Fire try to gain ground in playoff race vs. Crew

Soccer Betting Lines

09/07/2007 - Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Fire will travel to Columbus to take on the Crew in a Major League Soccer fixture Saturday, pitting two playoff bubble teams against each other.

The Fire are currently two points back of the Crew for the eighth and final playoff spot, but have a game in hand on their Eastern Conference rivals. Colorado and Columbus are currently tied with 28 points after 23 fixtures for the last playoff spot, putting even greater importance on Saturday's fixture.

Both teams are coming off disappointing results a week ago, with the Fire dropping a 1-0 contest at Red Bull New York and the Crew giving up a late goal at home to draw with Colorado 1-1.

The Fire lost after Juan Pablo Angel scored a late winner for New York in a defensive battle at Giants Stadium last Saturday.

"It is extremely disappointing that at the end we limited Juan (Pablo Angel) to one chance and it was a goal and we also limited (Dane) Richards to one cross the whole game. They didn't have many goal scoring opportunities so it was disappointing," Chicago coach Juan Carlos Osorio said. "We know that we can play better offensively and we need to create more chances and just keep working. Hopefully, when we play them back at our place (on Sept. 15), it will be a different game."

The Crew, on the other hand, scored an early goal by Eddie Gaven before Conor Casey tied it with a header six minutes from time for the Rapids.

"It is obviously disappointing when you give up a goal late like that, that we did," Crew coach Sigi Schmid said. "We were absorbing a lot of pressure which wasn't the right thing for us to do at that point in the game, either. We weren't relieving ourselves of that. They ended up getting a point. There was one (opportunity) when you have the lead, you have to take it all the way and finish it off."

"We definitely should have had three points out of this game," Gaven said. "This isn't the first time this year we have given up late goals and it cost us points. This time of year, it is definitely tough when you are giving up points late like that and giving up goals late, and dropping points because the games really matter so much more at this time of year. It is definitely something we are going to work on this week in training and make sure that it doesn't happen any more this year."

The Crew are in desperate need of a victory after going winless in their previous five. After the Chicago fixture, the Crew have another important game against a team just in front of them - Kansas City - before winnable fixtures at Toronto FC and against Los Angeles to close out the month.

"You hesitate to call games 'must win' games but our time is running short," the Crew's Rusty Pierce said. "If we don't get wins we are not going to be in the picture at the end. We cannot rely on other teams to sneak us in the backdoor, we need to start winning some games."

The Fire are in a similar situation, but with a tougher schedule through September. After the Columbus fixture, Chicago plays New York, Dallas, D.C. United and CD Chivas USA.

"We just have to win games, keep progressing and keep believing in what we're doing," Osorio said. "We'll take one game at a time and hopefully the next two games, we can get some good results and get back in the race."

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Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

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MySportsbook.com refunds all bets on Oakland, Green Bay and Tampa Bay from NFL week one.

(September 14) – Week one of NFL action saw three teams go scoreless for the first time since 1977.  Another four were unable to get a touchdown and almost half of the underdogs covered the spread. Those three teams saved bettors at MySportsbook.com from losing out completely, thanks to the company’s unique NFL Shutout Rule -- which ensures that if the team you backed goes scoreless, your wager is refunded.

Sportsbook refunded tens of thousands of dollars to customers who bet on Oakland, Green Bay and Tampa Bay, the three teams that stunk up the field so badly that their fans and backers never had a chance to get up from their couches and cheer.  In the spirit of the low scoring start to the season, odds makers at the world’s largest online sportsbook and casino have set odds on how many total shutouts there will be this season. 

MySportsbook.com has posted updated sports betting lines for week two of the season.  Ben Roethlisberger’s health status is still questionable, so Willie Parker will try to lead Pittsburgh again as they travel to Jacksonville as a one point favorite.  After beating up on his little brother last week, Peyton Manning will look to lead the Colts to victory against Houston. Indianapolis is a whopping 13.5 favorite in the match-up.

Seattle, last year’s highest scoring team, showed the power of their defense with their gritty 9-6 win in Motown over the ravenous Lions.  They take their act back home to the comforts of Qwest Field where they will face the resurgent Arizona Cardinals.  The Seahawks are favored by a touchdown. 

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