Juventus attempts to continue strong start against Udinese

Soccer Betting Lines

09/14/2007 - Turin, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Juventus has gotten off to a great start in its return to Serie A this season, winning its first two games and scoring eight goals in the process. On Sunday, Juventus will try to make it three wins in three matches when the club hosts Udinese.

David Trezeguet has played a big part in Juve's positive start, with four goals in the club's first two games, including a hat trick in the opener against Livorno.

The French striker should have plenty of chances to increase that total on Sunday against an Udinese side that has struggled to keep the ball out of its own net.

After earning a 1-1 draw at Inter Milan in the first week, which was a great result for the club, Udinese was pounded 5-0 by promoted club Napoli last time out.

Udinese will rely on striker Antonio Di Natale to help with the scoring duties. Di Natale scored both goals in Italy's 2-1 win over Ukraine on Wednesday in EURO 2008 qualifying, and will benefit from the absence of a pair of Juventus defenders.

Jean Alain Boumsong will miss out on the contest due to injury, while fellow defender Jonathan Zebina is serving a four-match ban.

Juventus is one of only two Serie A teams that has won its first two games, and that number should reach three on Sunday.

In Serie A play on Saturday, AC Milan tries to return to the win column after a draw with Fiorentina last time out. The Rossoneri will visit Siena, who is coming off of a 3-0 defeat to Roma. Saturday's other contest features a disappointing Empoli team that has dropped its first two games of the season taking on a Lazio side with two draws to its credit.

Other action on Sunday includes Atalanta, fresh off of a 2-0 win against Parma, visiting Fiorentina, Genoa hosting Livorno, and Catania Calcio, which has two draw in two games, traveling to Inter Milan. Sampdoria tussles with Napoli, Palermo hosts Torino, Cagliari invades Parma and Roma tries to win its third straight game to start the season when they pay a visit to Reggina.

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.