Matchday 1 underway as 10-man Liverpool earns draw at Porto

Soccer Betting Lines

09/18/2007 - Lisbon, Portugal (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ten-man Liverpool FC came from a goal down to start their UEFA Champions League Group A schedule with a point at Porto as Matchday 1 got underway Tuesday.

Liverpool, a five-time champion of Europe's most prestigious club tournament, fell behind early at Estadio do Dragao with Lucho Gonzalez beating Pepe Reina from the penalty spot after the Liverpool goalkeeper had knocked down Tarik Sektioui, who broke into the box after a ball from the offensive third.

The visitors answered less than 10 minutes later on their first real threat of the game after a Steve Finnan cross into the box. The ball was then headed back across by Sami Hyypia to Dirk Kuyt, who headed home for his first UEFA Champions League goal for Liverpool.

Porto, which was the more aggressive side for much of the contest, was given a boost in the 58th minute when Liverpool winger Jermaine Pennant was shown his second yellow for a hard tackle. But the home side was unable to capitalize on the advantage as Liverpool packed its defense in and limited the chances against.

In the other Group A match Tuesday, Marseille earned a 2-0 victory over Besiktas to take the top spot early on. Second-half goals by Julien Rodriguez and Djibril Cisse were the difference in the game.

In Group B action, Norwegian side Rosengord earned a 1-1 draw with English Premier League giants, Chelsea, at Stamford Bridge. Miika Koppinen got the final touch to an in-swinging free kick in the 24th minute to give the underdogs the early lead before Andriy Shevchenko headed home a Florent Malouda cross in the 53rd minute. In the other Group B match, David Villa struck midway through the second half to give Valencia a 1-0 win at Bundesliga side Schalke 04 to take the top spot in the group.

Group C saw defending La Liga Champions Real Madrid earn a 2-1 victory over Werder Bremen behind goals by Raul and Ruud van Nistelrooy. Those goals were scored on either side Werder's Boubacar Sanogo's tally. The other match in the group saw Olympiakos draw 1-1 with Lazio. A late goal from captain Luciano Zauri gave Lazio the share of the points after winger Luciano Galletti gave the home side the early lead. The game was played behind closed doors as a UEFA punishment for crowd trouble at Olympiakos's home match with AS Roma last season.

In Group D, AC Milan opened the defense of their Champions League crown with a 2-1 win over Benfica after first-half goals by Andrea Pirlo and Filippo Inzaghi. Nuno Gomes scored a late goal for Benfica to pull one back. The other Group D match saw defending Scottish Champions Celtic FC fall to Shakhtar Donetsk 2-0 after the Ukrainian side scored two quick goals eight minutes in. Brazilian striker Brandao opened before Cristiano Lucarelli added a second with a diving header two minutes later.

UEFA Champions League Groups E, F, G and H open play Wednesday to close out Matchday 1 of the European club championship.

Socceronlinegamble Soccer Betting News

<< Cowboys sign Tank Johnson
Irving, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Dallas Cowboys signed suspended defensive tackle Tank Johnson to a two-year contract on Tuesday. Johnson, who is serving the third week of an eight-game suspension for violating the NFL'

<< Defense makes its contribution to Cowboys' strong start
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Defense may be Wade Phillips' forte, but it's the offense that has gotten just about of all of the attention during the Dallas Cowboys' back-to-back victories to begin the likeable 60-year-old's tenure as the team's head coac

<< Eagles searching for answers after offensive start
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Turn back the clock four years. The Philadelphia Eagles, with quarterback Donovan McNabb coming off a major injury the previous season, lost their first two games of the 2003 campaign, with a sputtering offense the primary cu

<< Falcons sign QB Leftwich
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Falcons have agreed to terms with quarterback Byron Leftwich on a two-year, $7 million contract, according to a report in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Tuesday. The signing comes less t

<< Report: Cowboys sign Tank Johnson
Irving, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Dallas Cowboys have reportedly signed suspended defensive tackle Tank Johnson. Johnson's agent Gerrold Colton informed the Dallas Morning News on Tuesday that the Cowboys agreed to terms with t

Mets' Anderson suspended >>
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Mets outfielder Marlon Anderson has been suspended two games and fined by Major League Baseball for his tirade directed at home plate umpire Dan Iassogna during Saturday's game against Philade

Rockies' Francis shuts down LA in first game of twin bill >>
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jeff Francis struck out a career-high 10 batters over 6 2/3 innings, as the Colorado Rockies defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers, 3-1, in the first game of a double-header at Coors Field. Francis (16-8) s

Prosecutors identify charges against O.J. in robbery case >>
Las Vegas, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - O.J. Simpson and three other defendants were charged with 10 felonies and one misdemeanor in a Clark County court Tuesday, stemming from an armed robbery arrest at a casino September 13. Simpson was charge

Jets place Pro Bowl KR Miller on IR >>
Hempstead, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Jets placed cornerback/kick returner Justin Miller on injured reserve on Tuesday. Miller suffered a serious right knee injury while returning a kickoff in the second quarter of New York's

Jags bag easy first win of season >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - If only the Jacksonville Jaguars could play the Atlanta Falcons every week this season. Although that would not be fair, since the Falcons have already been getting kicked while they are down with the Michael Vick situatio

It's less than a month until the NHL hockey betting season opens at MySportsbook.com and preparations are underway for another battle in the race to hoist Lord Stanley's mug in 2007.

