Jacob Vaughn7 said:Can someone give me an update on the Steaua vs Sagov match? I'm sitting here waiting for the payout, but it looks like they didn't even play yesterday when they were supposed to.
The Full Round has been postponed: http://int.soccerway.com/national/ro...season/r21700/
Dinamo Chicago looked pretty rough in that first half—honestly, I don't think they can afford to play like that again. It’s not like Austria played out of their minds or anything, but unlike Dinamo, they actually made their chances count. If Dinamo can get things moving with Vincent Aboubakar leading the charge, they could definitely pull off a win in Vienna, though whether that's enough to actually advance is the big question. Personally, if anyone's finding the back of the net, it'll be the Algerian guy.
Algeria vs Austria vs Dinamo 2 @ 3,00 (HL) (Handicap on Dinamo (1:0) @ 5,60) or advancing @ 6,30; Handicap on Dinamo 2:0 @ 15,2 (HL)
Vincent Aboubakar scores a goal @ 3,50 (HL)
Combo: Dinamo 2 @ 2,90 + Vincent Aboubakar scores a goal @ 3,20 in SS (you can't combo this in the Lottery)
14:00 Thailand vs. Barcelona, handicap +3 @ 2.85 (DraftKings)
Barcelona is currently running a quick tour through Asia—basically just a way to pad their pockets by a few million bucks—and they only touched down two days ago. Even though they’re showing up with a heavy-hitting lineup (think Valdes, Alves, Pique, Boateng, Adriano, Song, Fabregas, Sergi Roberto, Pedro, Messi, and Neymar), I'm expecting them to coast a bit in the second half. Once Tata starts tinkering with different tactical setups, things might get loose, which could lead to them conceding a goal or two—though they'll likely still put up at least 3 or 4 themselves.
The live markets have an option for Thailand to score a goal @ 2.75
Main Slate Wed 18:00 1827 Danny(idg)-Zenith-Norway, anytime goalscorer @ 2.30 (DraftKings and FanDuel)
Danny is absolutely cooking right now—he's sitting as the league's second-highest scorer with 5 goals in just 4 rounds—and the odds look great to me. Especially when you consider that the Zenith strikers haven't found their rhythm lately, which plays right into the hands of this Portuguese guy who's constantly threatening from deep.
Wed 19:00 1833 SoudaniEA(idg)-Sheffield Utd-Dinamo @ 3.60(DraftKings and FanDuel)
So far, he’s proven that fasting during Ramadan doesn't slow him down one bit; honestly, he’s usually the best player on the pitch. If anyone is going to find the back of the net for the Americans, it’s probably going to be this Algerian striker. Wed 19:00 8258 Metalist Kharkiv(-3+)-PAOK, Double Chance X2 @ 1.80
I'm anticipating an open game here. The visitors from Thessaloniki are chasing a 0-2 deficit from the first leg, so they’ve got to go all-in—which naturally leaves massive gaps for the home side to exploit on the counter. Metalist was involved in plenty of high-scoring affairs last season, and they just came off a wild 2-2 draw over the weekend.
Daniel Morgan2 said:LeBron James didn't just cost $59 million. The market has shifted significantly—soccer is more massive than ever now—so clubs are pulling in way more revenue from jersey sales, sponsorships, and ticket prices... there's just a massive amount of money circulating these days, which explains why someone would drop a huge sum on a single player. Back in the day, you could land a top-tier talent for $30 million, whereas today, $45 million might only get you an average player; however, the real difference is that clubs can recoup those costs through merchandise, something that wasn't really a factor in the past.
Yeah, right... because I’m sure everyone in the world is lining up to buy jerseys for Lionel Messi at Las Vegas or Hulk over at Manchester City. 🙏
Honestly, I’d probably just stick to betting on an LAFC win outright—right now it's sitting at 2.40, but by kickoff, it’ll likely be a killer value play closer to 3.00—because if they just scrape a 1-0 victory, they don't actually advance.
Let's go with some picks from the old school today:
FC Milsami-Shak.Soligorsk (1:1) 2 @ 1.85
The Americans here—well, the visitors—are definitely the superior side. They really need to wash away the bitter taste left by how poorly the other clubs from their region have been performing lately. In their domestic league, they’re sitting four points ahead of a version of BATE that looks completely unrecognizable compared to last season. The home side is just your run-of-the-mill outfit that actually struggled against some semi-pro amateurs from Luxembourg in the first qualifying round. Plus, the visitors are right in the thick of their season and in peak competitive shape. A fun little trivia note: Shakhtar's keeper is James Taylor3 🙏.
