Another blow to Schalke's title hopes
Soccer Betting Lines
03/10/2007 - Hannover, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Schalke's run of shaky play continued on Saturday as the Bundesliga leaders were held to a 1-1 draw by Hannover at AWD- Arena.
The result puts Schalke four points clear of both Werder Bremen and Stuttgart, but Bremen can close that gap to just one point with a win against Bayern Munich on Sunday. It has now been one month since Schalke last won a game in league play as they have two losses and two draws since that time. The fact that Schalke has remained on top despite its poor run of play speaks volumes about how inconsistent Germany's top-flight league has been this season, but manager Mirko Slomka has to be discouraged by the fact that his team has squandered a number of chances to pull away in the title chase.
The game started off well for Schalke as Halil Altintop put the visitors on the board in just the second minute. However, Schalke let down momentarily and found itself on level terms just two minutes later courtesy of a goal from Michael Tarnat. The hosts then got the better of the play throughout the rest of the game but had to settle for just one point.
Schalke took advantage of an early set-piece opportunity with Mesut Ozil providing the cross. The ball was played into the box from the right and Altintop held off his defender and poked it past keeper Robert Enke with an outstretched foot to make it 1-0.
Hannover then responded less than two minutes later with a set-piece chance of its own. Schalke keeper Manuel Neuer failed to claim a corner kick, leaving his goal exposed behind him. Hanno Balitsch had the first chance to tie the match but his shot slammed off the post. However, Tarnat was there to force the ball over the goal line from close range for his first goal of the season.
The visitors looked to be dangerous on the set-piece, with Enke called into action on a few occasions to keep the game tied at 1-1 before halftime.
After the restart the home club produced the better chances, but were unlucky to grab all three points.
Hannover's Szabolcs Huszti nearly beat Neuer at his near post, but the keeper kept the ball out and jumped on the rebound just before Chavdar Yankov could put it home.
Tarnat almost had his second goal of the match in stoppage time as his free- kick effort was stopped well by Neuer. The keeper then recovered in time to turn away the follow-up effort of Frank Fahrenhorst to ensure Schalke a share of the points.
In other Bundesliga action on Saturday, last-placed Monchengladbach got two goals from Nando Rafael to defeat Hertha Berlin 3-1 and move to within three points of avoiding relegation. Alemania Aachen recorded a 2-0 win at Energie, a Leon Andreasen penalty kick in the 51st minute was enough to get Mainz past Arminia Bielefeld 1-0, Stuttgart missed a chance to gain ground on Schalke as they were held to a 0-0 draw against Wolfsburg and Bochum blanked Dortmund 2-0 behind a pair of goals from Theofanis Gekas.
On Sunday, Werder Bremen and Bayern Munich square off in a big game to see if one team can close the gap on Schalke and Bayer Leverkusen hits the road to meet Hamburg.
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What Is the Point Spread?
What are Sports Betting Point Spreads?
In any football or basketball game (the main sports that use point spreads) there are two teams playing against each other.
Those teams, though, are rarely exactly evenly matched – meaning that typically one team has a better chance than the other to win the game. If bettors were allowed to bet on who was simply going to win the game, smart ones would obviously bet on the better team (likely winning more than 50% of the time in the process).
If winning were that easy the Las Vegas and online sportsbooks would stop taking any bets! This is where the point spread comes in: the basic function of the point spread is to balance the likelihood of each team “winning” by adjusting the final score by the point spread. After this adjustment is made you get the Against The Spread result (ATS result for short).
Let’s look at Super Bowl XXXIX, New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles. Most people believed the defending champ Patriots to be the better team – so if betting were simply based upon which team would win the game, an uneven majority of people would have wagered on New England. But, by using the point spread, the bookmakers adjusted the terms of the bet, evening the proposition so about half the people believed the Pats to be the smart bet, while the other half considered Philly to be the smart bet.
How to Read Point Spreads
New England Patriots -7 vs. Philadelphia Eagles
The better team, called the Favorite, is expected to win the game and must “give” or “lay” points to the weaker team. The favorite is listed with a minus sign and the number of points they are favored by (e.g., New England -7)
In the case of our example, New England must not only win the game, but they must win by more than 7 points for Pats bettors to have a winning ATS result. An Eagles bettor wins his bet either if:
- Philly wins the actual game by any amount of points
OR
- Philly loses the game by less than 7 points.
-
There was also the possibility that the final score could land exactly on the spread number (for example, the Pats winning 28-21 when -7), which is called a “push” or “no action” and a refund is then issued to bettors of both teams.
The same game with the same point spread can be considered from the weaker team’s perspective: The Underdog (Philly in the case of our example) is not expected to win the game and online football betting thus receives or “gets” points given by the stronger team. When a game is stated from the underdog’s perspective the team is listed with a plus sign and the number of points they are underdogs by:
Philadelphia Eagles +7 vs. New England Patriots
Keep in mind that Philadelphia +7 and New England -7 is the same point spread on the same game, simply stated differently. The first is from the underdog’s perspective; the later is from the favorite’s.
For Those Who Like to Consider Things Mathematically
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
- Subtracting the point spread from the favorite’s score (thus the minus sign before the number) and then compare to the underdog’s score
OR
- Adding the point spread to the underdog’s score (thus the plus sign before the number) and then compare to the favorite’s score
Who Really “Won” the Super Bowl odds ?
Let’s look at the actual result of Super Bowl XXXIX: New England 24 Philadelphia 21
The favorite, New England, won the game but not by more than the point spread they were favored by (7), so the ATS result was a LOSS for Pats bettors.
Looking at it from the underdog’s perspective, Philly did not win the game, but they lost by less than the point spread (7), so the ATS result was a WIN for Eagle bettors.
Mathematically considered, 24 for the favorite Pats minus 7 equals 17, which is less than the 20 the Eagles scored, so the underdog Eagles win the ATS result (or you could figure 20 plus 7 equals 27 for the Eagles, which is more than 24 for the Pats).
Emily’s boyfriend understood the point spread and wagered $100 on the Eagles at +7. The Eagles may not have gotten a Super Bowl ring, but since they won the ATS result Emily’s boyfriend cashed his bet – giving him money to take her out to a nice dinner.
And now hopefully you understand how to read point spreads, putting you one step closer to joining the fun of sports betting.
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