Crew, Wiz to battle for playoff lives

Soccer Betting Lines

09/14/2007 - Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Saturday's Major League Soccer fixture between the Kansas City Wizards and the Columbus Crew features two struggling team battling for their playoff lives.

The Wizards have just one win in their last six league fixtures thanks to a surprisingly inconsistent offense over that stretch. The Wiz had established themselves as one of the premier offensive clubs in the league through the first two-thirds of the season, but aside from their 3-2 win over Chicago on Aug. 22, have failed to score more than one goal in a game since July 29. That includes being shut out three times during that span.

As bad as the Wizards are struggling, the Crew are in worse shape. Columbus has failed to earn a win since July 22 while also being shut out three times during their current six-game winless streak. To make matters worse, leading scorer and the teams maestro from the midfield - Guillermo Barros Schelotto - is suspended for Saturday's game because of yellow card accumulation. Also suspended is defender Frankie Hejduk, meaning the team will be weakened in the back and on the flanks as well.

Because of both teams' respective struggles, they are battling just to make the '07 MLS Cup playoffs, with the Crew currently tied for ninth - on the outside looking in at the eight team playoff field - and the Wizards hanging onto the seventh spot, just five points clear of the Crew.

"It's not easy. We've made it difficult for ourselves, but the one thing we're not going to do is give up, and mathematically, things are still there and the way this league is, in a week things can turn around," Crew coach Sigi Schmid said. "So, now it's a matter of us going to Kansas City and Toronto (on Sept. 22) over the next two games, and every game is the same for us, whether home or away, we just have to get maximum points every time we step on the field, and hope that others start knocking each other off."

The Crew are coming off a 1-0 loss to the team ahead of them in the eight spot - the Chicago Fire - last weekend. Paulo Wanchope scored the late game-winner to vault the Fire past Columbus in the Eastern table.

"Obviously, this was an important game," Schmid said of the loss. "It was a pivotal game. I can't fault our guys for their effort; I thought their effort was good. I thought we created more on the run of the play, but at the end of the day, they got the goal. Obviously, it's big points today and it bounced their way."

Kansas City had a better outcome in its last fixture, a 1-1 draw at defending MLS Cup champions and Western table leading Houston.

"I thought it was a good overall performance," Curt Onalfo said. "I thought the first half was very good. I loved the fact that we created all the way and got ourselves a goal in the 45th minute."

Leading scorer Eddie Johnson got the team's lone goal, and after a slumping during the current streak, has now scored in consecutive games, giving the Wiz hope. It's no secret that when Johnson is on his games, the Wizards are one of the most dangerous teams in the league.

The Wizards have also been giving up their fair share of goals in recent fixtures, but veteran goalkeeper Kevin Hartman, who is nine saves away from 1,000 in his MLS career, thinks that will be corrected as the season winds down.

"I really believe the goalkeepers who have the most success are those who find themselves peaking at the right times of the year and really allowing their team to rally behind them," he said. "I really want to make sure that once the playoffs start, that that's when I'm playing my best soccer."

After Saturday's fixture Kansas City faces a tough challenge at CD Chivas USA next Saturday while Columbus travels to Toronto the same day.

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Betting Football

NFL Football Betting Online

Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?

I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.

Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.

There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.

Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.

For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.

A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.

The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.

Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.

So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.

Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.

“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.

Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.

“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.

It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.

Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.

The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.

“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.

“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”

Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.

The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.

“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”

Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?

“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”

Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.