As we noted earlier, the MLS is made up of 19 teams, ranked one through 19. Currently, the MLS is in week nine of their regular season, with the top seed ranked in the top five, while the bottom seed is ranked from 17 – 19. Right now, the San Jose Earthquakes have ousted the Sporting Kansas City as the top team according to the power rankings. The Earthquakes own a record of seven – two – one on the season, and have found their offense in recent weeks. Meanwhile, Sporting Kansas City is seven and two, with the two losses coming this past week. What’s more alarming, is that Kansas City’s offense has dried up, as the club was NHL shut out in both contests.

On the other hand, the two worst teams in the MLS are the Portland Timbers and Toronto FC. Portland dropped from 16^th to 18^th this week, after dropping to the bottom of the Western Conference. Entering the season, Portland was a favorite to win the MLS Cup as they have a ton of potential, but a two – five – two record shows the struggle they have had all season. Conversely, last night’s Canadian Championship semi-finals victory over Montreal further indicates a tale of two different Toronto FC squads. On the one hand, Toronto FC has experienced much success outside of MLS action. Conversely, every time they play a meaningful game, Toronto FC loses, as they have lost all eight of their MLS contests so far this season.

In just over two weeks time, the UEFA Championship for 2012 will be determined, as British firm Chelsea takes on German firm Bayern Munich. From top to bottom, both Chelsea and Bayern Munich are very powerful teams. One of the reasons Chelsea has got to the finals is because of the strong play of goalie Peter Czech who only conceded two goals combined in the semi-final legs against Barcelona. Czech isn’t often mentioned in the same sentence as some of the great goalies of this generation. Nevertheless, as long as he is healthy, the Chelsea Blues should be comfortable in their matchup with Bayern Munich.

Having a good goalie is also important when your team faces an offensively gifted team. For example, the aforementioned Czech had to endure an on slot of scoring chances over a two game series with Barcelona. For those MLB blogs not familiar with Barcelona, know, that the entire team could probably be placed in the football hall of fame tomorrow. On the other hand, Bayern Munich hasn’t really had to worry goaltending, as the team’s offense has dominated most of their matches. In other words, a good goalie such as Czech should have more of an affect on the number of goals set by the sportsbooks, then Bayern Munich goalie.

Similar to a big four North American franchise, the various soccer clubs throughout Europe and North America will go through their rival’s rosters and look at players that can improve their clubs. Whether you are in the EPL or MLS, if you are a quality player, you could find yourself on a better franchise. For example, despite being signed to a five year contract by the Los Angeles Galaxy, David Beckham a star midfielder, has often found himself on team’s in the SPL for a short period of time. What is worth noting is that transfers depend on a number of issues, from fully buying a contract to renting a player.

These two factors affect lines drastically. For instance, if an SPL club buys Beckham’s contract, then their odds may increase while the LA Galaxy lines decrease significantly. At the same time, if the SPL team rents Beckham from the Galaxy, then the lines will not be affected as much. The reason for this is that the MLB bookies understand, that Beckham will be back to help improve the Galaxy if he is rented. Meanwhile, if Beckham is bought and not replaced, then the bookies understand that the Galaxy will struggle.

The first factor to always consider is to look at the roster. Similar to the big four North American sports, soccer rosters overturn dramatically in the offseason. Except for maybe Barcelona, you could argue, that a team such as Chelsea or Liverpool, who are also in the UEFA Cup, will have a completely different roster from one year to the next. For this reason, the odds increase or decrease accordingly. In other words, a strong roster a season ago doesn’t necessitate a strong roster for the current season. For this reason, being aware of which team’s roster has remained intact from season to season will be vital to the success of your MLB wager.

Another issue is past performances. As is the case in many sports, bettors like to look for a trend, to feel comfortable wagering upon. The most common trend people use is how the team’s fared in their last meeting. For example, if Chelsea destroyed Liverpool last year in the UEFA semi final, then you may think that taking Chelsea this year would guarantee the same result. With this being the case, it’s important to look at the roster makeup and how both teams have faired in the current season. Liverpool could play with more of an edge, in an effort to redeem the embarrassing loss from a year ago.

For those only tuning into the Champions League for European Football Clubs now, shame on you. As it stands, the eight remaining teams in this year’s tournament, include, the defending Champion Barcelona FC, the aforementioned Bayern Munich and Chelsea, as well as AC Milan, APOEL, Olympique de Marseille, Real Madrid and SL Benefica. For all intents and purposes, Barcelona remains the favorite in the tournament, as they have been one of the best teams on the planet, for the last four years. One could argue, that Barcelona is literally the Spanish National Team plus reigning player of the year Lionel Messi. When you have that many star players on one team, it doesn’t seem fair to predict that this team will lose this season.

