Chelsea should take positives from United defeat

Soccer Betting Lines

09/19/2011 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manchester United's 3-1 win over Chelsea on Sunday certainly confirmed the club's status as favorites to retain the title.

It gave United five wins from five games to start the season and moved the Red Devils into sole possession of the top spot, two points clear of Manchester City and five ahead of Chelsea.

And while all of the talk will no doubt center on how unbeatable United looks through five games, Chelsea has reason to be optimistic.

Yes the team fell behind 3-0 in the first half of a match that many felt would provide a good barometer for where both teams were at.

But if you take a closer look at how the first 45 minutes went, the score is very deceiving.

United took an early lead but Chelsea midfielder Ramires squandered a great chance midway through the half to level the match when Fernando Torres set him up with an open net from 10 yards.

Goalkeeper David De Gea was well out of position, but the Brazilian instead fired his shot right back into De Gea, who gratefully smothered it.

Had Ramires finished off the easy chance the match could have turned out much different. But instead United tallied two more goals before the break to assume a commanding lead.

Torres has been lightning rod for criticism since his $80 million move from Liverpool in January, but he scored his first goal since April in the opening minute of the second half and generally caused problems for United's defense.

Chelsea dominated the second half for long stretches, but what will be remembered is the glaring miss by Torres 10 minutes from time that could have cut the deficit to one.

The Spaniard latched onto a through ball and rounded De Gea before somehow completely missing a wide open net, summing up the afternoon for the visitors.

It will go down as one of the misses of the season, and unfortunately, it will overshadow what was a strong 80 minutes of play from Torres.

Juan Mata was guilty of some poor defending on United's second goal from Nani, but the former Valencia man appears to be settling nicely at Stamford Bridge, and along with Daniel Sturridge and Torres on Sunday, they formed an effective three-pronged attack.

Chelsea may only have eight goals through five games, but the chances have been there and it is only a matter of time before those shots end up hitting the back of the net.

The fact that the Blues have already fallen five points off the pace is not encouraging, but you only have to look back to last season for proof that the first month is hardly indicative of how the title race will go.

Like United this campaign, Chelsea began last season with five successive wins, outscoring the opposition 21-1, while Sir Alex Ferguson's team drew five of its first eight games.

Despite a sluggish start United still managed to track down Chelsea and win the title, and it is hard to imagine Chelsea not factoring into the race as the season goes along.

"Even though we lost today there is a long way to go," Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech said following the match. "City dropped some points [at Fulham] and you can see the league will be difficult for everybody. We are positive that although we lost we can build on it."

In its simplest form soccer really comes down to the taking of chances. On Sunday United made the most of the ones it created, while Chelsea generated more but let too many go to waste.

With so many games left to play it would be foolish to dwell too heavily on one result.

Instead Chelsea should take what it can from Sunday's loss and move on, realizing that titles are not won five games into the season.

Wwindowsmedia Soccer Betting News

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LINCOLN, Neb. -- Nebraska running back Marlon Lucky was hospitalized Monday for undisclosed reasons after Lincoln police responded to a call at his residence.

The Nebraska athletic department said in a release Monday that Lucky was admitted Sunday night.

MySportsbook.com has the Cornhuskers listed at +2500 to win the BCS National Championship odds.

A nursing supervisor at the hospital said all questions about Lucky were being referred to the athletic department. The athletic department said there would be no further comment from the department or Lucky's family.

A Lincoln Police spokesman said officers responded to a call at Lucky's residence 11:30 p.m. Sunday. The spokesman said he didn't know Lucky's condition at the time he was taken to the hospital.

Lucky, from North Hollywood, Calif., started six games last season as a sophomore and was the team's second-leading rusher, with 728 yards and six touchdowns. He also caught 32 passes for 383 yards. He averaged 19.1 yards on eight kickoff returns.

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Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

For more March Madness odds go to MySportsbook.com

For more College Basketball betting lines go to BettingExpress.com

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