Saturday's Gold Cup Action - Soccer
By Toby Maxtone-Smith
The group stage of the CONCACAF Gold Cup was a lively, enjoyable affair. There was an average of 3.4 goals per game, and although the big guns of the US and Mexico topped their groups with ease, there were shocks too.
Curaçao, tipped here as rank outsiders to win the competition at 250/1, made it through their group ahead of good Central America opposition in El Salvador and Honduras, while third favourites Costa Rica failed to top their group as they lost their final match against Haiti.
Haiti vs. Canada
Canada will have been delighted to see Haiti turn around a 1-0 deficit to beat Costa Rica and finish top of Group B. Although they will not take the Haitians lightly, John Herdman’s men are 4/11 to march on to the semi-finals - and 8/11 to win this match in normal time.
Canada opened the competition with a 4-0 win over Martinique - a result that looks much more impressive than it did initially, as Martinique went on to give Mexico a real scare. They also lost 3-1 to Mexico and demolished a dismal Cuba 7-0.
Jonathan David and Lucas Cavallini scored nine goals between them in the group stages, and the Canadian attack should have too much for Haiti, who only edged past minnows Bermuda and Nicaragua before springing their surprise on Costa Rica.
There appears to be real promise in this Canada side, and they look a fair bet to win the game in 90 minutes.
Tip: Canada at 8/11
Prediction: Canada 3, Haiti 0
Mexico vs. Costa Rica
The headline clash of the quarter-finals sees two World Cup regulars face off in Houston. Mexico are the 11/10 favourites to win the competition, whose draw has been designed specifically for Mexico and the US to avoid each other before the final.
Mexico are 2/5 to win this match, and El Tri should have enough quality to get them to the semi-finals despite facing a more dangerous opponent than they would have liked at this stage.
Uriel Antuna and the superb Raul Jimenez have spearheaded Mexico’s attacking efforts, but there remain concerns over Gerardo Martino’s side’s defensive capabilities. Although they have won all their last seven matches, scoring at least three in every one, they have only kept one clean sheet in that time. That was against Cuba - probably the worst side at this Gold Cup.
Costa Rica have not reached the final of the Gold Cup since 2002, and that run is likely to continue here. But they can give Mexico a scare by getting on the scoresheet.
Tip: Mexico to win and both teams to score at 13/5
Prediction: Mexico 3, Costa Rica 1
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Soccer - Saturday's Copa Best Bet
By Tim Wilkerson
URUGUAY, PERU BATTLE FOR COPA AMERICA SEMIFINAL BERTH
This is the last of the four Copa America quarterfinal matchups. Brazil has already advanced to the semifinals by virtue of a hard fought win over Paraguay. Paraguay did a brilliant job holding the Brazilians in check offensively but fell short in the decisive penalty shootout. Two quarterfinal games are being held on Friday with Argentina taking on Venezuela and Columbia facing Chile. In the lone Saturday game Uruguay and Peru will go at it with a spot in the semifinals on the line. The full schedule is still pending but Brazil’s semifinal game is set for Tuesday, July 2.
Uruguay has been seriously ‘under the radar’ since the Copa America began. They are an extremely high quality side and were near the top of the pre-tournament soccer betting odds but among the mainstream media and casual fans get lost amid all of the hype for Brazil and Argentina. Uruguay had a few anxious moments during the group stage of this event. They had no trouble beating Ecuador in the opening game of the tournament but in the second fixture were held to a 2-2 draw by Japan. This necessitated that Uruguay beat Chile in the third game of the group stage but the team was up to the task and now are poised to advance to the semifinals with a victory here.
It’s tough to figure out were Peru is going as a squad. They’re usually good enough to reach the knockout stages of major international competitions such as this one but are seldom able to do anything beyond that. Like Uruguay, they also had an uneven performance during the group stage. They opened the tournament with a goalless draw against Venezuela and then beat Bolivia which allowed them to advance to the knockout stage. In the final fixture of the group stages they were obliterated by host country Brazil as they wound up on the wrong side of a 5-0 beating.
