Barcelona hopes to heap pressure on Madrid

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02/10/2012 - Navarra, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Barcelona, by its high standards, is sailing in chartered La Liga territory this season.

The Catalans have exhibited a certain level of dominance in Spain's top flight over the past few seasons, claiming three-straight La Liga titles.

But this season, Barcelona finds itself seven points adrift of leaders Real Madrid, sitting in second place with 48 points.

With Barcelona set to face Osasuna on Saturday at the Reyno de Navarra, it hopes to cut down Real Madrid's lead down to four points ahead of its Sunday fixture at the Bernabeu.

The deficit does not seem to worry defender Gerard Pique, who said that the reigning European champions are strong enough to still win the title.

"At the beginning of the season I would have happily signed up for this situation," Pique said. "Sometimes we win, others we don't, but we always want it. We feel strong enough to move ahead. Count on us being there in the fight at the end of the season."

Pique also offered a prediction for the remainder of the season.

"The struggle for the [La Liga] title is going to be a long one for whoever ends up winning it."

Barcelona has suffered just one loss this season, but its six draws have set the club off of the blistering pace set by Real Madrid.

The Catalans are unbeaten in their last eight league games, taking 22 points over that stretch.

Osasuna, tied with Malaga for eighth place on 28 points, has not picked up three points in a match since Dec. 18 when it defeated Villarreal, 2-1. Since then, Los Rojillos have drawn three and lost two.

Real Madrid, on a six-game winning run in La Liga play, will need a win to maintain the gap over Barcelona should the Catalans take maximum points Saturday. The Galacticos will have need to try and accomplish that feat against a difficult opponent Sunday as it welcomes fourth-place Levante to the Bernabeu.

Third-place Valencia appears to be out of the title race as it trails Real Madrid by 18 points, but the club now has their sights set on solidifying their place in the top three. Without a win in its last five matches, Valencia will look to pick up three points against second-from-bottom Sporting Gijon.

Elsewhere on Sunday, Espanyol welcomes Real Zaragoza to the Estadi Cornella-El Prat, Malaga hosts Mallorca at the Estadio La Rosaleda, Villarreal and Granada square off at El Madrigal, and Rayo Vallecano faces Getafe at the Teresa Rivero.

Racing hosts Atletico Madrid and Real Betis hosts Athletic Bilbao on Saturday, while La Liga play concludes on Monday with Sevilla looking to snap a seven- game winless run with three points at Real Sociedad.

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Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.

As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.

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The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.

Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).

But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.

Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.

Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:

Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1

Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2

New York Giants - 9 - 2

Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).

Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.

So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.

And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.

They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.

Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.

But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.

Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.

Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.

Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.

Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?

Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.

In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.

Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.

Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.

The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.

The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.

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