Gross Bombs: NFL Props for Week 16
Josh Gross
This is a great time to be a sports bettor. As sports betting becomes legal in more and more locations, the various sportsbooks are all vying for your business.
Targeting daily odds boosts bets can be one of the best ways to take advantage.
Each day I’ll be highlighting some of the best odds boosts across the industry and where you can find them.
Friday’s slate is relatively light, so let’s also look at some odds boosts for the upcoming MLB and NBA seasons.
Spanish La Liga Odds Boost
Real Sociedad vs. Granada (1:30 p.m. ET start)
Boosted bet: Real Sociedad 8+ shots on target — +700 on FoxBet (was +550)
Real Sociedad and Granada are two mid-table teams in La Liga, but Sociedad has shown the ability to put the ball in the back of the net. They’ve scored 51 goals this season, which is tied for the fifth-best mark in the league. I’m not a huge soccer aficionado, but it seems like it would be pretty hard to score the ball without shooting.
They attempted nine shots and put five on target in their first matchup against Granada this season, and they’ve attempted double-digit shots in three of their past five games.
This is obviously a long shot that you shouldn’t expect to win very often, but there are worse ways to spend a Friday afternoon.
Real Madrid vs. Alaves (4 p.m. ET start)
Boosted bet: Eden Hazard to score — +120 on William Hill (was +105)
Real Sociedad vs. Granada is a solid appetizer, but this is the main course. Real Madrid is one of the best teams in the world, and they’re on pace to win La Liga this season. They are always capable of putting on a show.
On the other hand, Alaves is just fighting for the right to stay in La Liga for next season. They currently sit in 17th in the standings, which means they are right on the bubble for relegation.
This is not expected to be much of a contest, with Real Madrid currently boasting -455 moneyline odds.
With that in mind, Hazard might be worth considering as a goal scorer. He hasn’t done that very much this season — he hasn’t scored since the league returned to action in mid-June — but he does have 1.1 expected goals over that time frame. He’s been a bit unlucky, so maybe that will change in a favorable matchup.
English Premier League Odds Boost
Liverpool vs. Burnley (Saturday at 10 a.m. ET)
Sheffield United vs. Chelsea (Saturday at 12:30 p.m. ET)
Brighton & Hove Albion vs. Manchester City (3 p.m. ET)
Boosted bet: Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City all to win — +200 on FanDuel (was +159)
These games don’t start until Saturday, but I wanted to make sure to get it in this piece due to the earlier start times.
A three-team parlay is always a risky proposition — just one draw or loss and this bet is a loser — but you couldn’t ask for three better teams to parlay in the Premier League than Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City. They currently occupy the top three spots in the league standings.
Burnley and Sheffield United aren’t exactly pushovers — they rank 10th and seventh in the Premier League, respectively — but they are a clear class below the teams at the top of the table.
Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City are all pretty significant favorites, so there is definitely a scenario where all three teams take care of business.
Major League Baseball Odds Boost
Boosted bet: Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees to meet in the 2020 World Series — +700 on DraftKings (up from +640)
The Dodgers and the Yankees are the odds-on favorites to represent each league in the World Series, so this is your opportunity to parlay them together with a slight odds boost.
The Dodgers have been the class of the NL for a while now, even though they somehow always manage to come up short in the postseason. Maybe that will change this year after the addition of Mookie Betts, who was the AL MVP just two years ago in Boston. Adding him to a lineup that already featured Cody Bellinger gives the Dodgers one of the most potent 1-2 punches in all of baseball.
In the American League, the Yankees have a true embarrassment of riches. They have a loaded offense and bullpen, and the only thing they were missing last year was a clear ace to hand the ball to in a big game. That shouldn’t be a problem anymore after signing Gerrit Cole in the offseason. Cole is coming off an utterly dominant 2019 campaign, posting a 2.50 ERA while leading all starters with a ridiculous 13.8 strikeouts per nine innings.
This is going to be an interesting baseball season — who knows what’s going to happen over 60 games? — but it certainly wouldn’t be surprising to see these two teams meet in the World Series.
National Basketball Association Odds Boost
Boosted bet: Los Angeles Lakers to win the NBA title — +275 on FoxBet
You’re not going to find a better price on the Lakers to win the title than what is currently being offered at FoxBet.
They are the odds-on favorites at most sportsbooks at this point — though some locations still favor the Bucks — and it’s easy to see why. LeBron James is still at the peak of his powers, and he figures to be one of the biggest beneficiaries of the extended break. The Bucks and Clippers were already prioritizing load management, and LeBron has way more tread on his tires than guys like Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kawhi Leonard.
Prior to the shutdown, the Lakers asserted their dominance as the potential top dogs in the NBA, beating the Bucks and Clippers in back-to-back contests.
If you’re still looking to get down on King James to win his fourth NBA title, now is the time to do it.
