Line: UCLA -7.5, Total: 50.5 Line movement: The Bruins opened as 7.5-point favorites at The Wynn, where the spread has bounced between 7 and 7.5. Plenty of Las Vegas bet shops have 8 posted on their boards as of Thursday morning for those looking to take the points, while there is a -7 (-115) out for favorite bettors. At the South Point, the total opened 49.5 but has been bet up to 50....
Following the Round of 16 qualification of three teams (Juventus, Bayern Munich, and Paris Saint- Germain) on Matchday 4, all remaining teams except Galatasaray, Genk, and Lille are in contention for a place in the knockout round. The race for the top-two would be the fiercest in Group H, where the top-three of Ajax, Chelsea, and Valencia are only separated by goal difference. Group F, featuring three former winners of the competition in Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund, and Inter Milan could also see a tough tussle for the top-two positions in the group....
UEFA says its disciplinary panel will meet Dec. 13 to judge six charges against AEK, including crowd disturbances, and two against Ajax. A fire bomb exploded near the section of visiting Ajax fans at the Athens Olympic Stadium, and flares and smoke canisters were thrown. Riot police clashed with fans in the stadium and in Athens ahead of the game, which Ajax won 2-0. AEK faces a potential stadium closure, though its next home European game will not be this season because it will finish last in its group....
The Three Lions have switched their formation from a 3-5-2 to a 4-3-3 setup, and while key players from the World Cup such as Harry Kane and Harry Maguire remain in Southgate’s first-choice XI, in general, today’s squad is almost unrecognisable from the 23 players who travelled to Russia last summer. For the upcoming games against the Czech Republic and Bulgaria, just 10 of that World Cup squad remain as part of the England set-up....
Italy beat England in the final at Wembley Stadium in a penalty-kick shootout that followed a 1-1 draw which persisted through extra time. Both goalkeepers stopped two penalty kicks in the shootout, but England missed one more attempt. Italy also survived a penalty shootout in the semifinal stage. A total of 24 European nations battled it out during the month-long event. The Euros are traditionally hosted by a single country, but to celebrate the 60-year anniversary of the competition, hosting duties were expanded to include various nations: A total of 11 countries hosted Euro 2021 matches....
France, on the other hand, progressed all the way to the finals. They managed to beat International stalwarts like Argentina, Uruguay, and Belgium, before easing past Croatia to claim their second World Cup triumph. Both these teams met in the 2014 World Cup Quarter-final, where Mats Hummels’ header in the 13th minute meant Les Blues was eliminated. There most previous meeting in a competitive tournament, however, went the opponent’s way as France beat Germany 2 - 0 thanks to Antoine Griezmann’s brace....
Ceferin’s keynote speech ahead of his win by acclamation sent clear messages to FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who was sitting in the front row watching his toughest opponent in soccer politics. Ceferin has been blocking FIFA from making a $25 billion deal to create and revamp international competitions. “It is often the ‘yes men’ who lure leaders to their demise,” said Ceferin, who has faced down Infantino in testy FIFA Council meetings in the past year....
Other action on the card: - Johny Hendricks defeated Matt Brown by unanimous decision. - Alistair Overeem defeated Roy Nelson by unanimous decision. - Henry Cejudo defeated Chris Cariaso by unanimous decision. Here are the highs and lows from UFC 185. Dos Anjos told Sporting News earlier in the week that he was going to pressure Pettis and then pressure him some more. People thought he wouldn’t be able to constantly do that for five rounds and that Pettis would win the fight....
The card features two title fights. In the main event, Ronda Rousey (12-0) defends the UFC women’s bantamweight championship against 19-time world boxing champion Holly Holm (9-0). The co-feature has Joanna Jedrzejczyk (10-0) defending the strawweight championship against Valerie Letourneau (8-3). MORE: Keys to victory | Five mistakes Holm cannot make | UFC 193 predictions | UFC 193 odds, picks Also on the card, Mark Hunt (10-10-1) battles Antonio Silva (19-7-1) in a rematch of their epic battle that ended in a draw back in Dec....
