Bottom feeders, L.A., N.E. aim to gain ground

Soccer Betting Lines

07/03/2009 - Carson, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two Major League Soccer clubs stuck in the bottom third of their respective conference tables square off on Saturday when the Los Angeles Galaxy host the New England Revolution at The Home Depot Center.

The Galaxy (3-3-9) are actually coming off an impressive 1-0 win over league leading Houston in their last league match on Sunday.

"I thought for the first time this year our central backs played extremely well over 90 minutes," Los Angeles coach Bruce Arena said. "They were pretty consistent. They didn't make any mistakes. They controlled the line very well, and organized the team extremely well. To me, it was all about our central backs, the start of the game was better. We consistently at home have given up the first goal, played with 10 players and done all the things you do to lose games. Fortunately, we got a point out of a lot of them. We corrected those mistakes [vs. Houston]. We didn't put ourselves behind the eight ball and chase the game."

The Galaxy are hoping a busy July schedule will propel them right back into playoff contention.

"We talked about trying to get ahead of in games, and play the game on our terms while also doing a better job in reacting to goals against us if we do fall behind," L.A.'s Eddie Lewis said. "But in general, it was a very good win for us. It is another building block for us as we move on in the season."

New England (4-4-4), on the other hand, is coming off a 3-1 loss in its last league fixture on June 13 at Kansas City. The team has been successful as of late, however, with two wins in three tries in SuperLiga action.

"I don't know if you guys have looked at our bench, but it's looking pretty slim. We only have three or four guys. Rosters were cut this year and it's become a lot more difficult on us," said defender Jeff Larentowicz. "At this point, we're playing in essentially three different competitions right now so we're going to have four or five games in two weeks. It's a lot of games with half the roster."

The Revs will be without defender Jay Heaps because of his participation in the CONCACAF Gold Cup, while defender Chris Albright, midfielders Mauricio Castro, Shalrie Joseph and Steve Ralston, and forward Taylor Twellman are out with injuries. Defenders Kevin Alston and Gabriel Badilla are questionable with knocks of their own.

"We're already bare-bones coming into the game," Revolution defender Chris Tierney said. "What did we have, 15 guys? We've had so many games. Guys are struggling with knocks and we just can't take risks. If someone pulls something, they have to come out. There's nothing we can do about it."

The Galaxy will be without goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts because of international duty and defenders Sean Franklin and Julian Valentin because of injury. Midfielder Dema Kovalenko and defender Yohance Marshall are questionable and goalkeeper Josh Saunders is probable.

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Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State

It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.

Work left to do:

Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney.

Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson.

Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable.

Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

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