11/15/2008 - London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Arsenal fell nine points off the league lead on Saturday as the Gunners suffered a 2-0 defeat to Aston Villa at the Emirates Stadium.
Ashley Young missed a penalty kick in the 20th minute as Villa created numerous chances in the opening half, however the visitors went in front with 20 minutes to play on a Gael Clichy own-goal and they got a second from Gabriel Agbonlahor 10 minutes later to secure the maximum points.
The win lifts Villa into fifth place, level on 23 points with Arsenal, while the Gunners followed up a big 2-1 win over Manchester United last week by losing for the second time in three league games.
The visitors took the game to Arsenal in the first half and they were rewarded for their efforts in the 20th minute when Young was taken down inside the box by Arsenal's Theo Walcott.
Young picked himself up and stepped to the spot, but his low effort was not hit well, allowing goalkeeper Manuel Almunia to get and make the stop, with William Gallas clearing the rebound to safety.
The Arsenal attack was always a step off on the day, and they had a number of build-ups stopped with sloppy passing.
Villa finally went in front in the 70th minute when Young crossed from the left wing for Agbonlahor. Clichy got inside of his man but he was under pressure from the Villa striker, and the Frenchman's header ended up finding the top corner of his own net.
The Gunners nearly hit back two minutes later when Emmanuel Adebayor's header was turned away by a great diving stop from Villa goalkeeper Brad Friedel, but the hosts went down two goals with 10 minutes to play.
A long clearance from the back allowed Agbonlahor to chase the ball down and get into the box before holding off Gallas and firing past Almunia to put the game away.
Chelsea remained on top of the league with an easy 3-0 win over West Bromwich as Nicolas Anelka scored two times, while Liverpool kept pace with the Blues by beating Bolton 2-0.
Manchester United took over third place as the Red Devils hammered Stoke City 5-0, Fulham downed Tottenham 2-1, Newcastle was denied three points in the final minute as Wigan's Titus Bramble scored to make it a 2-2 game, West Ham and Portsmouth played to a 0-0 draw and Sunderland used two second-half goals to topple Blackburn 2-1.
<< Dundee United's unbeaten run ends at hands of Killie
Kilmarnock, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dundee United's 10-game unbeaten
streak came to an end on Saturday at Rugby Park as Kilmarnock handed the
visitors a 2-0 defeat.
Jamie Hamill converted from the penalty spot in first-half
<< Nirat's eagle enough for Singapore Open lead
Singapore (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chapchai Nirat eagled the 11th hole Saturday and
moved atop the leaderboard during the suspended third round of the Singapore
Open.
Nirat is five-under on his round through 12 holes. He sits at nine-under pa
<< South Carolina's Raley-Ross sidelined with knee sprain
Columbia, SC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - South Carolina guard Brandis Raley-Ross will
miss 3-to-4 weeks with a left knee sprain suffered in Friday night's victory
against Jacksonville State.
Head coach Darrin Horn, in his first season on the jo
<< Around the CFL: Improvements up front a big reason for Als success
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - There's a big reason for the Montreal
Alouettes' turnaround this season.
The Alouettes posted an 11-7 record this year to finish atop the East Division
standings and earn the right to host the co
Lions rebound in rout of Indiana >>
University Park, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Derrick Williams ran for 61 yards with
a touchdown and added 62 yards receiving with another score, as No. 7 Penn
State pulled away for a 34-7 victory over Indiana on a dreary afternoon at
Beaver
Wells, Pryor rush Ohio St. past Illini >>
Champaign, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chris Wells and Terrelle Pryor each ran for
more than 100 yards with a touchdown, leading 10th-ranked Ohio State to a
30-20 victory over Illinois at Memorial Stadium.
Wells finished with 143 yards on
NHL Southeast: Tampa no longer Melrose's place >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It's hardly a shocking occurrence when an NHL head coach
gets fired, but few people could have seen the Tampa Bay Lightning's dismissal
of Barry Melrose coming.
Melrose waited over 13 years to make his return to an NHL ben
No. 13 Georgia escapes Auburn with a win >>
Auburn, AL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matthew Stafford threw a pair of touchdown
passes and Knowshon Moreno ran for 131 yards, but 13th-ranked Georgia needed a
last-minute defensive stop to pull out a 17-13 victory over Auburn at Jordan-
Hare St
In terms of sports wagering, the NFL is "the most popular game in town." The explanation behind that is easy.
It is called the "pointspread."
Many years ago, NFL games, as well as the more popular college games, used straight odds as a vehicle for betting. For example, if the Bears were playing the Giants, and it shaped up as a competitive contest, the Bears might be, say, a 7/5 favorite. If they were playing an also-ran, it might be 10/1. Well, there is a point where a line becomes prohibitive, as far as betting the favorite. And who would waste money betting an underdog that has virtually no chance? Such a setup did not contribute to promoting betting action.
But in modern sports betting, a "pointspread" is used.
A NFL pointspreads are exactly that, a pre-established point difference between the two sides that will, for all intents and purposes, create a handicap that evens things out, and in doing so, produces comparable wagering activity on both sides of that proposition. So in lieu of a odds figure in which to bet the team to win outright, the Bears might be a three-point favorite over the New York Giants, and a 17-point favorite over the also-ran. Now that the team that is the underdog can "get" points, there can be equal action on both sides.
In sportsbooks, this is usually done with efficiency by charging the losing bettors 10% extra - in effect, bettors are laying 11/10 on those games. So they are actually betting $110 to win $100. If they lose, they pay the "vig." If they win, they simply collect.
The establishment of the pointspread as the corner stone around which team sports like football can be wagered upon was truly what brought gridiron betting into the stratosphere.
Don't believe it? Just take a look at what happens around the Super Bowl.
Stay with us here as we take you through the best in NFL action on a consistent basis, with advice columns as well as handicapping selections. If you're looking for college football betting, that's in our NCAA section, which you can reach by clicking here. And if you're looking for a different kind of football, such as the Canadian Football League, which we'll deal with occasionally, or the Arena Football League, which we really like, you can find it in our Miscellaneous section by clicking
Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting odds .
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