Real Madrid goes for fifth-straight win vs. Zaragoza
Soccer Betting Lines
01/27/2012 - Madrid, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Real Madrid welcomes Real Zaragoza to the Bernabeu in La Liga action Saturday as the first-place club looks to secure its fifth-straight league win.
The leaders enter the weekend with a five-point advantage over rivals Barcelona, but after losing out to Pep Guardiola's men in yet another competition - Madrid was eliminated by Barcelona in Copa del Rey on Wednesday - Real will be focused on preserving its first-place position to edge the Catalans in the title race.
Real Madrid assistant coach Aitor Karanka is wary of the threat that last- place Zaragoza can pose and insists that his side is focused on rebounding from its King's Cup exit in the proper manner.
"The squad is thinking about the match against Zaragoza, which will surely be difficult," said Karanka. "Despite the shape they're in, they managed to cause an upset against us last year. The squad only thinks about winning and giving another good performance."
Real Madrid's last La Liga loss came at the hands of Barcelona on Dec. 10 as the Catalans earned a 3-1 win at the Bernabeu. Since then, Madrid has won four-straight league games by a combined score of 17-5.
Zaragoza, which sits bottom of the table with just 12 points on the season, has drawn two-straight league games and is winless in its last 12 La Liga matches. It has not won since Oct. 16, a 2-0 defeat of Real Sociedad.
Barcelona looks to close the gap on Real Madrid as the reigning European champions head to El Madrigal to face lowly Villarreal.
The Catalans have lost just once in La Liga this season, a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Getafe on Nov. 26. That result sparked a six-game unbeaten run that saw Barcelona take 15 points from a possible 18 and outscore opponents 21-5.
Villarreal, meanwhile, sits fourth from bottom on just 19 points. The Yellow Submarines defeated Sporting Gijon, 3-0, on Monday to snap a six-game winless run.
In Saturday's other two La Liga contests, Espanyol looks to extend its unbeaten run to six games when it hosts Mallorca at the Estadi Cornella-El Prat, and Athletic Bilbao looks to build upon its 1-0 win over Mallorca in Copa del Rey on Wednesday when it travels to the Teresa Rivero to face Rayo Vallecano.
On Sunday, Granada hopes to snap its three-game losing skid to climb out of the relegation zone when it faces Real Betis, Levante aims to remain in the top four when it hosts Getafe, Real Sociedad and Sporting Gijon look to bounce back from losses as the two sides meet at the Anoeta, Valencia tries to pull closer to second-place Barcelona when it heads to Racing, and Malaga searches for its first win since November when it welcomes Sevilla.
La Liga play is rounded out on Monday with Osasuna welcoming Atletico Madrid, going for its third-straight league win, to the Reyno de Navarra.
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Amon
Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa
Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.
Should be in:
Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?
Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.
Work left to do:
Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.
Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.
Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.
Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.
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