Different paths to the top for Arsenal, Manchester United

Soccer Betting Lines

11/05/2007 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Saturday's 2-2 draw between Arsenal and Manchester United left the clubs tied atop the Premiership standings, and while they have enjoyed similar results this season, the way that the sides have gotten there is quite different.

Both teams have started their Champions League campaigns off with three straight wins and can clinch a spot in the second round of the competition this week, but they have used different strategies to reach this point.

They are two of the most successful clubs in England, both have money to spend, and both have done well with developing players, but while Manchester United has preferred to throw money around in the transfer window to add to its core group of players, Arsenal has taken a different approach.

The Gunners have instead favored youth and development over quick-fix signings and veteran experience.

When the club allowed long-time striker and captain Thierry Henry to leave for Barcelona over the summer, it looked like Arsenal would once again be left to battle for a spot in the Champions League rather than contend for the league title.

Henry was upset that the club was not interested in making any signings over the summer that would add veteran experience. The Frenchman felt that if Arsenal was going to take the next step, then it had to add veteran leadership to a team that had become increasingly reliant on youthful exuberance.

However, Henry left for Spain and all Arsenal has done is go unbeaten in its first 11 Premiership games and join United at the top of the table.

Arsene Wenger's side has thrived despite the absence of Henry because they have always had players who are capable of picking up the slack. Robin Van Persie was brilliant in taking over the role as Arsenal's top scoring threat, until a knee injury sustained while playing for the Netherlands put him on the sideline.

Prior to the ailment, the Dutchman had scored five goals in the team's first seven games, and teamed with Emmanuel Adebayor to form a lethal strike partnership.

Since then, it has been Adebayor who has shouldered the scoring load, netting six goals on the season and getting some help from dynamic midfielder Francesc Fabregas, who shares the team scoring lead with Adebayor and is the key cog in the Arsenal machine.

The trio has more in common then just the ability to score goals. None of the three have yet celebrated their 25th birthday, and all three have seen their careers blossom under the watchful eye of Wenger.

Adebayor joined Arsenal prior to the 2006 season from France, but he was not a well-known commodity or a sure bet to develop into a top-notch striker.

Both Van Persie and Fabregas have been with the London club since the early part of their careers, and have steadily worked their way into the lineup, taking over for the likes of departed veterans Dennis Bergkamp and Patrick Vieira.

Arsenal has been patient with its young players over the past couple of seasons, allowing youngsters like Fabregas, Van Persie, Gael Clichy, Mathieu Flamini and Emmanuel Eboue to develop. They have not been serious title challengers in the past few years, but their patience has paid off with a team that looks likely to contend with United and Chelsea over the course of a long season.

For Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester United, patience is not a word that is uttered too often around Old Trafford.

Sure, Ferguson has seen his share of young players blossom before his eyes, but he prefers to make the most of the money made available to him for spending on transfers.

Much like free agency in American sports, the transfer window offers soccer teams the ability to turn their fortunes around with one or two big signings.

Ferguson has become a master at identifying young talent at other clubs, and bringing those players to Manchester with huge contracts that the team can afford because it is one of the most popular and wealthiest clubs in the world.

Striker Wayne Rooney was a teenage phenom at Everton before becoming the goal- scoring threat he is today. Cristiano Ronaldo showed flashes of brilliance at Sporting Lisbon before he displayed the ability to become one of the top players in the world last season.

United has had players like Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs, who have come up through the ranks and been with the club their entire careers, but they truly rely on spending big bucks for blue-chip talent.

After winning the league title last season, Ferguson still went out and spent millions in the transfer window this summer on Carlos Tevez, Owen Hargreaves, Anderson and Nani.

Arsenal, meanwhile, did not feel compelled to throw cash around, and instead ended up selling longtime Gunners Henry and Fredrik Ljungberg. Wenger has also seen the departure of veterans Ashley Cole and Vieira in recent years, but he has always stuck by his young guns.

Now, those young guns are blossoming and challenging United and its big-ticket items for the league title.

Both are gearing up for lengthy runs in the Champions League, and both are ready for a season-long tussle at the top of the Premiership.

Both teams are also proving that there is more than one road that leads to the top.

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.


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Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.

As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.

Bet 2010 Super Bowl Odds

The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.

Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).

But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.

Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.

Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:

Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1

Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2

New York Giants - 9 - 2

Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).

Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.

So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.

And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.

They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.

Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.

But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.

Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.

Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.

Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.

Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?

Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.

In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.

Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.

Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.

The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.

The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.

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