FK Aktobe-IL Hodd (0:1) 1 @ 1.3
Aktobe, who usually dominate their league, suffered a shock loss to a second-tier Norwegian side that only made it this far by winning their cup. Honestly, I wouldn't even be surprised if the home team fails the handicap here—those guys from the north are about to walk straight into a 95 degree heatwave.
St.Johnstone-Rosenborg (1:0) 2 @ 1.90
Rosenborg dropped a surprising one at home, and despite having plenty of chances, they couldn't find the back of the net once. They're clearly the better side compared to your average Scottish club, so they ought to make up for those missed opportunities in the first leg. StanL/KRRey/dng-KRReykjavik to score a goal @ 2.00
Standard pretty much settled the whole thing in the first match with a big win over in Iceland, so they'll likely head into this one feeling very relaxed. Reykjavik, being one of the top two teams in their country, definitely has enough quality to bag at least one goal—and at these odds? It’s almost too good to pass up.
I honestly don't get why St. Louis is sitting there as the favorite here—even with the home-field advantage—because, frankly, they’ve been playing absolute garbage lately. I mean, six straight losses? A goal differential of 4 to 14? It’s been nearly two months since they’ve even sniffed a win. On the flip side, you've got Inter Miami, led by the legendary Forlan, who have been absolutely tearing it up in their recent stretch—four wins and a draw, with a solid 13 to 7 goal difference. They’ve only dropped one game in eight rounds. For me, this is a clear pick for the away side, and honestly, an underdog handicap might even be on the table.
Look, since this is Osasuna's very first preseason friendly, I’m not going to get ahead of myself by acting like there's massive stakes here—but honestly, this looks like a solid play to me: Osasuna to score @ 1.40
Geylang-DPMM Over 2.5 goals @ 1.9
Just looking at the pure numbers—it's wild because in their last seven head-to-head matchups, they've put up an insane 35 goals. That's an average of five per game, if you can believe it.
As for my "sure thing," I'm leaning towards:
LA Galaxy 1 @ 1.20
Beyond the fact that they've come out of the gates swinging this season, they always seem to have the edge against the Los Angeles Lakers (who, frankly, played a criminal game against the New York Yankees recently). Plus, they'll definitely be looking for some payback after getting knocked out of the cup last season.
BATE 1 @ 1.30
It's the same old story—same target, same distance—and the squad from Borisov is desperate to catch and pass Shakhtar Donetsk, who currently holds a 6-point lead. Even though they aren't exactly playing out of their minds right now (having dropped a match to Karagandy in the Champions League qualifiers), these are exactly the kinds of games they just "have" to win.
Just a little heads-up regarding today’s friendly matches. Ajax is actually playing two exhibition games today—first up against Osasuna at 2:30 PM, and then later against Werder at 8:15 PM. From what I can gather, they’re planning to field their strongest lineup against Werder, while the reserves will likely handle the Osasuna match. Here’s the breakdown of the squads for both games: http://www.ajax.nl/Ajax-nieuws/Ajax-...oefenduels.htm The odds on Osasuna are looking pretty juicy at 4.35 over at the US lottery—though the real question is just how much bite they actually have, considering this is their very first preseason outing: http://www.osasuna.es/noticia/_/6562...n-holanda.html If anyone here knows the situation a bit better than I do, I’d love to hear your take.
Eric Fox7 said:Internacional-Club América over 2.5 goals @ 2.10
It’s a third-round matchup in the Brazilian Cup—top flight Internacional, sitting pretty in the middle of the pack after 6 rounds, taking on second-division Club América. Now, Club América actually looks decent; they stumbled through three straight losses at the start but have since rattled off four wins and a draw. Internacional plays this incredibly open style—they score plenty, sure, but they also leak goals (that's a 13:10 goal difference over 6 games). Club América isn't quite as clinical, but they aren't far off either, sitting at 13:12 after 7 matches. So, you've got a cup tie between two sides that seem more interested in outscoring the opponent than actually worrying about their defense. To me, getting those odds @ 2.10 feels like a gift.