Peru has now lost 5 of their last 9 games though they split a pair of World Cup qualifiers with Uruguay last year. In those games each team won on their home field. Uruguay has a bit more momentum working in their favor with five wins in their last six games. There’s every reason to expect that Uruguay will advance to the semifinals and given the fact that none of the favorites are playing particularly well they’ve got a realistic chance at winning the tournament.
Uruguay is a very balanced team—they’ve extremely capable on defense and adept at bottling up their opponent’s attack. At the same time, they’re a strong side offensively and can be count on for a decent counterattack. The two sides of the ball set up nicely for Uruguay and feed off of each other. Objectively speaking, they’re playing with more balance at this juncture than are Brazil or Argentina who were the teams favored in the BetOnline.ag Copa America futures before this tournament began.
This looks like a matchup where Uruguay is the decidedly better team. For that reason, we’ll back them on the handicap line and look for them to advance into the semifinals.
Best Bet:
Uruguay -0.5, -1 (-115)
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Augie J - Marlins Cubs
Philly Guy - Brewers Phillies LAD Nationals
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DR. CHUCK
Game: (961) Arizona Diamondbacks at (962) San Francisco Giants
Date/Time: Jun 29 2019 10:05 PM EDT
Betting Line Provider: William Hill
Play Rating: 4%
Play: 1H Arizona Diamondbacks -145
View Analysis
Greinke v. Pomeranz
Flat out no reason to stop doing this every time bar none. Greinke just can't NO RESPECT! He is 7-2 this season as a favorite and as an away favorite he is 2-0 and both shutouts!
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Miller locks
1:10 pm est mlb
new york yankees vs. Boston red sox
pick: New york yankees (-140)
risk: 11 units
4:10 pm est mlb
chicago cubs vs. Cincinnati reds
pick: Cincinnati reds (-119)
risk: 11 units
8:15 pm est mlb
los angeles dodgers vs. Colorado rockies
pick: Colorado rockies (+135)
risk: 11 units
8:15 pm est mlb
seattle mariners vs. Houston astros
pick: Houston astros -1.5 (-142)
risk: 11 units
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The Spot Player (61-48 run)
2* Mets
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Assassin Sports (MLB) - Washington Nationals -1.5 runs
Game two of this series will see Austin Voth take the mound for the Nationals, while the Tigers plan to start Gregory Soto.
Voth will make his second start of the season here. His first start came against the Atlanta Braves, where he pitched 6.0 innings and gave up four hits. He received a no-decision in his debut as well. His earned run average is 3.00, and he’ll be looking to have a better performance against this struggling Detroit offense. Voth was 3-5 with a 4.40 ERA, a 1.353 WHIP, 15 walks and 68 strikeouts over 61.1 innings in 12 starts for Triple-A Fresno in the Pacific Coast League prior to his recall.
Soto is 0-2 on the season and has an earned run average that has climbed up to 8.66, a 1.981 WHIP, 11 walks and 14 strikeouts over 17.2 innings of work at the big league level. Soto is 0-1 with a 4.50 ERA, a 1.70 WHIP, eight walks and nine strikeouts over 10 innings in three career starts at Comerica Park.
Detroit lost their seventh straight game and their 11th in the last 12 games as they were shut down by the Rangers. The Tigers entered Friday in the basement of the AL Central by percentage points....
Washington has now won 9 of their last 11 games, and have actually hit the ball well.
The Nationals are 6-2 in their last eight Saturday games and 7-3 in their last 10 in game two of a series. The Nationals are 7-1 in their last 8 games vs. a team with a winning % below .400
The Tigers are 1-6 in their last seven Saturday games and 15-40 in their last 55 in game two of a series. The Tigers are 0-5 in their last 5 interleague home games vs. a right-handed starter....
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Port Port Sports
UNDER 9.5 SEA @ HOU (-120)
OVER 12 LAD @ COL (-120)
LOS ANGELES DODGERS (-140)
PIT PIRATES RL +1.5 (-105)
ATLANTA BRAVES (-110)
BAL ORIOLES RL +1.5 (-110)
CHI WHITE SOX RL +1.5 (-105)
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