Sounders aim to continue winning ways against 'Quakes

Soccer Betting Lines

07/30/2010 - Santa Clara, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Seattle Sounders FC will go for their third straight win on Saturday when they visit Buck Shaw Stadium to face the San Jose Earthquakes.

The Sounders followed a 1-0 win over D.C. United with a 2-1 victory against the Colorado Rapids last time out, and despite a poor start to the season, they now find themselves just four points back of third-place FC Dallas.

The club has also been active in the transfer market with two new designated players joining the team recently.

Swiss striker Blaise Nkufo made his Sounders debut in the win over the Rapids, while just this past Thursday, Seattle added a third DP with the signing of Uruguay international Alvaro Fernandez.

The 24-year-old Fernandez was part of Uruguay's World Cup team in South Africa, and his presence will help to bolster the midfield.

Fernandez is unlikely to be ready to play this weekend, but his inclusion in the lineup in the near future can only help a Seattle attack that is becoming more potent.

"We have been tracking Alvaro for a while," said Seattle owner/general manager Adrian Hanauer. "Versatility, quality, character, a lot of the same attributes that we have been interested in all along attracted us to him. Alvaro is a player who has a very good pace. He is good in the air. He can play anywhere across the midfield. Again, we just felt like another quality player was necessary to continue to build on what we have got and certainly to make a run for the playoffs."

That run toward the postseason will be made easier if striker Fredy Montero can continue to play at a high level.

Nkufo's presence up top will no doubt help Montero, but he has done fine on his own lately, scoring three goals and assisting on five more in the past seven games.

San Jose enters the match just one point clear of Seattle, but they are riding a four-game unbeaten streak that includes a 2-2 draw with the Western Conference leaders, Los Angeles Galaxy.

The Earthquakes took a one-goal lead into the final minutes of the game, but were denied all three points by a late goal from Landon Donovan.

L.A. sits atop the conference with 40 points from 18 games, nine points clear of second-place Real Salt Lake. However, 'Quakes midfielder Bobby Convey feels that the Galaxy is not as good as their record might indicate, and that San Jose has only themselves to blame for the result.

"I think [the Galaxys] record is a bit unrealistic, because they've played three more games than we have," Convey told mlssoccer.com. "So I don't think they're as good as everyone thinks they are. They had a good run and they have good players, but we lost the game. They didn't win it. We lost the three points."

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Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).

As of Wednesday, MySportsbook.com closed its book with Mayweather a favorite to defeat De La Hoya at -170 (a $100 bet wins $70), while De La Hoya is a +140 underdog (a $100 bet wins $140).

Mayweather arrived at about 11:30 a.m. on a big truck with his face and a big "World's Best Pound-for-Pound" sign scribbled across the vehicle. He was accompanied by his entourage made up of rappers and his training team.

A crowd of close to 3,000 eager fans packed the MGM Grand lobby, with their cameras in tow, all trying to vie for position to get a good angle at Mayweather, who is acknowledged as the world's best fighter pound-for-pound.

Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice-president, described the fan turnout as "amazing" and swore he had never seen anything quite like this event.

"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.

De La Hoya made his own grand entrance at the hotel lobby at around 12:30 p.m. accompanied by GBP chief executive officer Richard Schaefer and trainer Freddie Roach.

The same group of fans who trooped to see Mayweather also lingered around to get a close look at De La Hoya, who has been secretly working out at a Las Vegas gym for days after arriving from his main training camp in Puerto Rico.

The golden boy then took part in a closed-door afternoon workout with Bautista and Banal. The two, along with Aldeguer and wife Christine, as well as an HBO crew were the only ones allowed inside the gym.

De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.

Ring Magazine, the acknowledged bible of boxing, reported in its June 2007 issue that 12 out of 20 boxing experts it interviewed have favored Mayweather to defeat De la Hoya, with only 8 favoring the latter.

But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on boxing needs.