- The New York Knicks are favored by 2.5 points over the Oklahoma City Thunder.
- Liverpool have -1000 odds to win against Aston Villa on the three way moneyline.
- Snooker bettors can watch Kyren Wilson compete in two intriguing matchups.
LAS VEGAS - Welcome to this Friday edition of the Daily Sports Betting Preview.
Today’s Preview starts off with a matchup between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the New York Knicks, as the Knicks look to keep their winning ways going.
Then, in the FA Cup, Aston Villa face off against Premier League leaders Liverpool. Finally, the 2021 Championship League brings several intriguing snooker matches to the betting slate today.
There’s a lot to cover, so let’s get started!
NBA Betting
The New York Knicks are something of a Cinderella story early in the 2021 NBA season.
The Knicks had very low expectations entering the year, with NBA oddsmakers pegging them at an Over/Under of 22.5 wins. However, the Knicks are currently sitting in fifth place in the Eastern Conference, with a record of 5-3.
They’ve been led by Julius Randle and R.J. Barrett, both of whom have been playing typically Thibodeauian amounts of minutes.
Randle leads the league in minutes per game, at 38.6, while Barrett is second at 38.1.
This is, in some way, an explanation for why the Knicks are managing to put together these wins - their best players simply play more than anyone else’s best players.
The Knicks' resurgence has taken them all the way to the point that they are now betting favorites against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder were projected to be the worst team in the Western Conference by the online sportsbooks, with 22.5 wins as their Over/Under line.
In other words, in preseason, the expectations for these teams in terms of O/U lines were identical.
However, the Knicks play in the East, and 22.5 wins in the East is likely easier than 22.5 wins in the West.
Given that, it would be fair to say that entering the season, the Knicks were expected to be worse than the Thunder by the NBA betting community.
This is no longer true.
New York Knicks vs. Oklahoma City Thunder
- Oklahoma City Thunder +2.5
- New York Knicks -2.5
Yes, the Knicks are at home. Yes, the Knicks spread is only 2.5 points. All of that is true. What is also true is that the Knicks undeniably look more impressive than expected, and deserve to be favored in this matchup.
FA Cup Betting
Aston Villa have had a surprisingly decent run in the Premier League this season, and currently sit in eighth place.
Villa have racked up eight wins, two draws and five losses, which is a major upgrade from the 2019-2020 season, in which they barely avoided relegation. In fact, Villa only had nine wins all of last season, meaning they are one Premier League win away from equalling last season’s win total.
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Unfortunately, they won’t have the chance to get that win today, as they play in the FA Cup against Liverpool.
They won’t have the chance to get that win in multiple contexts: they literally cannot get a PL win, as this is an FA Cup match, but also, they are not going to beat Liverpool anyway.
Liverpool are currently leading the Premier League, and are the second favorites to win the FA Cup, behind Manchester City.
Liverpool vs. Aston Villa
- Aston Villa +1500
- Liverpool -1000
- Draw +1100
The three way moneyline is ridiculously prohibitive, and the no draw moneyline is even more prohibitive for Liverpool wagerers.
Liverpool vs. Aston Villa
- Aston Villa +1100
- Liverpool -5000
A wager on Liverpool at -1000 odds yields a 10% return, while a wager at -5000 odds yields a 2% return. Meanwhile, Villa have long odds in this matchup, odds nearly as long as their odds to win the FA Cup outright.
Villa is +1500 to win this match, and +2500 to win the whole tournament. This is representative of just how difficult it is to envision them defeating Liverpool.
The odds for Liverpool FA Cup match are quite lopsided, but there are still some decent value plays to be made.
Snooker Betting
The 2021 Championship League betting slate today features two matches from Kyren Wilson, the defending champion.
Wilson defeated Judd Trump in the 2020 edition of the tournament, and, over the course of the upcoming months, will seek to defend his title. His matches today are against Matthew Selt (at 1:00 p.m. EST) and Mark Selby (at 2:00 p.m. EST).
Kyren Wilson vs. Matthew Selt
- Kyren Wilson -290
- Matthew Selt +210
Wilson is a -290 favorite on the moneyline, and is significantly advantaged on the spread as well.
Kyren Wilson vs. Matthew Selt
- Kyren Wilson -2.5 (+275)
- Matthew Selt +2.5 (-400)
The spread for this matchup is interesting, as the sportsbooks seem to have modified the traditional +/- 1.5 line for this matchup alone.
Selt +2.5 is a more significant favorite than Wilson is on the moneyline, which is certainly worth noting.
Kyren Wilson vs. Mark Selby
- Kyren Wilson +115
- Mark Selby -155
Selby, a much more established name in the world of snooker than Selt, is actually favored over the defending champ.
Kyren Wilson vs. Mark Selby
- Kyren Wilson +1.5 (-200)
- Mark Selby -1.5 (+150)
The juice on this snooker match spread is fairly significant, and Wilson +1.5 is the betting favorite right now at -200. Both of these matches are solid snooker betting opportunities, and well worth keeping an eye on for both fans and bettors.
Good luck!
Maxwell joined the USAOnlineSportsbooks team in 2019. He focuses on creating sports betting content that informs and educates. He focuses on the NBA, the NFL, College Football and Basketball, and whatever else comes across his desk.
