AZ out to play spoiler

Soccer Betting Lines

05/01/2009 - Enschede, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - AZ Alkmaar's victory lap continues on Sunday when the club travels to Arke Stadion to meet second-placed Twente, which is in a heated battle for second place.

AZ clinched the Eredivisie title two weeks ago, and despite having no real incentive last week against third-placed Ajax, still held the Amsterdam side to a 1-1 draw.

Now, AZ will try to spoil Twente's hopes of finishing in second place and putting themselves into the qualifying round of the Champions League next season.

Twente enters the match having lost 1-0 to Feyenoord two weeks ago and then playing to a 1-1 draw with Heerenveen last time out.

But despite the club's recent struggles, manager Steve McClaren believes that his team is capable of taking all three points against the champions and that all of their hard work to this point will not go unrewarded.

"Back in August, if I said that Twente, at this stage of the season, would compete for awards, you would have said I was mad," McClaren said. "The team has gradually grown over the season and it is because of hard work that we are in this position."

"We know what we should do on Sunday and that is win," the manager said. "The game against Ajax showed that AZ are very good and that they can win. In this game, there will be many eyes on AZ, who would like to show that they are the best."

Ajax faces a less daunting task when they visit 14th-placed Sparta, who still is not safe from the bottom three.

Sparta is three points above 16th-placed Volendam, but they are running into a motivated Ajax team that needs three points to keep its Champions League hopes on track.

Marco Van Basten's side has also stumbled in the past two weeks, losing 6-2 to PSV Eindhoven two weeks ago before finishing 1-1 with AZ, prompting the manager to vent a bit of frustration after last week's draw.

"Last week we waisted a chance to overtake Twente and basically we did that again," Van Basten said. "Thankfully we still have control over what's going to happen."

The reason why Ajax still controls its own destiny is that Twente will visit Amsterdam Arena next week on the final day of the season, and as long as Ajax remains within touching distance, they will have a chance to clinch second place on home soil.

PSV hosts NEC with an eye towards wrapping up a top-four spot, while fifth- placed Heerenveen, which is two points back of PSV, entertains Den Haag.

Groningen has already secured a spot in the top eight, giving them a chance to pick up a European spot, and they will meet Volendam, while Feyenoord travels to Utrecht in a match that will go a long way towards determining who joins Groningen.

The relegation battle is still ongoing with Roda just one point from safety and hosting Willem II, while last-placed Graafschap travels to NAC just two points from safety and Heracles, which is three clear of the bottom three, visits Vitesse.

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Super Bowl XLIII Betting - Super Bowl 2009

Super Bowl 2009, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Let’s take a look at the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds and the betting line and figure out where they’ve been and where they are going to go.

MySportsbook.com put up the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds late on Sunday night with the Pittsburgh Steelers favored by 6.5 points and a total betting line at 47.5 points.

Since then, however, the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds have seen a good deal of movement and you’ll want to be on top of where they are likely to move to make sure you get the best line value for the big game.

Since opening, the Super Bowl 2009 betting lines went to Steelers -7 in the span of roughly 3 hours but were quickly bought back down just minutes later to 6.5 again.

After that is took about 5-6 more hours before the betting line went back to -7 where it has sat for a while now and is likely to remain. The opening betting total of 47.5 was bet down right after the line became available and went to 47 within minutes.

Roughly a day later it has been bet even further down to the 46.5 tally it currently is set at.

Roughly 60% of gamblers seem to be on the Cardinals here so the point spread will be bet down and a 7.5 would not last very long at all with many taking the early 6.5 in hopes of finding a potential middle in the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds.

If you like Arizona and see a 7.5, I’d take it as soon as possible because it’s unlikely to last. For Pittsburgh backers, the -7 might be the best you’ll be able to find but a 6.5 is definitely possible close to game time.

Regarding the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds for the total, most tracked gamblers are already on the over and with those who took the under 47.5 already securing a middle on the over 46.5, the only way I see it moving is back up to 47 so if you like the over, I’d recommend betting now.

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