L.A. continues whirl-wind schedule in Salt Lake City

Soccer Betting Lines

09/18/2007 - Salt Lake City, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Galaxy continue their whirl-wind tour of Major League Soccer cities Wednesday when they play Real Salt Lake at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

The match will be the Galaxy's 11th in league play since Aug. 5, with the MLS schedule maker hoping to give every market in the country a chance to see David Beckham and the his L.A. teammates. That hasn't been the case as the English superstar has been out with a knee injury since the SuperLiga final on Aug. 29, as well as a host of other Galaxy players being in and out of the lineup with various injuries.

"We have a game on Wednesday. I know that. It's on the schedule. We have to go and obviously get a win," Galaxy coach Frank Yallop said after his team's 3-1 loss Sunday to Houston.

Yallop is just trying to get through his team's final eight games, with realistic chances of making the playoffs slipping away loss by loss. The Galaxy have lost eight of their last nine league fixtures and are currently last in the league with just 17 points.

"Talk about a long year - I keep saying that, but we are so naive in certain spots," Yallop said of his team giving up two goals on suspect plays to Houston. "We are so naive with our fight and our will to do better. We just expect that another goal has gone in and guys just don't take responsibility. A lot of times, you have to make sure that you feel like something is your fault, and a lot of guys don't. They think that the players think that maybe they could have done in a situation, but they don't take responsibility and that's difficult."

"I've worked with Frank for the (Canadian) national team and in San Jose," Houston head coach Dominic Kinnear said. "He just has to keep his head up. I feel for him because I know the quality of coach he is and he doesn't deserve to get all these losses."

Real Salt Lake isn't in much better shape, just two points clear of the Galaxy in the Western table, but have been showing signs of life after some late season roster moves.

They are coming off a 0-0 tie at Toronto FC, but feel good after forward Fabian Espindola received a red card in the first half of the contest and the team was still hung on for the point on the road.

"We put ourselves in a tough position getting that red card in the first half and we were 60 minutes down a man, but that said we showed a lot of character a lot of fight, and we got out of here with a result," RSL forward Alecko Eskandarian said.

TFC actually peppered goalkeeper Nick Rimando with a team record in shots and shots on goal in an effort to break out of their league-record goalless streak, but the veteran goalkeeper stopped all shots in one of his more impressive performances of the season.

"That's what happens when you go a man down," Rimando said of the number of shots he faced. "You've got to expect that it's going to be a battle and that's what it was. They came after us, you know their fans are amazing, they gave them a little boost and they had their chances but we fought and we came out with a point, on an away game, playing here in Toronto and that's big for us."

"They were knocking on the door all day, and searching for that elusive goal," RSL defender Eddie Pope said. "And, went down a man - our backs were against the wall and they just came at us. Certainly we could have crumbled at some point and given up a goal at some point, but we held together, stuck together we were able to fight, scratch ... all that stuff and get out of here with a point."

That is exactly what L.A. will be trying to do Wednesday in an effort to climb out of the Western basement.

After Wednesday's match, the Galaxy host FC Dallas on Sunday while Real Salt lake hosts Colorado a day earlier.

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Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State

It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.

Work left to do:

Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney.

Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson.

Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable.

Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

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