DC United v Toronto FC

DC United v Toronto FC

  

D.C. United VS Toronto FC

Both desperate for a win...

MLS Regular Season

June 15, 2013, 19:00pm EDT

RFK Stadium, MLS Live

With both teams languishing at the bottom of the Eastern Conference, DC United only managing 6 points from 14 games and Toronto just one place above them with 8 points from 13 games, this weekend’s clash is a scramble to stay off the bottom spot.

Toronto’s top goal scorer Welsh international Robert Earnshaw has only scored 5 goals so far this season, not exactly the standard of playing that was expected from this once golden boy of English soccer.

Toronto have also placed midfielder Terry Dunfield on waivers, is this a mistake? The midfield isn't looking too hot this season. Toronto have only won 1 match this season so far with 5 ties and 7 loses, it’s not looking good for the Canadian team.

DC United is in even worse shape, with only 1 win this season, against 3 ties and 10 loses. D.C. United Head Coach Ben Olsen is still in a positive mood and was quoted after their tie against New England last weekend “We’re healthy, finally, and it’s a good vibe right now. There’s a silent confidence about us that we can get out of this thing and now’s the time."

Fever Hot Spot: if you fancy DC United to win comfortably, check out the 3/1 available with Stan James on the Washington outfit, minus one goal.

Last time out: New England are held at home by DC 0-0

Fever Hot Spot: if you fancy a goalless tie today, look no further than Bet Victor: they go an impressive 9/1...

 

In a 2015 second round draft pick D.C. United has acquired defender-midfielder Alain Rochat from the Vancouver Whitecaps. Rochat in his third season with the Whitecaps has played in 12 MLS games this season and can only help the strengthen DC’s defence.  Rochat born in Canada but grew up in Switzerland where he played in the national squad.

DC United are on a high after a 3-1 victory against Philadelphia in the US Open Cup this week, let’s hope they can convert their Open Cup success into MLS wins.

Selected Prices From:

WINNER:

DC United: 23/20

Tie: 23/10

Toronto FC: 27/10

HALF TIME RESULT:

Tie: 11/10

DC United: 19/10

Toronto FC: 17/5

BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE?

Yes: 37/40

No: 9/10

 

Game Recap:  DC United earn a creditable point at New England Revolution.

 

Game Recap: 10-man Toronto are unlucky only to share the spoils at home to the Philadelphia Union

DC United, last five:

June 12, 2013
UOC	DC United	3 - 1	Philadelphia Union
June 8, 2013
M	New England	0 - 0	DC United
June 2, 2013
M	Chicago Fire	2 - 0	DC United
May 28, 2013
UOC	Richmond Kickers	0 - 0	DC United
May 25, 2013
M	DC United	0 - 2	Portland Timbers

Toronto. last five:

June 1, 2013
M	Toronto	1 - 1	Philadelphia Union
May 25, 2013
M	New England	2 - 0	Toronto
May 18, 2013
M	Toronto	0 - 1	Columbus Crew
May 9, 2013
M	SJ Earthquakes	2 - 1	Toronto
May 5, 2013
M	Colorado Rapids	1 - 0	Toronto

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Portland v FC Dallas

Portland v FC Dallas

 

Portland v FC Dallas

 Could this be Lucky 13 unbeaten for the Timbers?

 June 15th, 17:00 EDT

  JELD-WELD Field

 Live on ESPN 

  

 

FC Dallas will not have a tougher game all season: Portland on the road is hard. Very hard.

With a victory here, the Timbers could go within two points of the top, and place added pressure on the Texan outfit as we reach this vital summer period of games. If you were to offer Dallas head coach Schellas Hyndman a share of the spoils right now, doubtless he’d take it.

Fever Hot Spot: if you think that FC Dallas can take something away from this game, look no further than Bet 365: they go a cool 2/1 on FC Dallas, Tie No Bet: nice!

 Last time out: Portland tie 2-2 in Chicago; the same result that FC Dallas achieved in Colorado. A repeat of that score today is an impressive 15/1 with Bet Victor

The Dallas tie in Colorado was not without incident, and a 2-2 tie was just about right. The Rapids exposed the Dallas weakness from throw ins and free kicks far too easily, so leaving Colorado with a point – a point that kept them on top of the Western Conference – was acceptable, all things considered. 

You could argue that after being in complete control at 2-0 Portland’s surrendering of two late goals was a chance missed. Indeed, when you see below the mess that led to the first of Chicago’s brace, you’ll see that today’s game should be full of goals: both sides simply unable to keep the door closed. 

