Must-Bet Cross-Sport Parlay: 3 Underdogs Capture Saturday!
Hide your wives and hide your kids. Underdogs are about to smash parlays this weekend. If you’re holding tickets on Manchester City or the Boston Celtics, then rip those up as Manchester United and the Indiana Pacers are about to pull off upsets… sort of. Instead of plucking the low-hanging fruit and stacking favorites, we’re going the other way with three underdog bets.
This weekend’s cross-sport parlay pits the best soccer betting lines with boxing and the NBA.
Best Bets to Parlay This Weekend
NBA: Pacers Prove Celtics’s Match – Indiana Pacers +6½
The Pacers fumbled a big upset over Boston in Game 1 then got soundly defeated in Game 2. Now, NBA odds have them as underdogs in their arena. But don’t discount Indiana. The Pacers are 8-3-1 against the spread (ATS) as home underdogs. They are also 6-0 at home in the playoffs and are 23-9 against conference opponents.
Indiana lost both Game 1s against Milwaukee and New York. But this resilient squad found a way to win the series. The Pacers fans are raucous and will make it difficult for Boston to play efficiently. And the Celtics are a team built more on finesse than toughness and grit.
We’ll see Indiana winning this game to get back in the series. Rick Carlisle is a better coach than Joe Mazzulla and Indiana has a deeper team.
The underdog is worth including in your NBA parlay bets.
FA Cup: United Gives City Fits – Manchester United +1½ (-110)
Manchester City is the greatest football team of its time. We get it. They have set themselves far above everyone and that includes their cross-town rivals. The once-powerful Manchester United is transitioning into another phase following a dreadful season. Hence, the soccer odds are as lopsided as you can find in a championship match. But we don’t buy it.
This is a Cup match. That’s not the same as a regular Premier League match. City and United have split their last 10 Cup matches. And City has only beaten United by 2+ goals twice in the last 14 meetings going back to 1975. We’ll gladly take the handicap for United at +1½. This club is a mess, but FA Cup matches have seen plenty of upsets over recent seasons.
Final PL table:
62 — Man City goal difference
60 — Man United points pic.twitter.com/oGhRWPpY03— StatMuse FC (@statmusefc) May 19, 2024
On top of that, City may have celebrated too hard after winning the Premier League. Arsenal pushed them to the limit. Clinching that record-breaking title may have drained some adrenaline from this crew. City may just be sluggish at first and give up a bad goal despite dominating possession. Or they could go up 3-0 quickly and then take their feet off the gas.
Parlay United’s handicap of +1½. The Red Devils will show up and surprise their archrivals.
Boxing: Taylor Beats Catterall, No Controversy – Josh Taylor (+130)
This hotly anticipated rematch has boxing lines on backward. We get it. Jack Catterall gave Josh Taylor a beating and was robbed of a victory two years ago. But don’t get it twisted. Taylor was the stronger boxer as the fight went on. And as Catterall sat on his hands to “blow” that fight, he also did not do much afterward.
While Catterall switched promoters and beat a washed-up Jorge Linares, Taylor went 12 rounds with Teofimo Lopez. While he lost the match, it’s no shame as Lopez also had a win over the great Vasiliy Lomachenko. And as Catterall has the youth edge, Taylor has better experience.
It’s not just the strength of competition either. Taylor now won’t get by surprise against Catterall. He had all the pressure then holding all the belts. The Scotsman was looking for bigger fights even versus the likes of Terence “Bud” Crawford. Now, he’s got nothing to lose while Catterall has more pressure to win.
Given the current betting lines, we’ll take the dog shot on Taylor. And throw him into the parlay.
Question of the Day
Why should you bet underdogs in a parlay?
Parlaying underdog bets, even slight ones, can lead to an exponentially larger payout. A parlay of two underdogs at +110 each will yield odds at +341, for example.