While the bout is heavily favored for Cormier, we are at a point, where anything can happen. Derrick Lewis proved that he has an extremely strong jaw. He took punishment from Alexander Volkov for the entire period of three rounds, and then with 20 seconds of the last round to go, he landed a critical blow on him, knocking him out. Other than the main event, the entire card is one which features a number of exciting bouts....
UFC 232 is just two days away from taking center stage at The Forum, in Inglewood, Los Angeles, California, and the fans seem to be expecting fireworks from the highly-anticipated event. The UFC has released the full episode of the UFC 232 Countdown, and details in regards to the press conference are now out! In case you didn’t know.. Following a recent drug screening of former UFC light heavyweight champion, Jon Jones, the UFC made a decision, earlier this week, to shift the venue for the UFC 232 event from Las Vegas to Los Angeles, California....
The last time these two met at UFC 251, Usman dominated Masvidal to earn a unanimous decision. The difference this time around is that Masvidal won’t be stepping in on less than a week’s notice and will have a full training camp to prepare for his rival. But the same can be said for Usman, who now knows exactly what Masvidal has to offer and will look to prove that he’s one of the best fighters in the world....
Line: UCLA -3, Total: 66 Line movement: The Wynn opened UCLA as a 4-point favorite on Sunday. Within minutes of posting, the line dropped to a field goal in favor of the Bruins, climbing back to -4 by Tuesday. Wednesday saw more action on Arizona, settling the line back to -3 for UCLA. The total is shooting upward from an offshore opener of 64 to now 66 across most Vegas books....
In the end, it was some great defensive work combined with Barcelona’s quality that should have had the away side in the lead at least a few times. Milan Skirniar and Stefan De Virj were rather good at the back for the home side and did well against Philippe Coutinho, Luis Suarez and even Ousmane Dembele. But the Catalan giants had the lion’s share of possession which they used to their advantage until Mauro Icardi put the ball past Marc Andre Ter-Stegen four minutes after Malcom scores....
The Argentine playmaker spent Friday night and Saturday morning sick and a decision was taken for him to skip the game against Malaga just hours before kick-off. It was initially reported that he was still not in perfect condition, but the club was hoping that he would eventually be able to take the step that allows him to return to training on Monday morning. Also read: Lionel Messi is a genius but Cristiano Ronaldo deserves the Ballon d’Or believes Fabio Capello...
Liverpool started the game brightly and looked sharp on the counter-attack. The game looked evenly matched with both sides looking equally dangerous with the ball. However, Barcelona opened the scoring through ex-Liverpool striker Luis Suarez, who slotted the ball into the back of the net from a brilliant cross by Jordi Alba. Liverpool looked the more threating side during the first quarter of the second half and forced Marc-Andre Ter Stegen into a couple of saves....
Julen Lopetegui has to cater to the absences of Isco and Marcelo who are injured. Gareth Bale was suspected to have suffered a muscle injury too, but reports have proven otherwise. Sergio Ramos also misses out after being handed a rest. Let’s have a look at the Whites’ eleven as they seek to get a win at the Luzhniki Stadium. Defense Keylor Navas will probably get the nods in the UEFA Champions League ahead of Thibaut Courtois....
Giorgio Marchetti, deputy secretary general of European football’s governing body, confirmed it would “open a discussion” on the future of the rule used to split teams who are level on aggregate in knockout ties in the Champions League and Europa League. “The coaches think that scoring goals away is not as difficult as it was in the past,” Marchetti told reporters. “They think the rule should be reviewed and that’s what we will do....
Here is the good, bad and dirty from UFC 178. The Good Demetrious Johnson Johnson did what he needed to do in dominating Cariaso. From start to finish, Johnson controlled the fight and put Cariaso out of his misery in the second round. The question is what do you do with Johnson now? He is pound for pound one of the best fighters in the world today and is making quick work of the shallow flyweight division....
The eagerly-anticipated bout ended when Nurmagomedov claimed a fourth-round submission of McGregor, who was making his first mixed martial arts appearance since he won the lightweight title in November 2016. MORE: Join DAZN and watch more than 80 fight nights a year However, the undefeated champion then climbed out of the Octagon after sealing the win and sparked fighting by leaping towards Dillon Danis, a member of his opponent’s team....
