The Champions League Betting certainly reflects Cech’s thinking, with Bayern highly fancied to win the title for a fifth time, with the fact they are playing on home turf a deciding factor.

But being the underdog is something Chelsea are used to given their dramatic run to the final has seen them battle against the odds at every turn.

None more so that in the semi-final, when they overcame holders Barcelona with a spirited rearguard display in the second leg at the Nou Camp.

“It’s a final and you would think that the chances are 50-50, but to play at your own stadium and have your own dressing room is a huge advantage,” said Cech.

“This coincidence of events has made Bayern the favourites. We will try to outsmart them in some way.

“They are the favourites as they play at home but the pressure is bigger on them than it is on us.

“That might be to our advantage, it might be a disadvantage. We will have to wait and see how the match goes.”

Another factor that could tip the balance in Bayern’s favour is the number of injuries and suspensions Chelsea boss Roberto Di Matteo has to deal with.

John Terry, Branislav Ivanovic, Raul Meireles and Ramires will all sit out the final through suspension, while Gary Cahill and David Luiz are battling hamstring injuries.

Their German opponents have suspensions of their own – Holger Badstuber, David Alaba and Luiz Gustavo – are all unavailable. But they are not as crucial to the way they play as the likes of Terry and Ramires are to Chelsea.

If Bayern play to their potential then they are likely to prevail. But Chelsea have developed a resilient streak in recent months and a momentum crucial to achieving success at this time of the season.

They would be quite happy to concede possession to their Bundesliga opponents, but like they showed against Barca, they can be ruthlessly efficient when they do have the ball.

With the European Championships on the horizon don’t forget to use your Betfair Euro 2012 Free Bet on your tip for glory in Poland and the Ukraine.

Miguel Cotto, who holds the WBA Junior Middleweight Title, has won three straight bouts and looks to make it four in a row. One interesting fact about the fight to keep in mind, as Mayweather Jr. attempts to bring his overall record to 43-0, is that Mayweather Jr. will be moving up in weight from 147 pounds to 154 pounds for only the second time in his career.

Most view this fight as a mismatch and expect Mayweather Jr. to win rather easily. Currently, Mayweather is a -625 favorite to win the fight.

However, you may want to think twice before backing the betting favorite and take a long hard look at Cotto, who is currently sitting at +425 odds. If Cotto can control the fight by throwing more punches, he averaged 55 punches per round in his last fight, and get Mayweather to retreat into the corner; he may be able to finish him off with his signature left hook.

When looking at the fight from Mayweather’s perspective, the smaller boxer will need to land a majority of his power punches to keep the larger Cotto at bay. If Mayweather can continue to land a high rate of his power punches, he should be able to take care of business and come out victorious for the 43rd time in his career.

There is an intriguing undercard bout on Saturday as well with “Sugar” Shane Mosely taking on Canelo Alvarez. Alaverz is the heavy favorite in that bout going off at -675 betting odds against the older Mosely who is +475.

The Canucks outscored the Avalanche by an 18-5 margin to this point. In the shootout (Feb. 4) and overtime (March 24) at Pepsi Center, Colorado has managed a pair of points via 3-2 losses. Not all is lost for the Avalanche just yet, although Colorado picked an inopportune time to lose three in a row. In fact, in the Western Conference, a win Wednesday and a loss by either the Kings or the Stars in their games and the Avs would vault back into the top eight. After Wednesday, the problem is Colorado will have only three regular-season games remaining while its competition will all have four or five, so it may be necessary to run the table.

On a three-game road trip, this is the second stop. On Friday, Colorado plays in Calgary, and then has five days off before concluding with home games against Nashville and Columbus. The Avalanche were soundly defeated 5-1 by the Sharks on Monday, although they have been playing tight, mostly one-goal games for weeks now. In the second period, San Jose opened the scoring with a pair of goals. The Sharks came back with three unanswered to cruise.

It appears Vancouver has emerged from a stretch that saw the Canucks lose eight of 11 games to carry a three-game winning streak into Wednesday’s contest, still locked in a battle with St. Louis for the No. 1 seed in the West as well as with Pittsburgh and the New York Rangers for the Presidents’ Trophy. Interestingly, it has coincided with the loss of Daniel Sedin to a concussion. In Monday’s 1-0 win over the Kings, the goaltending has been stout, including Roberto Luongo’s 38-save shutout performance. For the 59th shutout of his career, Luongo made Manny Malhotra’s goal 3:05 into the first hold up.

