Dortmund tests 14-game run against Leverkusen

Soccer Betting Lines

02/10/2012 - Dortmund, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Borussia Dortmund returned to the summit in the Bundesliga last weekend, but the defending champions will face a stern test Saturday against Bayer Leverkusen.

Dortmund is unbeaten in 14 straight, and with three successive wins since the league returned from its winter break, coach Jurgen Klopp's side has regained its favorite status to repeat as champions.

Although Dortmund struggled in European play once again this season, Klopp has put together the best side in Germany again. His side secured a semifinal spot in the Pokal Cup earlier this week.

Dortmund has not missed young star Mario Gotze, but any dip in form will prove fatal with Bayern Munich still on its heels in league play. The clubs are also on a collision course in the Pokal Cup, either in the semis or the final.

Klopp will not overlook Leverkusen this week as his opponents did advance into the last 16 of the Champions League, even though Bayer has struggled in league play recently with just one win in its last five.

"We know some things, but we don't know everything," Klopp said about Bayer.

Bayer has been a work in progress under first-year coach Robin Dutt, and could line up in a number of formations this week on the road.

With Barcelona awaiting in the Champions League on Tuesday, Leverkusen needs a boost and a win over Dortmund would provide the perfect medicine. But Dortmund has lost just once at home and dropped points twice in league play.

Leverkusen has been decent away from home with just two losses in 10 matches.

Bayern Munich will defend the Allianz Arena against 16th-place Kaiserslautern, although without star midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger.

He suffered ankle ligament damage against Stuttgart in the Pokal Cup, but with Bayern through after a 2-0 road win, the team enters the league game with some confidence.

Coach Jupp Heynckes will have to shuffle his lineup, and decide whether Thomas Muller - who started against Stuttgart - or Arjen Robben gets the start on the right wing.

Bayern has played better this season without Robben, who has struggled to find top form after missing the early part of the season. Bayern played its best at that time, leaving Heynckes in a tough spot as to what to do with Robben.

Schalke travels to Monchengladbach in Saturday's other match involving top-six clubs, with third place on the line. Schalke currently sits third on 41 points - level with Bayern - while Gladbach is just one point back.

With the top four separated from the pack, the winner should emerge with one foot in the Champions League next season. Schalke, led by Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and his 16 goals, has the second-most goals scored this season (46). Gladbach has allowed the fewest (12).

"Gladbach are a well organized side. They defend well, switch the play quickly and like to have the ball in their attacking half," said Schalke manager Huub Stevens.

"Our opponents set out to keep the ball a long way from their own goal. That's clever. We have to be patient against such a team and when we create chances we have to make sure we take them."

Markus Babbel will debut as Hoffenheim's coach at Werder Bremen on Saturday, and Mainz hosts Hannover and Stuttgart hosts Hertha Berlin in the day's other matches.

Augsburg hosts Nurnberg and Cologne hosts Hamburg on Sunday to end the week's action. Wolfsburg hosts Freiburg on Friday to open the week's action.

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SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting

NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.


That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.

A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."

It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.

The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.

So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."

Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.

Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.

Seriously.

The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.

The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.

Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."

The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.

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