The team of particular interest to both fans and bookies alike are the Chelsea Blues. It was just over two years ago, that the Blues were the best team in the world, as they not only won the EPL title but they also won the Champions League title for 2010. Then a year ago, the lone remaining British club, experienced a hangover of sorts, as they failed to make it to the quarterfinals and retain the EPL title in regular season play. On paper, after winning four to one against Napoli yesterday, the Blues appear to be regaining form. In theory, they could once again be featured in the Champions League final, if this is indeed a motivated March Madness betting group.

With 16 teams remaining in the Champions League tournament, to crown the best club in the world, fans will be happy to know, that this year’s final, will be completely different from a year ago. Manchester United was unable to advance to the round of 16, which in turn, means that defending champions Barcelona should be all accounts have new competition to face. The Spanish National team plus Argentina’s Lionel Messi, has shown fans for the last three years, that no team can play better then them. A year ago on the grandest stage of them all, the aforementioned Messi, proved why he is the best in the world, as he torched Manchester United’s defenders scoring two of the team’s three goals in the victory.

On paper, the only team that actually appears ready to stand in Barcelona’s way is fellow Spanish side, Real Madrid. Another all-star team of sorts, Real Madrid has been an Achilles heel for Barcelona in SPL play, as they have taken the latter to the limit on numerous occasions. By all accounts, the duo won’t meet until the final, which in turn could prove to be an all time classic. Who wouldn’t want to see Cristiano Ronaldo go head to head with Lionel Messi on the biggest stage of them all? MLB fans would be wise in taking Barcelona.

Almost four years ago in June of 2008, Interpol released a report, indicating that they had shutdown over 272 gambling rings in Asia and seized over $650 Million in revenue on a series of charges. Several of the charges against the Asian mafia, were suggested tampering with soccer games in the country, in order to assure that the mafia sportsbooks turned a profit, while their bettors lost a considerable amount of money. As it relates to illegal gambling, Interpol recently brought FIFA into the investigation, as they believed that some officials were involved in the self-labeled fixed matches. For this reason, several officials were let go, as their careers were tarnished by the allegations.

Nevertheless, despite the awful allegations, FIFA for an unexplainable reason, kept their chairman, who present day remains criticized for his efforts or lack thereof. In fact, another area of soccer often suggested to involve bribery, is the World Cup selections. Over the last 12 years, the World Cup has been held in small markets, in an attempt to raise the game’s popularity. Yet, similar to the 1919 MLB World Series, many people, believe that these small markets hosting the World Cup, have some how bribed the FIFA officials, into voting for them.

One of the main reasons why home field advantage is essential to the success of a team, is because of the unofficial 12^th man. In other words, some teams are great at home, because their fans aren’t just fans, they are fanatics. Fanatics differ from the average fan, because they take the game as seriously as the players, and in some cases more seriously then the players. For this reason, a team such as Real Madrid can go undefeated in 12 contests at home, but be awful on the road.

Now at first glance, bettors watching the NFL scores are probably wondering why a team such as Real Madrid can be wicked at home but awful on the road? In essence, as we noted earlier, some teams fans take the game more seriously then the players. With this in mind, there have been plenty of riots over the years, as visiting team fans get into fights with the home team fans. To avoid the riots, the soccer league organizers have banned certain fan bases from being allowed at road games. In turn, Real Madrid is awful on the road, because they do not have the support on the road that they would have at home.

Depending on which sportsbook you place your wagers with, you may have the opportunity to use a universal handicapping system, which acts as a predictor on what certain lines will be set at. For instance, in 2006, when Italy took on France in the World Cup, the total was set at one and a half goals. While this is considered low for both clubs, handicappers working with Pinnacle saw the line coming a mile away, because of the aforementioned universal handicapping system.

Commonly, the totals for soccer games are roughly around one point three goal, as the average soccer team scores a goal a game, sometimes more. Meaning to say, if a football club such as Barcelona takes on Manchester United, you may see the line closer to two point three as both teams have great offenses. However, if you took the under in any of their games, you also stood a chance at making a profit, as both Barcelona and Manchester United have excellent defenses. In other words, while they score a ton of goals, they do not concede that many.

Originally known as the European Cup, the UEFA Champions League started out in 1955 – 56 season in which 16 of the top league clubs across Europe were invited to compete for the award. The countries sending clubs were Italy, Denmark, Austria, Belgium, Sweden, Netherlands, Poland, Scotland, Yugoslavia, Spain, West Germany, Saar, Switzerland, Portugal, France and Hungary.  The first known match of the tournament took place in September of 1955 featuring Sporting CP of Portugal taking on Partizan of Yugoslavia. The two sides ended the game in a three to three tie. Eventually, Spanish club Real Madrid ended up winning the tournament, which finished in May.

Annually, the tournament runs from September to May, with 16 teams broken into four groups of four with the NFL winner and second place of each division moving on to continue in the tournament. After the first round, the remaining teams face one another in a home and home knockout tournament. The winning team is actually the team with the most goals not necessarily the one that wins the game. For instance, if one team wins five to nothing and then loses the next leg one to nothing, they still advance, because they won the series five goals to one.