Giving the Avs rookie 49 points and tying him with the Oilers’ Ryan Nugent-Hopkins for the rookie scoring lead, Gabriel Landeskog assisted on the goal by O’Brien against the Sharks. Luongo, in his last three starts is 2-0-1, giving up just four goals and posting a .965 save percentage.

Vancouver is without forward Andrew Ebbett (collarbone), defensemen Keith Ballard (concussion), Aaron Rome (knee) and Sedin is out indefinitely. Ballard has been cleared for light contact, while Ebbett is practicing again.

In the NHL, Landeskog is tied for 25th with a plus 20 rating and second only to Carl Hagelin of the Rangers (plus 21) among rookies. In 100 games, the Canucks have not suffered a regulation loss when leading after two periods, improving to 95-0-5 after Monday’s victory.

It is now or never for Colorado, if it is going to break through against Vancouver. The players were already regrouping and looking ahead to the next game, after Monday’s tough loss in San Jose.

If you take a look around the NFL at the end of the season, there were 10 teams of any significance this year. They were, in no particular order: Green Bay Packers, Detroit Lions, New Orleans Saints, Atlanta Falcons, New York Giants, San Francisco 49ers, Baltimore Ravens, Pittsburgh Steelers, Houston Texans and the New England Patriots.

So let’s take a look at who the Patriots really beat, or beat up on this year. Of those teams listed above, who did they play? The Pittsburgh Steelers and the New York Giants. That’s it, just two teams of any significance in this past 2011-12 NFL season. And how did the Patriots do in those two games you might ask? They lost, both!!

So they were 13-1 against the dregs of the NFL, and 0-2 against teams that matter. Hmm, so what does that tell us? The Patriots are not nearly as good as the Las Vegas sportsbook have them made out to be, as why else are the Patriots 3-point favorites??

And look what they’ve done in the playoffs. They hammered a Denver team that is led by a great story in Tim Tebow, but not a very good quarterback. Yes, he’s had success, but that will be short-lived. A story for another day. Then the Patriots edged out the Baltimore Ravens, but that was more the Ravens beating themselves than New England winning. Missed play calls, a dropped winning touchdown and a missed tying field goal were key components of that win.

So now the Patriots move on to Superbowl XLVI in Indianapolis, Sunday, February 5th, starting at 6:30pm ET. They are a good team, with one of the best coaches of all time and one of the best quarterbacks of all time. But that and the schedule is what has made the Patriots this year. They have a very good offensive line, very average running game, a stud of a tight end in Rob Gronkowski, and a great inside receiver in Wes Welker.

On the defensive side, they have the worst pass defence in the NFL this season. They are pretty good against the run, but the New York Giants throw the ball, not run it. Unlike the Broncos and Ravens whose strengths were running the ball, the Giants present a lot of matchup problems for the Patriots, on both sides of the ball.

Brady will struggle at times to deal with the NFL’s best defensive line, especially when they can pass rush. And Eli Manning will be able to throw the ball down the field with impunity, with his two big play receivers, Victor Cruz and Hakeem Nicks. And don’t forget the Giants have a very good 3rd receiver in Mario Manningham.

Bottom line is that the game should be close early on, but the ongoing pressure of the Giants front four will slowly get to Brady, and the ongoing deep threats and crossing patterns of the Giants receivers will make for a very long day for New England.

Our Superbowl Handicapping:
New York Giants 31
New England Patriots 24

First off, the Baltimore Ravens (12-4) host the Houston Texans (10-6) in a game (Sunday January 15, 1:00 PM ET TV by CBS) that on paper looks like a rout. The Texans bring their rookie quarterback, T.J. Yates into the Ravens’ den and it looks like they will be picked apart.

The New England Patriots (13-3) host Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos (Saturday, January 14, 8:00 PM ET TV by CBS) in another game that looks like a huge blowout. The Patriots defense is far from stellar; in fact they rank 31st in the NFL. Don’t be surprised if Tebow has another 300-plus yard performance in his second NFL playoff.

