Well, I know that a lot of people will be on Florida today but still I like this play very much.IMO the Nationals are by far the worst team in the majors.Bad pitching, bad hitting => bad results.Florida has won 9 of 11 against Washington this season.Ricky Nolasco will start for Florida.He is the staff ace this year.He is 7-1 in his last 10 game and is 3-0 with a 1.82 ERA since June 5.He is 3-0 with a 0.86 ERA in his last three starts at home.Nolasco pitched six innings in a 7-3 win at Washington on May 9, improving to 3-1 with a 3.95 ERA five career starts against the Nationals.Odalis Perez is in a very good form too.He has allowed three earned runs or fewer in four consecutive starts with the Nationals winning three of those games.In two starts this year, Perez has limited the Marlins to two earned runs in 11 innings while walking three and striking out 13.It's not going to be an easy game for Florida, but I can see only one outcome of this game and that is Marlins winning by 4-5 runs.

I think there will be goals in this quarterfinal.We all saw what Netherlands did against Italy and France - they crushed them.Even when they could afford to lose to Romania and have both Italy and France out of the tournament, they played for a win.Basten's boys don't play too much defense, only offense.It's a real joy to watch them play because they not only play attacking football, they play beautiful and fast football, they play for the fans.
Russia also plays attacking football.They played open against Spain, Greece and Sweden.The russians had lots of good chances in those games and they managed to win 2 of 3.Pavlyuchenko missed tons of good chances , but with Arshavin back in the first 11 Russia looks much more dangerous.They totally outplayed Greece and Sweden and they should have won both games by at least 3 goals.Guus Hiddink might be a big advantage because he knows a lot about dutch football.
I don't think Russia will change their tactics.They won't just sit back defending the 0:0 and waiting for good counter-attack chances.They will try to outplay their opponents.
This is going to be an open game and with clinical strikers such as Robin van Persie, Ruud van Nistelrooy , Arshavin, Snejder and so on, I think the over will be in the bag before the end of the first half.

I think Greece is going home today!They are using the same tactics as in 2004, but it hasn't worked for now and I believe it will not work.Rehhagel says that they are forced to play this way because they lack firepower.And that's absolutely true.Charisteas is the only good player in Greek attack.The defence of Greece is weaker now.They conceded a lot of goals in the qualifications.Judging from what I saw in the match vs. Sweden I can say that Greece is one of the weakest teams in this tournament.They simply did not impress me with anything.Attack is poor, midfield lacks creativity and the defence is not the solid one from 2004.I think the greeks will not be able to cope with mighty Russia.Of course, the russians have problems of their own.Pogrebnyak and Arshavin are out.This is a big blow for the team.If they were fit to play odds on Russia would not be higher than evens.But I still think that Russia will win this one.They have some great individuals and if they don't win here their chances for the quarterfinal will be very small.Russia looked good against Spain, despite losing 4:1.They hit the post twice in the first half, while the result was only 1:0.If they had scored one or both of these shots, the outcome could have been completely different.David Villa had a great day back then and Russian defence couldn't contain him.In my opinion Russia's big advantage is Guus Hiddink.I think he is a better coach than Rehhagel.
Russia is definitely the better team and they need a win, so I'm gonna roll with them.

I think Detroit should be a heavy favorite here, so 2.00 is pure value!
Both teams have struggled a lot so far, but Detroit is in good shape now, while Seattle is 2-8 in last 10 and is tied with Colorado for the worst record in baseball.
It's obvious that the Tigers have improved a lot and so has Justin Verlander.The Tigers' ace has pitched well in each of his last three outings, allowing only 4 runs in 19 innings.He is 5-0 in 5 with a 2.43 ERA in 5 starts against the Mariners.
Detroit has been killing the Mariners so far.They've won 4 of 4 against them this season and are 8-3 in the last 11 meetings in Seattle.When the Mariners visited Detroit earlier this month, the Tigers swept Seattle, outscoring the Mariners 30-14 in the series.Yesterday Detroit beat Seattle 7-4 in a 3-game series opener.
Felix Hernandez will take the mound for Seattle tonight.He is 2-5 with a 3.60 ERA this season.He has struggled in his last six starts, though, going 0-5 with a 5.54 ERA while walking 21 batters in 37 innings.Hernandez is 2-2 with a 3.86 ERA versus Detroit.I think he'll struggle against Detroit's mighty offense.Seattle's bullpen has also struggled lately, so my money definitely goes on the Tigers.If Verlander does his job, Detroit should win with ease.

I think this game will go over 3.5 goals without a problem!
Spain travels to Austria and Switzerland after this game.They'll want to boost their confidence and make a good impression ahead of the European Championship, so I expect a great offensive display from them.As usual, Spain goes to the EURO as one of the big favorites to win the tournament.They've got a decent squad with scorers like Torres, Villa, Raul , etc.The weak defence of Peru will not be able to contain Spain's forwards.
It's a friendly game and no one wants to get injured in a pointless match.I expect an open and beautiful game with lots of goals.Both teams will try to have some fun tonight and I believe we'll see at least 4 goals.Spain will score at least 3 in my opinion.3 times the money is too much and I see some value in it.

