2011 Champions League Final Odds, Picks & Info
2011 Champion League Final Date: Saturday, May 28th, 2011
2011 Champions League Kick Off Time: 2:45 ET
2011 Champions League Location: Wembley Stadium, England
2011 Champions League Final Favorite: Barcelona (-200)
2011 Champions League Final Underdog: Manchester United (+175)
2011 Champions League TV Coverage – Network: Fox, ESPN3.com

And it all comes down to this… Soccer betting fans have been waiting all season long to see two of the best international sides in the entire world come together for the Champions League Final picks, and on Saturday, May 28th, we’ll finally see exactly what we were looking for. The champions of the English Premier League, Manchester United, will take on the champions from the Spanish La Liga, Barcelona in a battle of two of the biggest titans in the soccer world.

Manchester United should have the advantage from the standpoint of having the home crowd on its side, as this all or nothing fixture will be played at Wembley Stadium, not all that far away from its home at Old Trafford. The Red Devils have been absolutely thrilling in this entire season, from their triumph in the EPL all the way through the Champions League.

United made it through a relatively easy first group which featured Rangers, Valencia, and Bursaspor, accounting for all but four possible points in the competition, allowing just one goal. From there, it was a challenge against Olympique Marseille before winning 2-1 on aggregate. The quarterfinals featured a 3-1 aggregate victory over English rivals, Chelsea, and the semifinals were no problem whatsoever against the struggling German side, Schalke 04. The Red Devils won 6-1 on aggregate to reach the finale.

The defense for the Red Devils has been tough all season long. In the EPL, they had one of the top units in the league, but in the EPL, there really has been no comparison. Manchester United has allowed just four goals in its 12 fixtures to date, and top keeper Edwin van der Sar has only surrendered three of them.

Wayne Rooney is the offensive leader of this team in spite of the fact that he wasn’t the leader in goals during the season. He has three goals, and he only trails Javier Hernandez, who has four in this competition. Dimitar Berbatov, who had 20 goals in the EPL campaign, has yet to find pay dirt here in the Champions League, but you can bet that he’ll be looking for glory in the finale on Saturday night at Wembley.

Barcelona might not have won the Copa del Rey this year, but that was about the only distinction that it didn’t end up collecting on the season in Espana. The Catalans won the La Liga title with a whopping 96 points, four clear of Real Madrid, and they outscored their foes by an absolutely astounding 74 goals. They won 30 of their 38 matches, some of which came with some substandard sides out on the pitch.

Barca was a little bit more prone to allowing goals in this competition, as it ended up conceding three in the first round of fixtures alone. After that though, the road was incredibly tough to get here, as the Spanish side definitely earned its spot in the finale. Arsenal actually beat the Catalans at the Emirates, only to lose 3-1 in the return leg to get eliminated. From there, the only goals scored were relatively meaningless strikes by Shakhtar Donetsk and Real Madrid. The runners up in Spain were beaten 2-0 on their home pitch, which gave Barcelona arguably the most impressive victory in this competition regardless of team to date.

Lionel Messi has been absolutely off of the charts in this competition, and if Barca is to beat the Champions League lines on this day, he will probably be the man to do the damage. He had a whopping 11 goals on 64 shots in 10 matches, numbers which are just stunning. He’s definitely not the only goal scorer on this team, though. Pedro had four goals in just seven matches, while David Villa had three goals.

The last time that these two behemoths of the sport collided was in the 2008 Champions League finale. Messi scored the game clincher in the 70th minute that day of a 2-0 win for the Spaniards.

Manchester United vs. Barcelona Match Odds @ Bet Online Sportsbook (as of 5/22/11):
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Barcelona +109 (-0.5, +109)
Manchester United +275 (+0.5, -119)
Draw +205

Barcelona To Lift Trophy -200
Manchester United To Lift Trophy +150

Current Champions League Final Odds @ Sportbet Sportsbook) (as of 5/22/11):
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Barcelona +106 (-0.5, +106)
Manchester United +296 (+0.5 , -120)
Draw: +248

Barcelona To Lift Trophy -200
Manchester United To Lift Trophy +175

List of Current Fifa 2010 World Cup Odds Can Be Found Below!

Thirty-two teams will be vying for the biggest prize in soccer this summer when the World Cup heads to South Africa. The competition will run from the middle of June through the middle of July, and Bankroll Sportsbook has the lowdown on the teams in the field that you should be watching out for as well as all the 2010 World Cup odds completely listed below.

