Wednesday, July 22, 2009

El Luchador's Line: TOR at CLB

Columbus 'till I Die! Here emotion may get in the way of objective analysis. We at Nordecke Luchador know no limit to our hatred of the team from the Great White North--land of the ugliest man in rock n' roll (Geddy Lee), quite possibly the most disgusting peasant food ever invented (Poutine) and certainly the worst fans in the MLS. Cretin, CroMagnon, Pederast--any and all will do when refering to the legion of drunken thugs who will descend like locusts on to Crew Stadium. But enough abuse. Here's the skinny.

ColumbusCrew -133 TorontoFC +295 Tie +240 Over 2.5 (-153) Under 2.5 (+110)


The Luchametric has CLB at 107 and TOR at 97. This difference is negligible, currently translating to about 3 pts in the standings, slightly better than CLB actually is over TOR points-wise. CLB is coming off a big win over RSL at home, TOR off of a tie of league-leading HOU at home. Columbus will be missing key players Robbie Rogers (call up) and Scheletto (injury). TOR's call up (Cronin) is negligible but may be slightly missed on the offensive end. The teams have met twice this season and tied both times, and both games were 1-1.

El Luchador thinks that the odds here are probably correct. Although the Crew are without Rogers and Schelotto, Garey and Lenhart have proven they are fully capable of keeping their team moving forward (Allez!). El Luchador says: CLB to win. The action here, however, is not that sweet, and TOR could manage a tie, as they did against Houston. Rosario is always very dangerous. Crew fans, bet your heart. Those looking to make a killing should look elsewhere.

As always, check your sources for the most up-to-date lines available.

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