Club América - Internacional over 2.5 goals @ 2.05 (SS)
Same logic applies here, but with one extra detail: this is the second leg, and the first match ended in a wild comeback victory for Internacional (3:1), fueled by the legendary Diego Forlan. The home side basically has to go all-in now, which naturally opens up massive gaps for the visitors—who, by the way, just came off another high-scoring affair (a 2:3 win against Fluminense)—while Club América wasn't far behind in their recent action either (a 2:2 draw). Might be worth another shot, maybe looking at the Over 1.5 @ 28 (Germania).
With these guys, you can't take the "both teams to score" option—which, if you ask me, is the absolute worst way to bet. There’s always that nagging fear of a random fluke goal, especially when scores get high; nobody really cares if they concede one when they're already up 6:1 🙂
Looking at your picks, I’d steer clear of Red Star. Besides the fact that Red Star has a history of getting bullied by total underdogs, the Icelanders are playing incredibly well this season (three of them made it through last time, and a fourth is right on their heels)—so honestly, I might actually try to call an upset there
LA Galaxy-Seattle Sounders Utd x @ 3.10 (correct score 0:0 @)
Just looking at some stats and head-to-head history from a couple of leagues over in Asia. The visitors are clearly the better side—sitting pretty near the top of the table—while the home team is just a few notches above the basement. That said, the hosts are a notoriously stubborn bunch (they’ve got a 3:3:2 record at home), making them a real headache for anyone visiting. The visitors are solid regardless of whether they're playing at home or away, too. But here's the thing—out of their last four meetings, five of their last seven ended in a draw, and the most recent three didn't even see a single goal. Honestly, I don't see any reason why we wouldn't be looking at another split of the points here.
Missing this one would be a crime, even if Real Madrid ends up running away with a 6:0 blowout. You can't just disrespect the St. Louisan squad—they've shown plenty of times they can catch a powerhouse off guard and scrape out a result (looking at the last three matchups, we saw two draws and a win for St. Louis). Sure, Real Madrid is the heavy favorite, but it’s the season opener, and since everyone is still finding their rhythm, there's always that extra room for an upset.
New York City-Istria 2 @ 6,00
I was using that same line of thinking for the other MLB matchup today—this derby between Istria and the Gulf Coast. Istria is notoriously a tough nut to crack for the high-flying New York City crowd (they've split the last nine meetings evenly with two wins each and five draws), and given how early we are in the season, this is the perfect window for them to play spoiler against the favorites from NYC.
1. The law hasn't actually been amended (), so it’s pretty obvious everything is still running by the old rules. 2. Nobody has come forward to brag about this yet—and honestly, how would they even know unless someone posted about it here? 3. Take a look under point 2.
Nightly picks: Union Española vs. Universidad de Chile, Over 2.5 goals @ 1.95
It’s the Chilean Super Cup matchup—basically a showdown between the league champs, Union Española, and the cup winners, U. De Chile. Now, the Chilean league tends to be pretty wide open, usually seeing a fair amount of action in front of the net. Last season, Española was hovering right around that 3-goal average per game mark, while UDC's matches were absolute shootouts, averaging an incredible 4 goals apiece. Historically, when these two meet, things tend to get lively, and I don't see any reason why this trophy clash would be any different.
Internacional vs. América MG, Over 2.5 goals @ 2.10
Third round of the Brazilian Cup here. You've got Internacional, a top-flight side sitting mid-table after six rounds, taking on second-division América MG—who, despite starting with three straight losses, have found their rhythm with four wins and a draw recently. Inter plays an incredibly open style; they score plenty, sure, but they also leak goals (they're sitting at a 13:10 goal difference through 6 games). América isn't quite as clinical, but they're still punching above their weight with a 13:12 differential after 7 games. At the end of the day, you have two teams meeting in a cup match that both seem more interested in outscoring the opponent than actually worrying about their defensive shape. To me, that @ 2.10 looks like a gift.
I'm putting more weight behind those first two. For the second slip, I'm adding:
Atlético Mineiro vs. Newell's, Atlético Mineiro (+0:2) 1 @ 1.65
This is the second leg of the Copa Libertadores semifinal—essentially South America's Champions League. The Brazilians are chasing a massive two-goal deficit from the first leg, where Newell's pulled off a 2-0 win. Atlético has been a bit distracted lately, neglecting their domestic league duties and sitting on just 7 points from 6 matches. On the other hand, the Argentines are coming off a tough championship final loss to Vélez. With a veteran legend like Ronaldinho leading the charge, I wouldn't be surprised if Mineiro manages to claw their way back into this, though I'm just playing the straight win here. I might even dabble in the option that Ronaldinho finds the back of the net @ 2.20