We’ll start with the defending champions, Italy (+1200 at Oddsmaker). Everything seemed to go right in the last World Cup for the Azzurri, who finished off the French in the World Cup final by the count of 5-3 in penalty kicks. That game was most known for the head butt that French phenom Zinedine Zidane issued that earned him a red card in his final international match. Italy comes into this tournament ranked #4 in the world right now in the FIFA rankings. They have tasted victory in the World Cup four times before in team history, winning in 1934, 1938, 1982, and 2006. At these odds, the Italians are sure can’t misses.

Keep this in mind when placing your World Cup betting action as well. The only teams to win the World Cup in its history have been Uruguay, Italy, West Germany, Brazil, England, Argentina, and France. So, even though there are appealing prices on some of these lesser-known teams, don’t fall into the trap!

For example, the host nation, South Africa (+12500 at Oddsmaker) has surprisingly long odds considering that they will be playing nothing but home games in this World Cup. However, the likelihood just getting out of the group stage seems slim at best with Mexico, Uruguay, and France all in the Group A mix. Even if South Africa does advance, the likelihood of slipping past Argentina or one of the other Group B teams in the Round of 16 seems slim at best. The most recent host nation to hoist the trophy at tournament’s end was France in 1998.

The United States of America (+8000 at Oddsmaker) have taken a huge step in the international sporting world. Look no further than the way that the Americans performed at these Olympic Games in Vancouver to show just that. If you’re looking for more proof, check out how well the USA played in the ’09 Confederations Cup. They advanced all the way to the finale and took a 2-0 lead on Brazil before succumbing to the #1 team in the world. The USA easily qualified for the World Cup out of the CONCACAF region and is ranked 11th in the world according to FIFA at this point. The stars and stripes probably won’t ultimately win the whole enchilada, but it’s hard to see how they won’t qualify for at least the Round of 16 in this tournament. If the US wins this Group C and Germany wins Group D, a matchup with either Serbia, Australia, or Ghana awaits. At that point, if you’ve got the USA on your ticket, you could have an 80/1 shot having a one in eight chance of cashing for you.

For that same reason, England (+600 at Oddsmaker) has great odds. Even though they notoriously choke on the biggest stages and didn’t qualify for Euro 2008, the Brits are armed with a very dangerous squad that has a great draw to reach the quarterfinals of this tournament. The lines here obviously aren’t as good on England as they are on the USA, but Britain more than likely has a stronger side with a more realistic chance of winning the whole thing.

As always, you’ve got to keep your eyes peeled for the teams like Brazil (+500 at Oddsmaker) and Spain (+450 at Oddsmaker). These two heavy hitters should easily coast into the second round of this tournament, and both have favorable draws to get all the way to the semifinals of the tournament.

Current 2010 Fifa World Cup Odds at Oddsmaker (as of 2/26/10):
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Algeria +30000
Argentina +900
Australia +10000
Brazil +500
Cameroon +8000
Chile +5000
Denmark +10000
England +600
France +1200
Germany +900
Ghana +5000
Greece +12500
Honduras +75000
Italy +1200
Ivory Coast +2500
Japan +30000
Korea +200000
Mexico +8000
Netherlands +1300
New Zealand +150000
Nigeria +10000
Paraguay +6600
Portugal +2200
Serbia +6600
Slovakia +25000
Slovenia +20000
South Africa +10000
Spain +400
Switzerland +20000
Uruguay +8000
USA +8000

List of 2010 World Cup Odds From Bodog Sportsbook (as of 2/26/10):
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Spain 9/2
Brazil 5/1
England 11/2
Argentina 9/1
Italy 11/1
Germany 12/1
Netherlands 12/1
France 14/1
Ivory Coast 25/1
Portugal 28/1
USA 50/1
Chile 50/1
Serbia 50/1
Ghana 50/1
Paraguay 66/1
Mexico 80/1
Cameroon 80/1
South Africa 100/1
Nigeria 100/1
Uruguay 100/1
Denmark 100/1
Australia 100/1
Greece 125/1
Switzerland 200/1
Slovenia 200/1
Slovakia 200/1
Algeria 250/1
Japan 300/1
Korea 300/1
Honduras 500/1
New Zealand 1500/1