This weekend, we’ll be looking to find our footing and secure some winners. And you better believe there is a loaded slate of action to wager on.
UFC 287 is set to be an absolutely fantastic card with a rematch between Adesanya and Pereira headlining the PPV event. Additionally, The Masters is definitely heating up at Augusta.
Throw in some XFL, MLB and English Premier League action, and we have a thrilling cross sports parlay card for you to bet on. As always, these picks are ranked in order of confidence. All odds are courtesy of Bovada.
Parlay Picks Today
| Pick | Odds |
|---|---|
| Manchester United | -205 |
| Los Angeles Angels | -128 |
| St. Louis Battlehawks -7 | -110 |
| Alex Pereira | +110 |
Pick 1: Manchester United (-205) vs. Everton
Saturday, April 1st at 7:30 AM ET
Once again, we’ll be starting off our weekend parlay card with the English Premier League.
Manchester United has not been that great as of late. Suspensions and injuries have taken their toll on Erik ten Haag’s side. That said, they’ve been quite sturdy at home, playing in front of the rabid fans at Old Trafford.
In fact, United enter Saturday unbeaten in 24 straight matches on home soil, and the thinking here is that they’ll comfortably make it 25 in a row with a convincing victory in league action vs. lowly Everton.
After dismal road showings with a depleted group at both Newcastle and Liverpool, the Red Devils are starting to get healthy in time for this fixture. Midfield maestro Casemiro is still out serving the final game of his suspension, but Luke Shaw should return at the key left-back position.
The midfield pairing of Brazil’s Fred and Austria’s Marcel Sabitzer has gelled quickly from the outset, and that influential duo will be crucial at disrupting the flow of Everton’s midfield and winning balls in the centre of the pitch.
Everton won’t have many answers for the skill or attacking prowess of Manchester United, as their back-line is badly banged-up, and they simply do not have the pace to keep up with the likes of Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial.
Playing just beyond that prolific duo should be Bruno Fernandes, and look for the Portuguese international to be able to unlock a defense-first formation that the Toffees of Everton will look to employ.
No player has scored more Premier League goals this year than Marcus Rashford (9) 🔥 pic.twitter.com/UBoleIUIFJ
— ESPN UK (@ESPNUK) April 5, 2023
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Everton is mired in a tense relegation battle and, without much quality or scoring prowess, it’s going to be really tough to stay up in the Premier League.
They’ll look to enter Old Trafford seeking to frustrate a much more talented side, but whether or not these tactics can be effective across the full 90 minutes does remain to be seen. Everton will battle ultimately, but the talent at the back just isn’t there.
Despite a run of many games in quick succession, United has had time to catch their breath and will be keen to re-establish themselves closer to the top of the Premier League table.
This remains an elite side loaded with promising skill and talent. Despite a heavy defensive block likely set up by Everton in their attempts for a draw, Man United’s skill up front is going to break them down.
Look for United to be dialed in and ready to truly shake off the bitter taste of recent defeats. This is a talented group when they’re focused. A home game versus Everton should provide the platform for these players to unleash their frustrations.
Back Man United to secure the full three points at EPL betting sites, and look for Marcus Rashford to also find the back of the net on Saturday morning.
Pick 2: Toronto Blue Jays vs. Los Angeles Angels (-115)
Saturday, April 8th at 9:07 PM ET
Toronto’s red-hot bats will look to pick up their fading former-ace in Jose Berrios as they transition from a series against the lowly Royals, to one against the red-hot Los Angeles Angels. Could this finally be the season in which the talented Angels put it together?
Well, for one night against Berrios, this LA squad should simply smash the struggling Puerto Rican pitcher. Jose Berrios isn’t the same guy he was back in Minnesota. He cannot locate his fastball and, with fading velocity and consistency from pitch-to-pitch, he’s barely a borderline major leaguer at this point.
In what was billed as a definite bounce-back season for the high-priced Berrios, he faded badly against Kansas City. The Royals knew exactly what was coming and were able to square up on pretty much every pitch across his five dismal innings.
Berrios exited the game with a staggering 12.71 ERA. Shockingly, the lowly Kansas City bats had ten different occasions where they rocked his pitches with exit velocities of 100 mph or higher!
The amount of hard contact looked like Berrios of last year, and that’s not great considering the Angels’ offense.
Average Exit Velocity on Berrios 4-seamers & sinkers tonight: 98.3mph
6 of the 9 hits he allowed came on those two pitches. pic.twitter.com/rAh07ff4jZ
— Chris Black (@DownToBlack) April 4, 2023
With both Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout having hot starts to their season, finding outs against this deep lineup will be problematic if Berrios continues to falter with his fastball command. While Berrios took full responsibility for his poor showing, it’s clear the confidence is waning.
Although Toronto’s bats are keeping his woeful pitching afloat and giving the team a chance, it’s going to be hard-pressed on Saturday evening against Tyler Anderson of the Angels.
Anderson is coming off an excellent spring and was dazzling in his first start last week. He was dominant in his 93 pitches in his Angels debut and the lefty thrower possesses the type of pitching profile that can give these Jays’ hitters fits.
Anderson has also experimented with tinkering his pitch selection, and has added in a ‘sweeper’ pitch that confounded hitters last week.
The break he gets on it has been impressive as it features an 8” drop. He has also been throwing it four mph harder this year, compared to the end of last season. Without much pre-scouting on that pitch, it might take time for these Blue Jays’ bats to catch up.
It’s a tad remarkable the Angels aren’t bigger favorites at MLB betting sites, given the pitching mismatch.
