City striker Bojinov to miss six months

Soccer Betting Lines

08/18/2008 - Manchester, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manchester City striker Valeri Bojinov's injury jinx has struck again after he picked up a serious ankle injury before Sunday's Premier League opener with Aston Villa.

The 22-year-old Bulgaria striker made just three appearances for City following his $13 million signing 12 months ago after damaging knee ligaments on his first start last season.

Bojinov was expected to start at Villa Park but was carried off the pitch after injuring his ankle in the pre-match warm-up.

He will now be out of action for around six months after rupturing his Achilles tendon.

The injury resulted in a first Premier League start for youngster Ched Evans, but a weakened City line-up went on to lose 4-2.

Speaking after full-time, disappointed manager Mark Hughes confirmed the injury blow.

"It's a huge blow to Valeri and to the team just prior to kick off," he told the club's official website.

"The likelihood is that he is going to be out for six months as he has ruptured his right Achilles tendon.

"It's a terrible blow for him after the injury worries he has had over the last 12 months.

"He did really well to come back and he deserved his place in the team today."

(Courtesy of sportbox.tv)

Starlcukcasino Soccer Betting News

<< United's Carrick out of England squad with injury
Manchester, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manchester United midfielder Michael Carrick will miss England's friendly against the Czech Republic on Wednesday with an ankle injury. Carrick had been named in coach Fabio Capello's 23-man squa

<< Berbatov hoping for United switch
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tottenham striker Dimitar Berbatov has asked to be allowed to follow his dreams and make the move to Manchester United. The 27-year-old Bulgaria international started on the bench for Spurs in th

<< Report: Sixers and Iguodala sign new deal
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia 76ers and restricted free agent forward Andre Iguodala have agreed to a new contract. Multiple sources, including a report on Philly.com, on Sunday stated that Philadelphia and

<< Vikings QB Jackson has sprained right MCL
Eden Prairie, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Minnesota Vikings quarterback Tarvaris Jackson was diagnosed with a sprained right MCL on Sunday. Jackson was injured when he was tackled by middle linebacker Ray Lewis on a scramble late in the fi

<< Orlovsky helps Lions down Bengals
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dan Orlovsky connected on 11-of-22 passes for 137 yards and had a 10-yard touchdown run to lead the Detroit Lions in a 27-10 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals in the second preseason test for both sq

Dortmund suffers double injury blow >>
Dortmund, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Borussia Dortmund are facing an early season injury headache after losing goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller and defender Dede during their opening 3-2 win over Bayer Leverkusen. Weidenfeller was stretcher

Hamburg adds Petric from Dortmund >>
Hamburg, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hamburg have completed the signing of Croatia striker Mladen Petric from Bundesliga rivals Borussia Dortmund. Petric, 27, has joined for a fee of around $7.5 million with Mohamed Zidan heading in

Nadal officially takes over No. 1 ranking >>
Ponte Vedra Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rafael Nadal officially took over the No. 1 position in the ATP Rankings Monday, replacing Swiss Roger Federer who held the top spot for a record 237 consecutive weeks. Nadal, who was ranked No. 2 beh

Guzan ready for new adventure in Premier League >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - American goalkeeper Brad Guzan has had a whirlwind past couple of weeks. First, the 23-year-old's British work permit was approved on Aug. 1, completing his transfer from Major League Soccer's Chivas USA to Aston Villa o

White Sox welcome Seattle to Windy City >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sole possession in the American League Central division is up for grabs, something the Chicago White Sox once claimed. They will try to grab what was once theirs in tonight's opener of a three-game series versus the strugglin


Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com

Additional sports lines can be found at: www.Sportsbooks.com

To bet on March Madness games this online sportsbook accepts credit cards.