Bayern visits Stuttgart to highlight big weekend

Soccer Betting Lines

11/09/2007 - Stuttgart, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Defending champion Stuttgart has started to regain some of its championship form, but will be put to a big test when it hosts unbeaten Bayern Munich in one of three big Bundesliga matches Saturday.

Stuttgart, which sits a disappointing 11th through 12 matches, has won two in a row to show some life after a terrible start. But while victories over Bayer Leverkusen and Nurnberg have sparked hopes of a resurgence, a poor result this weekend will erase those thoughts.

In addition to the showdown in Stuttgart, second-place Hamburg hosts seventh- place Schalke with a chance to move into the top spot and third-place Werder Bremen hosts fourth-place Karlsruher.

Stuttgart and Bayern Munich are both coming off mid-week European games, with Stuttgart losing its fourth straight in the Champions League and Bayern being held to a surprising draw against Bolton in the UEFA Cup.

Stuttgart has two Champions League games remaining, but has no chance to make the knockout round after Wednesday's 4-2 loss to Lyon.

Although Stuttgart wasted a coveted spot in Europe's top club event, at least now the Bundesliga champions can completely focus on the league.

All Stuttgart (5-6-1) has to do to prove its going to be heard from again this season is run its winning streak to three matches Saturday.

"We're surely underdogs, but if all players go into the match having recovered well (from the Champions League), then we will field a team that is capable of beating Bayern," Stuttgart manager Armin Veh said.

Bayern led its UEFA Cup game thanks to two of goals from Lukas Podolski, but Bolton equalized in the final 10 minutes for a 2-2 tie. Although Bayern is in little danger of failing to advance in the event, the result was its third straight draw.

Bayern (8-0-4) also tied its last two games in the Bundesliga, 0-0 to Borussia Dortmund and Eintracht.

But unless Bayern is tired after Thursday's UEFA Cup match, expect the leaders to be up to the challenge. Two of Bayern's biggest wins in the Bundesliga this season were against Werder Bremen (4-0) and Karlsruher (4-1).

"We have a big squad and a good one," Bayern's Philipp Lahm said, "which is of great advantage in such situations."

Hamburg (8-2-2), which is unbeaten in seven straight, visits Schalke with its eyes on the top spot. If Stuttgart can beat Bayern, Hamburg can move into the lead with a victory.

Schalke (4-2-6) has been tough to defeat this season in the league and played well in a 0-0 draw with Chelsea in the Champions League on Tuesday.

"This is a big game for us," Hamburg sporting director Dietmar Beiersdorfer said. "We have to invest all our power and concentration and go to our limits to be successful."

Werder Bremen (7-2-3) also competed in the Champions League this week, falling 1-0 to Lazio. But Werder unbeaten in six of its last seven Bundesliga matches.

Newly-promoted Karlsruher (7-3-2) is unbeaten in six straight entering the key match at Werder's Weserstadion stadium.

On Friday, Daniel Imhof and Tommy Bechmann scored as Bochum defeated Duisburg, 2-0.

Also on Saturday, Rostock hosts Energie, Borussia Dortmund hosts Eintracht and Hertha Berlin hosts Hannover.

On Sunday, Wolfsburg hosts fifth-place Bayer Leverkusen and Arminia Bielefeld hosts Nurnberg.

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College Football Betting Tips From a Pro

While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.

Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.

The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.

What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.

These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.

College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.

Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.

Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.

Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.

I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.

Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.

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