The Patriots opened up as a 13.5 point favorite and the number is getting play on both sides with only 57% of the money coming down on the Pats. The Ravens must cover 7.5 on the Pointspread over the Texans and the money is flooding in on the Ravens with 69% of the bettors giving the points.

The Totals on both games are showing some interesting movements. New England is going to score points and the Broncos have potential to score against a weak Pats defense. The Total is 51 points and the money is almost even with 55% coming in on the Over. The Ravens/Texans game is a low Total at 38 points. The money is overwhelmingly on the Under with 81% of the bettors hammering the Under.

Denver is a huge Moneyline dog at +605 and the Pats are the prohibitive favorite at -805 for good reason. If this game becomes a track meet anything can happen though. Denver is getting the lion’s share of the bets with 81% of the money coming in on Tebow and the Broncos.

The Ravens are also a huge negative number on the Moneyline at -350. The Texans are a +290 dog with the money coming in on the Texans with wishful thinkers betting the Texans at 62%.

The Houston Cougars opened as a 7 point favorite and the number has already been bet down to 5.5 points. The money is evening out with the initial line adjustment with 52% of the money coming in on the Cougars.

The Over/Under is posted at 57.5, moving up from the initial post of 56.5 points at most online sports betting sites. 58% of the early money is going down on the over. The Moneyline on this game is getting hammered. 71% of the money is landing on Penn State on Moneyline. Penn State is +193 after seeing a major swing of money come down them. The value may come with the Houston Cougars at -215 as the seven point favorite.

Penn State is 3-10-1 against the point spread in their last 14 games. This number is telling, especially for a road game to Texas. Another telling trend for the Nittany Lions is their failure to cover the over in 11 games. The number has gone under in 8 of 11 games this season for Penn State.

The Houston Cougars have done well versus the Pointspread going 10-3 against the number. The Cougars are also riding a four-game winning streak heading into this game.

OFFENCE
The Winnipeg offence struggled most of the year, especially after halfback Fred Reid was injured earlier in the season. Enter scatback Chris Garrett, who was released just after training camp earlier this year. He was then re-signed when Reid went down with his season-ending injury. Garrett has been a catalyst all year, helping to take the pressure off quarterback Buck Pierce, as he averaged over 6 yards a carry. Garrett also rumbled for 190 yards in last weekend’s win over Hamilton in the Eastern Final, adding a touchdown for good measure.

With the ability to go play action, Pierce has been able to remain somewhat healthy, and issue earlier in his career when the BC Lions cut him loose after missing much time two years in a row. Pierce is the heart and soul of the team, and his never-say-die attitude has been infectious. But he did toss 18 INT against just 13 touchdowns. Terrence Edwards leads the receiving corps, while the offensive line will have its work cut out, as they tied Edmonton for the most sacks allowed with 48.

Advantage: BC Lions

DEFENCE
After going just 4-14 and missing the playoffs, the Blue Bombers rode their defence this year to the Eastern Division championship, finishing tops in the CFL in a dozen of 25 defensive categories. That list included getting 55 sacks and 25 interceptions, while allowing only 301 total yards and 223 passing yards per game. Winnipeg boasts three All-CFL selections in the backfield, led by CB Jovon Johnson, who’s the east’s Defensive Player of the Year, DB Jonathon Hefney, and safety Ian Logan. Odell Willis was tops in the league with 13 sacks.

Advantage: Even

SPECIAL TEAMS
Second year kicker Justin Palardy was solid this year, hitting 40 of his 52 field goal attempts. The Bombers were struggling with the punt game and traded for Jamie Boreham, and 8-year veteran, who averaged just under 43 yards a kick. Jovon Johnson handled most of the kick returns and was solid, if not spectacular at times.

Advantage: BC Lions

COACHING
In just his second year as the head coach, Paul LaPolice did a wonderful job in leading the Bombers to a 6-game improvement. After sitting on the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ sidelines as an assistant two year previous, LaPolice does have Grey Cup experience, just not as the head decision-maker. But during the season, he showed his in-game adjustments were on the ball, as witnessed by the many come-from-behind wins.