As cup crazy fans prepare to place their bets, one online sportsbook ,MySportsbook.com, is offering hockey betting lines on the 2007/2007 Stanley Cup , who will bring it home this upcoming season.

Despite a poor showing in last season's playoffs and the loss of Steve Yzerman to retirement, the Detroit Red Wings are early favourites at this online sportsbook with wagering odds of 6-1. The Wings will look to offensive powerhouse Pavel Datsyuk and newly appointed captain Nicklas Lidstrom to lead one of the league's most prominent franchises.

Always a threat are the Ottawa Senators, with newly acquired goaltender Martin Gerber from the Stanley Cup champion ,Carolina Hurricanes. The Sens are second best in the rankings at a 7-1 bet, and odds makers at this sportsbook are optimistic that the Ottawa squad will fare better than last season's Eastern Conference semi-final upset to the Buffalo Sabres.

Also worth noting are the defending Stanley Cup champs Carolina Hurricanes, a 10-1 bet to repeat. Behind the Canes are the New Jersey Devils, Calgary Flames, Buffalo Sabres, Philadelphia Flyers, and Anaheim Mighty Ducks all sit at 12-1. In the basement are the Washington Capitals, Chicago Blackhawks, and St. Louis Blues who all have 100-1 odds to win.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your hockey betting needs.

FOOTBALL BETTING LINES

NFL Football Sports Betting

Two playoff teams from 2007 take center stage on the NFL Network Sunday night in a Week 2 NFL betting match-up when the (0-1) New England Patriots betting head south to Florida for a contest with the (1-0) Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

New England HC Bill Belichick couldn’t care less about the way his team plays in the preseason. With a chance to tie last week’s game with the Baltimore Ravens betting, He elected to go for the two-point conversion and outright victory. The conversion failed, and the Pats ended up falling to the Ravens by a 16-15 final count.

New England rolled off twelve unanswered points to give it a chance at securing the victory, but it never threatened to cover the 3.5-point spread. NFL bettors saw this one coming, as they bet the Ravens down from +6 to +3.5 as the week progressed. QB Tom Brady didn’t take part in the Patriots first preseason clash, but could see action this weekend.

His three replacements all put up embarrassing numbers. They went a combined 17 for 33, and threw three interceptions and no touchdowns. The New England defense was encouraging, as they held the Ravens to 2/12 third down conversions and surrendered just ten first downs. That ‘D’ should be bolstered with the addition of former Bucs and Denver Broncos betting safety John Lynch, who could make his Patriots debut on Sunday against his former mates.

HC Jon Gruden had to be impressed with the way his Bucs played on both sides of the ball in their dominating 17-6 victory over the Miami Dolphins in Week 1’s NFL pre-season betting action. Bucs bettors were quite happy with the effort, as they made a mockery of the fact that they were underdogs in the game.

The logjam at the quarterback position didn’t get any easier to separate for Gruden, as all four of his QBs had positive experiences in the first exhibition of 2008. The four combined to complete 28 of their 40 passes for 204 yards and a touchdown, and that was without starting QB Jeff Garcia in the lineup.

RB Michael Bennett had 19 carries and four receptions, totaling 90 yards and a touchdown. Expect to see more of Bennett, Kenneth Darby, and Earnest Graham, as they all compete for playing time with Warrick Dunn in the backfield this season. Defensively, the Bucs recorded four sacks and held the Fins offense in check all day.

First round draft pick Aqib Talib was impressive in the secondary, recording a tackle and two pass defenses in his debut. Don’t be surprised to see Talib in the starting lineup opposite Ronde Barber for the Bucs in ’08.

The betting trends suggest that NFL bettors should be backing the Bucs in this intra-conference exhibition.

These two teams hooked up last year in Tampa Bay, with the Bucs winning that game 13-10. The Buccaneers have only lost one preseason game at home dating back to the beginning of the ’05 preseason. The Patriots have had a mixed bag of results in their recent exhibitions. They have gone 2-2 ATS and SU each of the last three years.

New England currently sits as modest 1-point favorites in this preseason showdown with the ‘total’ now sitting at 34.5.

You can find these lines and all of the NFL betting lines , so be sure to login and get your wagers down before kickoff!

Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines .
To visit this sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sports betting