Daily Sports Betting Preview 3/16/2021: Champions League, ATP Acapulco, NHL

• Manchester City has -450 odds to defeat Borussia Monchengladbach in the Champions League.
• ATP Acapulco sees Stefanos Tsitsipas with -1600 odds to defeat Benoit Paire.
• The Washington Capitals and the New York Islanders have a pick ‘em on the moneyline.

LAS VEGAS - Welcome to the Daily Sports Betting Preview on this fine Tuesday. First up, Manchester City faces off against Borussia Monchengladbach in the Champions League.

Then, ATP Acapulco features a matchup between Stefanos Tsitsipas and Benoit Paire.

Finally, the New York Islanders take on the Washington Capitals in NHL action.

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

Champions League Betting

Manchester City are currently in the process of cruising to the Premier League title in 2020-2021, but the Champions League is another matter entirely.

Today, in the second leg of their Round of 16 matchup against Borussia Mönchengladbach, City has a chance to make it to the Champions League quarter finals.

The first leg of the matchup ended up being a 2-0 victory for Manchester City, with both of those goals being away goals. This gives City a big advantage heading into this leg of the matchup, and could mean that they’re incentivized to play defensively and hold onto their lead.

Manchester City vs. Borussia Monchengladbach Three Way Moneyline

• Borussia Monchengladbach +1200
• Manchester City -450
• Draw +550

The sportsbooks seem to consider this matchup a fait accompli - Manchester City is one of the elite teams in Europe, while Borussia Monchengladbach may consider simply making the Round of 16 a success - they’ve never been here before.

The no draw moneyline makes the gap between the two teams even more apparent.

Manchester City vs. Borussia Monchengladbach No Draw Moneyline

• Borussia Monchengladbach +1000
• Manchester City -1800

City’s odds sit at a whopping -1800 to win this match, even though they don’t even have to win this match in order to qualify for the next round of the Champions League.

Manchester City vs. Borussia Monchengladbach Odds To Qualify

• Borussia Monchengladbach +2800
• Manchester City -20000

Speaking of qualification odds, they’re perhaps as lopsided as it gets - Manchester City are already massively favored in this match, and they enter it effectively up two goals.

Any result that does not see Manchester City moving to the quarter finals will be a shocking one for soccer betting fans.

ATP Acapulco Betting

ATP Acapulco is in full swing, and with several elite players on the board today, there are multiple genuine threats to win this tournament.

However, Stefanos Tsitsipas stands out as an elite talent who can win any event of this level that he’s involved in. The Greek star enters this tournament as the first seed, and is currently ranked fifth in the world at the age of 22.

His opponent on Tuesday, Benoit Paire, is a veteran, ranked 31st in the ATP at the age of 31.

He’ll need all of that veteran experience and then some to take on Tsitsipas, if the sportsbooks are to be believed.

Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. Benoit Paire Moneyline

• Stefanos Tsitsipas -1600
• Benoit Paire +900

On the moneyline, Tsitsipas is a larger favorite in this matchup than any other player in the tournament in their respective matchups.

In other words, of all the matches set to be played in ATP Acapulco on Tuesday, this is the one that the online sportsbooks believe to be the most lopsided.

Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. Benoit Paire Spread

• Stefanos Tsitsipas -5.5 (-125)
• Benoit Paire +5.5 (-105)

The spread for this match favors Tsitsipas by 5.5 games, and actually has a reasonably large amount of shading on that outcome. It wouldn’t be surprising to see this spread move around a bit in the future, with Tsitsipas perhaps getting closer to even odds at -6.0.

While Tsitsipas is a big moneyline favorite in this matchup, the spread presents a compelling tennis betting opportunity along with reasonable odds going either way.

NHL Betting

The NHL’s East Division has been quite intriguing in 2021, and the two teams at the top of it are the New York Islanders and the Washington Capitals.

These teams have something of a history, with former Capitals coach Barry Trotz molding the Islanders into a serious contender after the Caps let him go.

The Islanders lead the East Division with a record of 19-6-3-1, and have a goal differential of +22, well ahead of any other team in the division. The Capitals are in second place, with a record of 18-6-2-2, but it’s worth noting that their goal differential is only +13, which pales in comparison to the Islanders’ goal differential.

New York Islanders vs. Washington Capitals Moneyline

• New York Islanders -110
• Washington Capitals -110

The moneyline for this matchup is set at a pick ‘em, which at first glance is mildly disrespectful to the Islanders.

However, when one considers that the Islanders are the road team in this matchup, things get a bit clearer. The Islanders have a 7-6-2-0 record on the road - they’re downright average when playing away from home.

Meanwhile, the Capitals are 8-3-1-1 at home, and while that’s not necessarily spectacular, it’s better than the Islanders on the road.

New York Islanders vs. Washington Capitals Puck Line

• New York Islanders -1.5 (+215)
• Washington Capitals +1.5 (-260)

In terms of the puck line, this is a hard one for the Islanders to cover, given how the matchup is set up.

They’ve excelled on the puck line overall, with a 19-10 record, but on the road, they’re 7-8 - their performance demonstrates a clear split between home and road performances in terms of quality.

The Capitals are 17-11 overall against the puck line, and 11-4 at home. In addition, they’re effectively getting a full 1.5 point handicap as the moneyline has these teams at a pick ‘em.

Given all of this, the trends seem to suggest to hockey betting enthusiasts that the Caps are a reasonable pick in this matchup, especially on the puck line.

Good luck!