 

Fever Hot Spot:  should you agree with us that there will be goals, click through to Bet 365: their 7/4 on over 3 goals is tempting to say the least…

KEY GAME STATS: 

Portland are unbeaten in 12

It’s now four games since a home defeat

In their last five at home, the Timbers have scored 10 and conceded 5

 

FC Dallas have not won on the road in their last four games

In their last five road games, FC Dallas have scored 10 and conceded 13

Selected Prices From:

WINNER:

Portland Timbers: 21/20

Tie: 5/2

FC Dallas: 13/5

HALF TIME RESULT:

Tie: 5/4

Portland Timbers: 7/4

FC Dallas: 10/3

BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE?

Yes: 8/11

No: 23/20

Portland Timbers v FC Dallas

 

Recap: Colorado’s Atiba Harris exposes the key Dallas weakness: set pieces…

 

Recap: Chicago come back to share the spoils with Portland in Illinois. NB: Portland had four players away on International duty. 

Portland, last five:

June 13, 2013
UOC	Portland Timbers	2 – 0	Tampa Bay Rowdies
June 9, 2013
M	Chicago Fire	2 – 2	Portland Timbers
May 30, 2013
UOC	Portland Timbers	5 – 1	Wilmington Ham…
May 25, 2013
M	DC United	0 – 2	Portland Timbers
May 18, 2013
M	Whitecaps	2 – 2	Portland Timbers

FC Dallas, last five:

June 13, 2013
UOC	Dallas	3 – 0	Houston Dynamo
June 2, 2013
M	Colorado Rapids	2 – 2	Dallas
May 28, 2013
UOC	Fort Lauderdal…	0 – 2	Dallas
May 26, 2013
M	Dallas	1 – 0	SJ Earthquakes
May 19, 2013
M	Seattle Sounders	4 – 2	Dallas

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Uefa Under-21 Championship

UEFA UNDER-21 CHAMPIONSHIP

POSTED BY ADMIN ON JUN 6, 2013 IN INTERNATIONAL | 0 COMMENTS

 

Uefa Under-21 Championship

Can England bounce back?

Alex Humphreys looks at the Main Contenders

June 6th

After building up an unbeaten streak of nine games and hopes high, England's young lions went down to a spirited Italian side 1-0 last night, and must look to the more 'easy' games in Group A still to come, against Israel and Norway.

Disallowed goal apart, it was a disappointing night for England, with Stuart Pearce describing the performance as 'awful'. With players still to come back in, all is far from lost yet.

So, let's take a closer look at the four main contenders...

Not exactly the perfect start to a tournament...

England’s team looks strong going into these under 21’s championships, with a vast array of players good enough to play at premier league level. One of the players I am impressed with is Steven Caulker, who, despite not playing as much as he would hope for Tottenham this year, is a very composed and strong centre-back, this could be seen through his season-long loan spell under Brendan Rodgers at Swansea City.

Another player to keep your eye out for in this squad is Wilfred Zaha, who signed for Manchester United in January, but remained at Crystal Palace until the end of the season; he played an instrumental role in their successful push for promotion. having missed the Italy game his addition to the squad for Norway and Israel is key. This will be a great chance to see what this young man is capable of before the start of his Manchester United career.

I still predict England to do well in this tournament, they have a good squad, packed with premier league experience, though I do not expect them to win the trophy, a trip to the semi-finals could be expected.

Italy’s squad will not seem as star packed compared to that of England, Spain or Germany’s but it has a great range of players.

Expect the young PSG midfielder, Marco Veratti, to dominate the centre of the pitch. The twenty year old has had his breakthrough year with the French league winners can he will only get better as he becomes more experienced. He is not the largest of midfielders, standing at only 1.65 meters. But he is a fighter and anyone coming into a challenge against him will expect the young man to put up a keen fight. I expect him to become one of the worlds best all rounded midfielders.

Another exciting player from this Italian squad is Mattia Destro. The Roma striker used to be Mario Balotelli’s strike partner for Inter Milan’s reserve team, and since he has arrived at Roma he is starting to make a very big name for himself, with 11 goals in his first season as a Roma player. He will have to make a big impact in this tournament.

Italy has a well balanced squad, but I feel they lack the star-quality to win the tournament.

Italian Young Guns

Germany have a very strong team: this is a sign of the rising tide of German football.

The man who I expect to lead Germany’s push is Lewis Holtby. He has a disappointing second half of the season after his switch to Spurs, but his influence and skill should not be understated. His quick passing and clever footballing brains allows him to set up many chances for his teammates and he also has an unappreciated eye for goal, this can be seen in the way he has scored 13 goals in 21 games for the under-21’s squad, a mightily impressive record.

We should also keep an eye out for Bert Leno, the next up and coming keeper for Germany, along Ter Stagen. He is a supremely talented keeper who has successfully replaced Rene Adler in Bayer Leverkusen’s goal. Great reflexes and a strong physique means he is his capable to deal with almost any challenge that a goalkeeper could come across.

