Daily Sports Betting Preview 3/19/2021: ESL Pro League, Premier League, NBA

• FURIA has -1100 odds to defeat Team One on the moneyline.
• Fulham FC is favored against Leeds United at +145 odds on the three way moneyline.
• The Portland Trail Blazers are +140 underdogs to the Dallas Mavericks at home.

LAS VEGAS - This Friday edition of the Daily Sports Betting Preview promises to be a good one!

First up, FURIA takes on Team One in the group stages of the ESL Pro League. Then, in the Premier League, Fulham FC faces off against Leeds United.

Finally, in the NBA, the Dallas Mavericks take on the Portland Trail Blazers.

There’s a lot to cover, so let’s get started!

Counter Strike: Global Offensive Betting

CS:GO bettors will get a solid matchup to wager on as FURIA takes on Team One in the ESL Pro League.

FURIA enters this matchup ranked 12th in the world by the HLTV CS:GO rankings system, and are big favorites to win the matchup.

Team One, the underdogs, are not ranked in the HLTV rankings, which only rank the top 30, and are ranked 33 in the ESL rankings.

FURIA vs. Team One Moneyline

• FURIA -1100
• Team One +575

The matchup seems very lopsided in terms of the moneyline, although there are other avenues to wager on this battle. The moneyline is such that one would receive roughly a 9% return on investment when wagering on FURIA to win.

Whether or not one is interested in an outcome like that will depend on what type of gambler they are.

FURIA vs. Team One Spread

• FURIA -1.5 (-210)
• Team One +1.5 (+165)

The spread in these matches is effectively a wager on whether or not the team with the -1.5 point handicap, in this case FURIA, will win the match 2-0 or not.

CS:GO matches take place in threes, and the spread refers to the amount of games won - similar to tennis.

Since best of three formatting means that two game wins are necessary for a match win, a spread of -1.5 means that in order to cover, FURIA has to win the match 2-0.

Any other result will be a victory for Team One -1.5. However, FURIA -1.5 is still a notable favorite, with -210 odds.

FURIA vs. Team One - Total Games O/U

• Over 2.5 (+185)
• Under 2.5 (-250)

This O/U line has many of the same dynamics at play that the above spread does, as it’s a wager on whether either team will win 2-0 or not.

If a third game is required, the Over hits, but if either team manages to pull out the 2-0 victory (and FURIA is heavily favored to do so), then the Under hits.

Esports betting fans have a variety of different ways to get better odds on this matchup than FURIA’s -1100 moneyline.

Premier League Betting

The Premier League features only one game on Friday, and it’s a matchup between Leeds United and Fulham FC.

Fulham currently sit in the relegation zone, and time is running out for them to make a move out of it. They’re only two points back of 17th place Newcastle, and three points back of 16th place Brighton, so all hope is not lost.

Unfortunately, they’ve played one more match than either of those clubs, so they have less opportunities to earn points than the teams they need to pass. This adds extra importance to this matchup for Fulham, a team that has won two out of their last five matches.

Fulham vs. Leeds United Three Way Moneyline

• Fulham +145
• Leeds United +200
• Draw +235

The moneyline for this matchup is fairly close, and Fulham are favored on the three-way moneyline.

Leeds United have only won one of their last five matches, and this run of mediocre form could be influencing their odds.

Fulham vs. Leeds United No Draw Moneyline

• Fulham -140
• Leeds United +115

The no draw moneyline reinforces that this is Fulham’s game to lose - and they desperately need a victory.

The question is whether they’ll be able to pull it off, even against a struggling Leeds United team.

Soccer betting fans have an interesting quandary on their hands - Fulham have been worse than Leeds United for much of the season, but the teams are meeting right now on different trajectories.

Can Fulham pull out a win here and keep their season alive? The answer remains to be seen.

NBA Betting

While the attention of much of the sports betting community focuses in on college basketball during March Madness, there are solid NBA betting opportunities as well.

The Portland Trail Blazers have found themselves as the sixth seed in the Western Conference, but they’re only 2.5 games back from the Los Angeles Clippers in the fourth seed. The Blazers are a real contender, with a 24-16 record to prove it, and today, they face off against the 21-18 Dallas Mavericks.

Dallas has won eight of their last 11 games, and they’re making a serious push for playoff relevance after starting the season poorly.

Portland Trail Blazers vs. Dallas Mavericks

• Dallas Mavericks -160
• Portland Trail Blazers +140

So, why is the team with the better record that is playing at home an underdog in this matchup? It’s simple - Portland’s advanced metrics are downright awful.

Portland has the 29th best (second-worst) defense in the NBA, with a defensive rating of 116.7.

On offense, they’re a top ten team, coming in at sixth in offensive rating at 116.4.

The key here is that the Blazers are somehow eight games above .500 with a net rating of -0.3, which is 19th in the league.

Portland Trail Blazers vs. Dallas Mavericks Spread

• Dallas Mavericks -3.5 (-115)
• Portland Trail Blazers +3.5 (-105)

So, by all rights the Blazers are a team that should be hovering around .500, not a team that should be in the thick of the playoff hunt. In this context, and the context of Dallas winning eight of their last 11 games, it makes sense why the Mavericks are favored on the online sportsbooks.

NBA betting enthusiasts still have their work cut out for them, however, as Portland’s advanced numbers are so mediocre that even this spread could be a tough ask.

This looks to be a fascinating matchup between teams that might have heavily misleading records at this point in the season.