Advantage: BC Lions

Overall Advantage: BC Lions

OFFENCE
BC Lions quarterback Travis Lulay had his coming out party this year, in his first year as the starter. For the first time in almost a decade, Lulay was behind centre for all 18 games this season, The former Montana State star was voted the top QB in the Western Division this year, and is favored to win the Most Outstanding Player award this week. Lulay tied for first in TD passes (32), and was second overall in passing (4,815 yards) while leading the Lions as the CFLs second highest scoring offence. The Lions were also the second best offence statistically, behind only Montreal. But it’s not only Lulay’s arm that threatens defences as witnessed by his 61-yard scamper during last weekend’s win over the Edmonton Eskimos. Lulay uses his legs to not only gain good yardage, but also extend plays. Geroy Simon and Arland Bruce lead the receiving corps, while the offensive line was the best in the league, allowing only 29 sacks.

Advantage: BC Lions

DEFENCE
The Lions have what is considered to be the best front seven in the Canadian Football League. While the Bombers may have garnered one more sack than the Leos 54, the linebacking crew is led by All-CFL middle backer Solomon Elimimian, second in the league in tackles. BC also goes with a six-man rotation up front, which has proven problematic for most O-Lines in the league during the Lions 11-1 run. In the defensive backfield, Korey Banks, Ryan Phillips and Dante Marsh headline a secondary that has more than 30 years of CFL experience. The Lions forced four turnovers in West Division final win, which the offence was able to convert into 21 points.

Advantage: Even

SPECIAL TEAMS
What can you say when you have a kicker who was almost perfect through an entire season, as Lions kicker Paul McCallum has hit on 54 of 57 field goals this season including last weekend’s 4-4 display. The CFL’s oldest player at 41, McCallum set a league-record with a 94.3 per cent success ratio during the year. He also had another league mark by hitting on 30 straight field goals. And while not as spectacular, McCallum did a solid job of punting (42.1-yard punting average) and posted a respectable 57.6-yard kickoff average. On the return game, Tim Brown was fourth overall in punt returns and third in kickoff returns.

Advantage: BC Lions

COACHING
With 254 regular season wins, four Grey Cup titles and three Coach of the Year awards, Wally Buono defines coaching in the CFL. There is not a single coach in the history of the game who would get an advantage when it comes to coaching the big game. And after having turned around an 0-5 team into a squad which looks poised to win for a number of years, this just may have been Buono’s greatest coaching job ever.

Advantage: BC Lions

Overall Advantage: BC Lions

Get in on the CFL action at your favorite online sports betting site.

Seemingly impossible to defend against for most defences now that Aaron Rodgers has stepped it up a notch and is firing on all cylinders. Rodgers ability to spread the ball around the field is making it tough on defenders looking to isolate players like Greg Jennings.

Struggling against the pass the Green Bay Packers defence has also stepped it up their run defence. Giving up almost 300 yards per game through the air, Green Bay’s corners have been getting smoked this season.

For the Buccaneers to compete with the Packers Josh Freeman must work the edges of the field and open up the running game. Working the outside of the field with his wide outs Freeman will open up this match for his running back LaGarette Blount.

Heading into this Week 11 NFL game the Bucs have dropped three games in row.

Freeman also needs to utilize tight end Kellen Winslow and he could be key to this game if Winslow comes into the game with the right attitude. When he isn’t a head case Winslow’s abilities are actually top shelf.

Green Bay will blow through Tampa Bay but this game should surprise most fans and is potentially a great matchup.

In baseball betting lines odds, Seattle is at 125-1 whereas the Yankees are among the top favorites to win the World Series, at 5-1.

Even though the Mariners are just 1.5 games behind the leading Texas Rangers, they are the 3rd place team in the NL West. While the Mariners have now won 6 games in a row and they look like a team that could compete in the NL West, they looked like they were on their way towards a last place finish.

The Mariners will send Pineda and Hernandez to the mound in this series, which is good news for them. Both of these pitchers are a major reason for the recent success of the Mariners as they have been on as of late. The Yankees will have a difficult time beating Seattle, if they put up good games in this series.

Even though the Yankees have found their way back into the first place position in the AL East, they were counted as dead by many teams. It is not encouraging that they are only in first place because Tampa Bay has played awfully as of late while they are in first place again. The Yankees need to win this series to stave them off as the Red Sox and Blue Jays are in hot pursuit.

In this series, the Yankees will send AJ Burnett, Ivan Nova and Bartolo Colon to the mound.