City remains positive ahead of Hull clash

Soccer Betting Lines

11/13/2008 - Manchester, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - There has not been much to smile about for Manchester City manager Mark Hughes recently, with his team winning just once in its last seven Premiership games to fall to 13th in the table.

Expectations were raised to ridiculous heights when the Abu Dhabi United Group completed a takeover of City at the end of August, and immediately brought in Brazilian star Robinho from Real Madrid.

Since then, City has been expected to challenge for a league title and a spot in the Champions League, but they have fallen well short of those lofty goals to this point.

Hughes met with club chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak following a 2-1 defeat to Tottenham on Sunday, and while the results have come slowly this season for City, Hughes believes that he and the chairman are on the same page, and that those ambitious goals can eventually be met.

"The chairman understands where we are, and of course ideally we would prefer to have positive results at the moment," Hughes told the club's official website. "The quality of our football has been good, there have been few occasions when I've been disappointed with what we've produced. The chairman, and everybody at the club, understands where we are and that things will not happen overnight.

"We'll address things and get more quality into the squad, because that is what we need to do to move forward. At the moment you have to say that things are a little bit hysterical, people need to calm down a little bit and we will get points on the board. That's a given with the quality of players that we have, but we're calm and positive."

While City will likely make a big push for star players in the January transfer window, there is still much work to be done before reinforcements arrive.

The team is only one point from relegation in an extremely crowded bottom half of the table, meaning a few more successive losses could drop City all the way to the bottom.

The club's schedule is not favorable over the next few weeks either, with an away match at sixth-place Hull City and home contests against heavyweights Arsenal and Manchester United to follow.

However, Hughes has remained optimistic that his side has enough quality to turn things around.

"We have good players, but collectively and individually we have let ourselves down on occasions and conceded goals. It's been difficult but we have good players and we will turn it around."

Chelsea sits atop the league but the Blues will be trying to rebound from a stunning loss on penalty kicks to Burnley in the Carling Cup when they visit West Bromwich, while second-place Liverpool was also bounced from the competition by Tottenham, and the Reds will invade the Reebok Stadium to face Bolton.

A pair of top-five teams square off at the Emirates Stadium when third-place Arsenal hosts fifth-place Aston Villa, which has lost its last two games, fourth-place Manchester United entertains Stoke City and Tottenham, which is unbeaten in its last six games in all competitions, travels to Fulham.

Blackburn is winless in its last six games in league play, and hosts Sunderland, Newcastle takes on Wigan at St James' Park, middle-of-the-table sides Portsmouth and West Ham do battle at Upton Park, while Everton tries to extend its winning streak to four games with three points against Middlesbrough.

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Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State

It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.

Work left to do:

Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney.

Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson.

Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable.

Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

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