Bordeaux maintains edge over Montpellier

Soccer Betting Lines

03/07/2010 - Bordeaux, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alberto Costa scored in stoppage time, but Montpellier wasted a chance to take over the lead in France's Ligue 1, because Bordeaux goalie Cedric Carrasso saved two penalties in a 1-1 tie Sunday at the Stade Jacques Chaban-Delmas.

Bordeaux, which played the final 58 minutes with 10 men, was saved by Carrasso and his two first-half penalty stops. He denied Costa in the 33rd, and Victor Montano in the 42nd.

Marouane Chamakh fired Bordeaux, which has played two fewer matches, into the lead in the 59th but Montpellier escaped with a point when Costa converted off a free kick in the final seconds.

Bordeaux leads the league on goal differential. Lyon is just two points behind in third.

Michael Ciani conceded the first penalty kick for a foul that earned him a red card, but Costa's left-footed attempt was saved in the middle by Carrasso.

Matthieu Chalme handed Montpellier another chance before halftime when he was called for a handball, but Montano's effort was saved at the bottom right.

Chamakh scored off a right-footed shot in the 59th to the bottom left, and the hosts were in position to earn all three points despite being short-handed.

Montpellier, which was just promoted to Ligue 1 this season, managed to escape with a point when Costa curled a left-footed shot into the lower-right corner.

Mamadou Niang scored his Ligue 1-high 15th goal but Marseille tied Lorient 1-1 at the Stade Velodrome. Marseille is fourth, just one point behind third-place Lyon, and three behind Bordeaux and Montpellier. Lorient is ninth.

Modibo Maiga scored five minutes into the second half and Le Mans earned a 1-1 tie at Grenoble in a battle of bottom-three clubs. Le Mans is five points away from safety, while Grenoble is 12 points away from safety in last place.

Wwwjsonline Soccer Betting News

<< Kurt Busch prevails in a wild one at Atlanta
Hampton, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kurt Busch avoided tire issues and held off the field in a second green-white-checkered finish to win the Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway for the second year in a row. Busch squeezed his way from

<< Canucks rally in third to beat Preds
Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jannik Hansen scored the game-winner in the third, as the Vancouver Canucks rallied for a 4-2 win over the Nashville Predators. Henrik Sedin had a goal and an assist, while Alexander Edler and

<< UConn crushes Syracuse to tie record
Hartford, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tina Charles tied a career-high with 34 points, as top-ranked Connecticut clobbered Syracuse, 77-41, in the quarterfinals of the Big East Tournament. It's the 70th consecutive win for the

<< Inter held to scoreless draw by Genoa
Milan, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Inter Milan was held to a 0-0 draw at San Siro by Genoa on Sunday, the third time in its last four Serie A matches is has not scored. Inter has tied four of its last five matches in Italy's top flight, with th

<< Pate wins in Bogota
Bogota, Colombia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former PGA Tour winner Steve Pate parred the second playoff hole Sunday to defeat Aaron Watkins and win the inaugural Bogota Open. Pate, the third-round leader, only managed an even-par 71 in the final rou

Pens down Bruins, who lose Savard >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Evgeni Malkin scored early in the third period to lift the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 2-1 win over the Boston Bruins at Mellon Arena. Pascal Dupuis also tallied for the Penguins, who have won four straig

Villegas earns five-shot win at Honda Classic >>
Palm Beach Gardens, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Camilo Villegas captured his third PGA Tour win on Sunday, leaving the rest of the field in the dust with a closing two-under 68 at the Honda Classic. The 28-year-old Colombian posted a 13-

Iginla's hat trick helps Flames beat Wild >>
St. Paul, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jarome Iginla recorded his second hat trick of the season, as the Calgary Flames handled the Minnesota Wild, 5-2, in a battle between Northwest Division foes at the XCel Energy Center. Iginla also dished out a

Magic survive Kobe, Lakers to win fifth straight >>
Orlando, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Vince Carter scored a team-high 25 points, and Dwight Howard added 15 points and 16 rebounds, as the Orlando Magic escaped with a 96-94 win over the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers in a rematch of last

NFL suspends free agent DT Ferguson >>
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The National Football League has reportedly suspended defensive tackle Jason Ferguson for the first eight games of the 2010 season for a violation of the league's performance enhancing drug program

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)

The 2008 NFL betting lines season is almost upon us! If you like to bet on the NFL, you are in the best possible place for online betting. The sportsbook has NFL odds up on a ton of futures, and you will also find NFL lines up for early games as well. Join sportbook today and we'll help guide you right through to Super Bowl XLIII and beyond!

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