Colorado hosts Dallas in crucial wild card clash

Soccer Betting Lines

09/30/2011 - Commerce City, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Rapids have proven to be a streaky team over the past few months, stringing together an unbeaten streak followed by its current winless streak.

From July 20 to Aug. 20, Colorado was unbeaten in its six regular season matches, going 4-0-2 in that stretch.

But a 2-0 loss to the Chicago Fire on Aug. 27 has forced a recent struggle for the Rapids, who are winless in its last five matches.

Most of the Colorado first team skipped its midweek CONCACAF Champions League clash at Isidro Metapan, as head coach Gary Smith placed a great deal of importance on the club's MLS tilt against FC Dallas on Saturday.

Smith has drawn criticism by choosing not to travel to El Salvador for the midweek match, and as if a 3-1 road win in the CCL wasn't enough redemption, he defended his choice to stay home and prepare for Colorado's Western Conference rival.

"My job is to bring some stimulus to offer the opportunity at the weekend to be at our best, and it's not an easy time to rejuvenate the group," he told MLSsoccer.com. "This group [in CCL] have had that to focus on this week, while the group that was left behind will now be helped by [the result] to hopefully get the job done at the weekend."

The Rapids are meeting Dallas at a favorable time, as the 2010 MLS Cup runners-up have lost three straight in regular season play.

FC Dallas also suffered a humbling 5-3 defeat to Tauro FC in a midweek CCL tilt, finishing the match with just nine men after two red cards.

"I just thought that the game from the start was very bizarre," Dallas head coach Schellas Hyndman told the club's website. "There were a lot of things going on that I think disrupted our team, and at the end of the day we take a defeat - a greater defeat than we've ever had."

FC Dallas holds the first wild card spot in MLS with 46 points on the season, just in front of Colorado by four points.

When the two clubs met on April 8 at Pizza Hut Park, a David Ferreira brace led Dallas past Colorado by a score of 3-0. Ugo Ihemelu provided the additional goal.

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Football Betting

NFL Football Betting Online

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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