As amazing as it is to believe, Union Berlin will be playing in Europa League next season. Three years ago, this side was sitting in the second Bundesliga, but since winning a relegation playoff and winning promotion, the Iron Ones have now finished 11th, seventh and now fifth to land a spot in Europe’s second competition. It’s been a pretty good year for us.
It’s also been a pretty good year for me betting-wise, as I’m now up 144 units for the year after the Panthers did what they needed to do to advance in six games and make that prediction look fantastic. Hopefully, my Saturday predictions can go as well as that did; here are my best bets for May 14.
BREAKERS -3.5, -110
I alluded to this earlier in the week: New Jersey’s strength is its dominant run defense. New Orleans passes better than anyone in the USFL, so if you aren’t able to slow down the pass or at least pick off a few passes the way Houston did, you’re probably not going to have much luck against the Breakers. New Jersey’s pass defense is very suspect, making New Orleans the play here.
HURRICANES ML, -140
The Hurricanes have been a completely different team on home ice and will be able to manipulate the matchups to get the lines they want on the ice by getting the second line change. That means they can check Boston’s star scorers while making sure to keep their own scorers away from the Bruins’ best defenders. None of the games in this series has been close, and I think Carolina finishes the job here.
LIGHTNING ML, +105
Well, I said we’d find our way to a Game 7 before the series began, and lo and behold, we’re here. Tampa Bay has been here before and had success, and Andrei Vasilevsky tends to save his best for when his team needs it most. Toronto has a long history of blowing it in deciding games, and I’m getting the more experienced side at plus money. That’s an easy call.
CHARLOTTE FC ML, +155
Do not go into Bank of America Stadium expecting an easy game against Charlotte. You will get pushed around and you will probably get beat. The Crowns have created a fortress at their home stadium this season, and I think that’s going to continue in this one against a Montreal side that has been suspect on the road.
KINGS-OILERS U1.5 FIRST PERIOD, -115
I don’t know if the goals are going to come like they have in previous games. But what we’ve seen in this series is that the goaltenders usually start out strong before the attack gets rolling for one team or the other. With the pressure of a seventh game involved, I think the scoring takes a while to get going in this one. I like the slow start.