CSKA is simply the better team here.They are the new champions with a 16-point lead at the top.They haven't lost a match yet and I'm sure they won't lose this derby.CSKA has the best defence in the league with only 1 goal conceded in the last 10 games and 9 total.Their attackers started playing better recently.I expect great performance from all of them in this game.It's been a great year for CSKA.They have a 60-year anniversary and there is no better way to celebrate it than with a crushing victor over the arch-rival Levski.I cannot see anything else but a comfort victory for the home team in this one.Levski is in very bad shape.They sold some of their best players and they fired coach Stanimir Stoylov just a few days ago.Vilislav Vucov has replaced him, but you can't expect a new manager to have a big effect on the team in his very first match.
There's a big gulf in class here, so I'm going for this HC.

Real won the last El Classico 1:0, but this time it's going to be much different.
Over 2.5 is a must I think.
I expect goals, goals and more goals at Bernabeu tonight.It's true that there is a little less at stake here.Real Madrid is sure to be crowned champion of Spain.There won't be too much pressure on both sides.Barcelona can still take the 2nd place, but they are trailing Villareal by 4 points and with 3 rounds left they'll also need some luck in order to do it.Real Madrid has won 4 straight, so they must be in good form.Barcelona is not very good on the road and they did not play very well at Manchester United, but last time out they trashed Valencia 6:0.It's a great morale booster for any team to win so convincingly.Their offense performed wonderfully well in that game.Real Madrid's defence is going to struggle to contain Messi, Henry, Krkic and Eto'o.The home team also know how to score pretty well.I guess none will keep a clean sheet tonight.
This clash has never been just about points.It's about pride.This is considered the biggest football derby in the world by many football fans.I expect a game worthy of this name.

Give me the Cardinals at these generous odds!
St Louis and Colorado are going in two completely different directions.The Cardinals look like they have rebounded from the last season, which was very poor for them.They are one of the best teams in the majors now at a 20-12 W/L record.Colorado has won only 3 of it's last 14 games and is tied for the fewest runs in the majors.Tonight they'll send the struggling Ubaldo Jimenez (1-2, 5.90) to the mound.He is winless in four starts.St Louis will counter with Joel Pineiro (2-2, 3.75).He has been impressive in his last two outings, allowing just one run and five hits in his last 14 innings of work.
I don't understand why bookies favor the Rockies here.
2.15 is way too high and there's a lot of value in it.Ride the 2006 Champions in this one.

I'm loving the Angels today!They'll send Ervin Santana to the mound who's been outstanding this season.He is 5-0 with a 2.48 ERA.He is 1-2 with a 6.04 ERA against Kansas , but the Royals' offense is nothing to fear, so I'm sure he can handle them.
Brett Tomko is a very bad starting pitcher in my opinion.He is 1-2 with a 6.26 ERA.Tomko allowed five runs over seven innings in a 5-3 loss to the Angels on April 17.LAA are 38-17 in the last 55 meetings with the Royals.I also like the under here.The line of 9.5 runs seems quite big to me.Both teams have a pretty good fielding and have made few errors, but I decided to take the halos here, since I don't like Tomko at all.

I expect a pile of goals at Amsterdam Arena tonight.Ajax totally outplayed Heerenveen in the first game.I was just surprised they only won it by one.Heerenveen looked pathetic back then.Now they need to score at least 2 goals.Ajax and Heerenveen have the two best offenses in the league.Now lets have a look at the stats:
Ajax has 22 games with 4 or more goals this season and Heereveen has 21 games with 4 or more.Four of the last five games between these two have gone over 3.5 goals.
Under these circumstances I cannot imagine a low-scoring affair.Heerenveen will not get anything if they just sit back.They need goals and they'll try to get them.That way they'll leave a lot of free spaces for Ajax.
As I said, both teams know pretty well how to score.These boys don't play too much defence, only offense.

Boston's offensive slump is over and they are on a roll again!They completed a 3-game sweep of Tampa Bay with a 7-3 victory Sunday.Tonight they begin a 4-game series versus Detroit at Comerica Park.Boston will send Dice-K to the mound.They are 6-0 when Matsuzaka starts this season and are 11-1 in his last 12 starts.The japanese has allowed 20 hits in 35 innings and has posted a 2.52 ERA.He also beat Detroit 5-0 in Boston's home opener April 8.He is 2-1 with a 3.05 ERA against the Tigers.Detroit was swept in their 3-game set with Minnesota.Bonderman (2-2, 3.86) will start for Detroit tonight.He is 4-4 with a 4.35 ERA against Boston.I don't think Bonderman will have an easy game against Boston's offense, which is on a roll again.If Dice-K does his job it will be all Boston, so Red Sox ML @ 1.95 is a good play in my eyes.
Boston is 29-14 in the last 43 meetings with Detroit.