I expect Germany to be the winners of this tournament; the German game is so strong at the minute that anything but 1st place will be a massive disappointment.

An Impressive German U21 Squad.

A talented Spanish Line-Up. 

Spanish football has had a difficult season; their two best clubs have been knocked off their perch as the undisputed rulers of world football by Germany - things need to start turning around for Spain otherwise they could lose their status as world champions in the world cup in 2014.

If there is one Spanish player you should keep an eye on in the tournament it is the playmaker, Isco. He has enjoyed a fantastic season at the heart of the Malaga set-up, as the replacement for the outgoing Santi Cazorla. He has been in brilliant form, especially in the champion’s league where he has scored memorable goals such as the ones against Porto and Zenit St Petersburg.

For English football fans, they will be able to judge the Manchester United keeper David De Gea in action. He has come on leaps and bounds this season; and has grown physically which allows him to compete in the air, something he had great trouble with in the past. His shot stopping however was never in question, he is one of the best in the world in that department and Spain will need to call upon his services in this tournament.

Spain are not the unstoppable force they were, but they have such a talented squad you can never rule them out.

WINNER:

Spain: 7/4

Italy:  7/2

Germany:  15/4

Netherlands: 13/2 

England: 15/2

Russia: 20/1

Israel: 22/1

Norway: 28/1

Prices Courtesy of:

TOP GOALSCORER:

Rodrigo: 7/1

Lorenzo Insigne: 8/1

Mattia Destro: 10/1

Luuk De Jong: 12/1

Christian Tello: 14/1

Thomas Ince: 20/1

Wilfried Zaha: 20/1

Prices Courtesy of:

NAME THE FINALISTS:

Germany/Spain: 6/1

Germany/Italy: 8/1

Holland/Italy: 10/1

Holland/Spain: 10/1

England/Spain: 14/1

England/Germany: 16/1

Prices Courtesy of:

Uefa Under-21 Championship

Football Transfer Betting Special

FOOTBALL TRANSFER BETTING SPECIAL

POSTED BY ADMIN ON JUN 5, 2013 IN THE JACK | 0 COMMENTS

 

Football Transfer Betting Special

Sideshow Bob to Barca?

The Jack, Wednesday 5th May

Luiz: get a bloody hair cut.

Barcelona is a perfect fit for David Luiz, and vice versa.

Technically gifted, Luiz is a commanding presence on the ball and will take to Tiki Taka like Jimi Hendrix took to the Fender guitar. Glamorous and photogenic with daft hair, he's bound to be a poster boy, selling shed-loads of merchandise to boot.

Ironically for a defender, his Achilles heel can be his defending.

Luiz has an unpleasant habit of going missing in big away games and must work on this particular area of his game, not that Barca will care.

But it is something that would drive Jose Mourinho absolutely bonkers. 

He's on his way...

Only Bet Victor are left for a price on this eventually, and at face value 4/5 might not look like a good bet.

I for one think that it very much is...

This is the man who has accepted the responsibility of following one of Everton's most popular bosses.

And he's absolutely the right man for the job.

Roberto Martinez has been a revelation at Wigan, making do with what compared to the Premiership big boys was peanuts. The likable 39-year-old has knowledge and experience way beyond his years, and is seen by many as a future Moyes himself.

His first test will be to try and persuade the other two elements of the 'Holy Trinity' - Fellaini and Baines - from heading to Old Trafford with their old boss. It's unlikely, but even keeping one would be regarded as an early success. After that, with investment, he can start to build the Toffees with his own game plan.

Right now, Sky Bet are offering 10/1 on Everton winning any trophy next year. Another way of looking at this is to say that Everton making a final is 5/1, as you can lay against them should they make Wembley in 2014 and win either way up.

Sure sounds good to me...

 Martinez: Impressive. 

Gibraltar: tiny...

Gibraltar has been entered into EUFA and will compete against the likes of Germany, Holland, England and Italy over the coming years (not Spain, however, but let's not get political).

With a population of 30,000, no grass pitches and a local football infrastructure that up until this week had teams with names like Manchester United (I kid you not), they are now the new minnows of European Football. 

It can be argued that with San Marino the Faroe Islands, etc already in, that Gibraltar should also have their chance. But this could well be a case of being careful what you wish for:  double-figure defeats could well await this new member state. 

One thing's for sure, you can get 1000/1 with Coral on Gibraltar qualifying for Euro 2016. The price should be nearer to 10,000/1, maybe even bigger - it really is that unlikely. 

Steer clear. 

 

Football Transfer Betting Special with The Jack