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02/06/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Papiss Cisse's Newcastle debut may have come a bit earlier than expected, but he sure gave fans on Tyneside something to get excited about.
The Senegal international was the most expensive signing in a subdued January transfer window when he moved from German side Freiburg to Newcastle for nearly $16 million.
But the African Cup of Nations not only took Newcastle's leading scorer, Demba Ba, away from the club in January but would also delay the debut of Cisse.
Newcastle was expected to struggle without Ba, who leads the club with 16 goals this season, but Senegal's early exit from the competition has been a big boost to the fortunes of the Magpies.
Senegal was considered to be one of the top teams in the tournament, but stunning defeats to Zambia, Equatorial Guinea and Libya saw the team crash out in embarrassing fashion.
This paved the way for the early returns of Ba and Cisse, who both made major contributions in the club's 2-1 win over Aston Villa on Sunday.
Cisse had just arrived earlier in the week and found himself on the bench for Sunday's match, with the chance that he might feature as a substitute in the second half.
However, a knee injury to striker Leon Best just 14 minutes into the contest paved the way for Cisse, who got a warm reception from the fans at Sports Direct Arena upon his arrival.
And the 26-year-old didn't disappoint, generating a few decent scoring chances before capping his debut with a moment of brilliance.
With the game tied at 1-1, Jonas Gutierrez crossed the ball from the left wing to Cisse at the edge of the penalty area. He took the ball down off his chest and in one smooth motion, found the upper corner of the net with a left-footed strike that was pure genius.
It was a goal that was worthy of a match-winner, and gave Newcastle fans a glimpse of what could be a very promising future.
Early this season Newcastle found itself in the top five in the EPL table because of a stingy defense that yielded only four goals in its first seven games.
But injuries to the back line, including a season-ending one to Steven Taylor, has since seen the opposition find the back of the net more frequently, bringing about concerns that Newcastle simply doesn't have enough firepower to keep up.
Ba has enjoyed a stellar campaign for Alan Pardew's men with 16 goals, but after the former West Ham man, Best is next on the list with four goals to his name.
The arrival of Cisse provides a potent strike partner for Ba, who should benefit from playing alongside another proven scorer.
Cisse notched nine goals in 17 Bundesliga games for Freiburg prior to his arrival on Tyneside this season, which follows a campaign in which he finished second to Bayern Munich's Mario Gomez on the German scoring chart with 22 goals in 32 games.
The 26-year-old has yet to prove that his prolific scoring prowess will transfer to the Premier League, but Sunday's highlight-reel goal is a good start.
Ba and Cisse together give Newcastle the potential for one of the top strike partnerships in the Premier League, and have fans dreaming of a place in Europe for next season.
Following Sunday's 2-1 win, Newcastle sits in fifth place and just one point back of fourth-place Chelsea.
There is still plenty of work to be done to secure a European berth, but the arrival of a player like Cisse could be the kind of difference-making move necessary to put Newcastle over the top.
<< Kentucky again tops men's hoops poll
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<< Meara signs with the Red Bulls
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2012 MLS SuperDraft. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
"Ryan is a talented, y
<< Upcoming schedule for Saturday's winners in flux
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<< Marcelino sacked by Sevilla
Seville, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sevilla announced on Monday that the club
has decided to part ways with manager Marcelino Garcia Toral after a poor run
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Sabres coach Ruff suffers injury at practice >>
Buffalo, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Buffalo Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff had to be
helped off the ice during Monday's practice after colliding with Jordan
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Warriors waive Barron >>
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Golden State Warriors have waived center
Earl Barron and recalled forward Chris Wright from the Dakota Wizards of the
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Cards ink Cora to minor league deal >>
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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.
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:
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.
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
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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