarterback
Marques Tuiasosopo on Friday.
The 28-year-old Tuiasosopo has spent all of his six years in the league in
Oakland, where he has completed 48 of 88 passes for 5
'07 Preview: D.C. adds offensive weapons to already potent attack >>
Washington, D.C. (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Major League Soccer's D.C. United were the
best team in the regular season during the 2006 season but ended up losing in
the Eastern Conference Final Series to the New England Revolution because it
couldn'
Falcons add Redman >>
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Just one day after trading quarterback Matt
Schaub to the Houston Texans, the Atlanta Falcons signed veteran quarterback
Chris Redman on Friday.
The 6-foot-2, 223-pound Redman was a third-round draft p
Seahawks re-sign Engram >>
Kirkland, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Seattle Seahawks re-signed wide receiver
Bobby Engram to a multi-year contract on Friday.
The 11-year veteran originally signed with Seattle in 2001 after spending the
first five seasons of his career
COLLEGE FOOTBALL BETTING
NCAA Football Betting : USC's reward: Top spot in Top 25NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.
No. 1 always seems to fit USC.
Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.
Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.
Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.
"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."
Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.
"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."
The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.
"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."
Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.
"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"
USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.
"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."
While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.
As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.
But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.
Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.
The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.
The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.
The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.
No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.
Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.
Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.
Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.
The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.
South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.
The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.
Get free Sports Betting lines RSS feeds from top rated online sportsbook MySportsbook.com