Berrios has shown nothing for the past two years and, with the Angels’ bats currently pushing at a .400 OBP clip, it’s hard to see Berrios suddenly finding the necessary fastball to get batters out.
Two-Team Parlay Odds
If you prefer to just go with a two-team parlay card, Manchester United (-205) and the Los Angeles Angels (-128) have parlay odds of +165. This means you would win $165 dollars for every $100 dollars wagered.
Pick 3: St. Louis Battlehawks -7 (-110) vs. Vegas Vipers
Sat. April 8th at 1:00 PM ET
We have been quite hot with our hit rate in terms of XFL betting on our parlay cards, so you better believe that we’re betting on the Week 8 action between the Battlehawks and Vegas Vipers.
This is actually a matchup we covered and were on the right side of two weeks ago, and we’ll be going back with what we know and love.
We were on the winning side with St. Louis last week, and we’ll be looking to back them again in what promises to be a festive atmosphere in St. Louis.
The Battlehawks boast one of the best home-field advantages in all of the XFL and enter with a 5-2 record as they continue their ascension in the league’s North division.
The Battlehawks dominated the Vipers in Las Vegas a few weeks ago and will look to replicate that formula on home soil Saturday afternoon. AJ McCarron is one of the best throwers in the XFL, if not the best, and he should be keen for another showdown with this porous Vegas secondary.
Last time these teams met, McCarron decimated the Vipers through the air going 23 of 29, for 246 yards and three passing touchdowns.
There was very little resistance from Vegas, and there’s a reason he enters Week 8 leading the XFL in touchdown passes. He has the required NFL pedigree and talented receivers to keep the chains moving, and he’ll do just that here in Week 8.
TOUCHDOWN BATTLEHAWKS SEND TWEET https://t.co/Z69yxOeyF1 pic.twitter.com/MtMX6TisTa
— St. Louis Battlehawks (@XFLBattlehawks) April 2, 2023
The Vipers enter this matchup as a wounded group and are very likely already out of the playoff race. While their offense has talent and has shown it can score, their defense has continually let them down.
They generate very little pressure on opposing throwers and giving McCarron loads of time, and space to operate from the pocket, seems to be a recipe for disaster.
Through the air, their coverage has been anaemic and their defensive line has been poor at stuffing opposing rushers. That’s not a good formula to generate any sort of stops defensively.
The Vipers will be on their third QB of the season as they turn to Jalan McClendon against St. Louis. Not much is known or has been seen on McClendon thus far, but he did have a good outing last week vs. the Brahmas.
That said, St. Louis brings heat defensively and, in a rowdy atmosphere going against a defense that can force all kinds of mistakes and turnovers, it’ll be tough for the young QB. St. Louis has the second-most fumble recoveries and interceptions in the XFL.
St. Louis throttled Vegas in their last meeting by a 29-6 score. And this week’s edition might not be much different. The Battlehawks have only improved and are already thinking playoffs, while the Vipers have faded in a big way.
Three-Team Parlay Odds
Taking the first three legs of this parlay card, with Manchester United (-205), the L.A. Angels at (-128), and adding in the St. Louis Battlehawks -7 (-110), returns juicy +406 parlay odds. This means you would win $406 dollars for every $100 dollars wagered.
Pick 4: Alex Pereira (+110) over Israel Adesanya
Sat. April 8th at 11:45 PM ET
It’s always thrilling to close out the weekend of parlay action on a main event, UFC title fight. And that is exactly what we’ll do for this loaded Easter weekend slate of betting action as we break down the Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira middleweight title fight live from Miami, Florida, on Saturday night.
Despite losing to Pereira on three separate occasions, Adesanya somehow enters the PPV as the favorite at UFC betting sites. Adesanya has many skills, but Pereira clearly has the number of his main rival.
The issue with Adesanya is he’s logged a lot of miles. Although he remains an elite fighter, you have to question what is left in the tank.
How heavy will the first three losses to Pereira weigh on him, even with two of them occurring in the kickboxing circuit? Adesanya isn’t nearly as versatile as his opponent. He struggles with wrestling and any sort of ground game as well.
Adesanya isn’t nearly as creative or dynamic standing in front of fighters anymore and, given the fact that Pereira has already knocked him out, that seems to be the likely conclusion to this fight as well.
An intense rivalry continues between Pereira and Adesanya 🍿 #UFC287 pic.twitter.com/bH2RLTcUuD
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) April 6, 2023
Pereira negates the size advantages Adesanya brings to the division, and he is more than capable of delivering a late-round finishing blow.
Adesanya has said this fight is for his legacy and it’s very much “make it or break it” in terms of a successful career. Unfortunately for him, he’s picked another fight with a tough dude in Alex Pereira.
Adesanya might accumulate enough to be leading on the scorecards, but it’s hard to envision this fight actually going the distance.
Pereira is a dangerous striker with all limbs, and it’s tough to see Adesanya pivoting from his desire to get his main rival back with a knockout win of his own.
Ultimately, that’s not his best route forward. The calm and calculated approach of Pereira should win out, with a devastating blow in the late stages of this contest.
Back Pereira to retain his middleweight title belt. If you want to get even riskier, back him to do it via KO.
Four-Team Parlay Odds
And there you have it, folks! Four Easter weekend wagers to add a little excitement to your holiday betting needs. If you do choose to wager on all four selections of this parlay card, you will receive delicious parlay odds of +962. This means that you would win $962 dollars for every $100 dollars wagered.
