A narrow defeat at the end of the XFL contest prevented us from hitting our four-leg parlay last week, but we’re back this week and looking for perfection.
The sports calendar is on fire this weekend with the NBA Playoffs, UFC, the NHL Playoffs, XFL, Soccer, and so much more. In fact, there are seven MMA events this weekend to choose from. As usual, our picks will be ranked in order of confidence with all odds courtesy of Bovada.
Parlay Picks of the Day
| Pick | Odds |
|---|---|
| Crystal Palace | +115 |
| Curtis Blaydes | -175 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | -115 |
| Sacramento Kings +7.5 | -110 |
Pick 1: Crystal Palace (+115) over Everton
Saturday, April 22nd at 10 a.m. ET
It was another massive victory for Crystal Palace last week against Southampton as the Eagles soared even further above the dangerous relegation zone. Manager Roy Hodgson has instilled new life into the Palace attack and they’ll look to showcase that once again at home against a fading Everton squad.
Everton is certainly reeling this season and look in danger of getting relegated. And picking up points against a key competitor at what promises to be a rowdy Selhurst Park atmosphere won’t be easy.
They’re stuck in 17th place for good reason and, though Saturday’s clash is certainly a match that they’ll view as winnable, there remains a decisive talent gap between Palace and the Toffees from Everton.
⏪ Crystal Palace 4-0 Everton
Palace thrash Everton sending them through to the FA Cup Semi-Finals 🏟️ 🏆@CPFC | #CPFC pic.twitter.com/pkO8xrRFUW
— Utilita Football (@UtilitaFootball) April 20, 2023
Expect Palace to control the bulk of possession in this contest and, with Wilfried Zaha slated to return to the Eagles’ talented array of attackers up front, the depleted Everton back-line should be overmatched.
Eberechi Eze and Michael Olise have proven to be a formidable partnership in recent weeks under Hodgson. The skill and pace of that tandem should dominate.
Palace enters Saturday at full strength. Following the dismantling of Leeds United by a 5-1 score-line and last week’s shutout victory over Southampton, this team’s confidence is sky high.
Palace’s midfield and strikers boast all kinds of shifty talents, the likes of which Everton’s plodding back line has traditionally struggled against. While Palace doesn’t necessarily have the best record and underlying expected goal metrics on the season, the talent and speed disparity should be apparent across the pitch.
Everton’s form is in poor shape at the moment and, with Palace riding high, they should be able to comfortably claim the full three points.
Palace is the pick to start things off with a juicy +115 price at the best soccer betting sites. It’s steep, yes, but the gap in talent on Saturday morning should be apparent from the outset. Back the Eagles to soar once again!
Pick 2: Curtis Blaydes (-175) vs. Sergei Pavlovich
Saturday, April 22nd at 11:15 p.m. ET
The UFC returns to action with an exciting Fight Night event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The featured bout of the night pits veteran Curtis Blaydes against Sergei Pavlovich in a key battle within a tightly contested heavyweight division.
Both fighters enter this contest with 17 victories to their credit. However, Blaydes has three losses compared to Pavlovich’s lone defeat.
Blaydes comes into the UFC Apex riding a three-fight winning streak and, with another victory here, he could further move himself into contention to potentially set up a bout against Jon Jones.
Standing in his way will be the power punching Pavlovich who has actually won five straight contests. All five of those victories have come via first-round knockout. He’s secured back-to-back finishes over top contenders Derrick Lewis and Tai Tuivasa.
Taking the spotlight this Saturday 🔦
[ #UFCVegas71 | Saturday | Main Card 7pmET on ESPN+ ] pic.twitter.com/bVyPs1l9wW
— UFC (@ufc) April 19, 2023
Pavlovich can certainly hit hard, but it remains to be seen if he can actually track down a fairly agile Blaydes and hit him with regularity across five rounds. The big Russian will want the battle to be standing, but expect Blaydes to go for more of a wrestling approach to wear down Pavlovich and grind him into submission.
Stylistically, look for this to be a tough matchup for Pavlovich as Blaydes is unlike anyone else that he has fought recently. Typically, Pavlovich exerts a ton of forward pressure and likes to keep his opponents tired with a relentless attack.
That won’t work on Blaydes who is one of the most athletic heavyweights that we have seen in the UFC and is a well-known takedown artist. Given Pavlovich’s questionable takedown defense, Blaydes should find consistent openings on Saturday evening.
Blaydes is more battle-tested and has repeatedly proven that he can deal with longer fights and adversity. Pavlovich has feasted on an inferior group of opposition for most of his career.
Although Blaydes is a -175 favorite with UFC betting sites, he’s a valuable addition to our weekend parlay card.
Two-Team Parlay Odds
If you prefer to just go with a two-leg parlay card, Crystal Palace (+115) and Curtis Blaydes (-175) have parlay odds of +238. This means you would win $238 dollars for every $100 dollars wagered.
Pick 3: Toronto Maple Leafs (-115) vs. Tampa Bay Lightning
Sat. April 22nd at 7:00 p.m. ET
Hockey fans and bettors saw first-hand Thursday night, the power of this Toronto Maple Leafs’ offense. They bounced back in a big way from a dismal Game 1 showing and completely overwhelmed the Lightning in Game 2 to even up this NHL Playoff series.
The Leafs did it with a balanced scoring attack, solid defending, and steady netminding from Ilya Samsonov. Head coach Sheldon Keefe has found some answers by inserting a powerful skating rookie, Matthew Knies, into the lineup.
He was a force on the forecheck, giving a depleted Bolts’ defensive group fits in their own zone. Knies registered five hits and was a part of a deeper Toronto forward corps that saw Keefe spread out his top players across three lines.
This approach paid immediate dividends as the Lightning’s banged-up defensive group couldn’t withstand the Leafs’ onslaught. Without Victor Hedman and Erik Cernak on the blue line, Tampa struggled to generate an effective first pass and were simply overmatched from the outset.
#BREAKING: Captain John Tavares had a hat trick as the Toronto Maple Leafs dominated the Tampa Bay Lightning 7-2 on Thursday, evening the series at 1-1. https://t.co/cFtsWtu65t
— CityNews Toronto (@CityNewsTO) April 21, 2023
Although the series will now shift to Tampa, Florida, expect Game 3 to be closer to the norm going forward. The Lightning are older, slower, and much more banged up. Even if Hedman and Cernak do return to the lineup, you have to wonder the ability and/or effectiveness to battle with this hungry and speedy Leafs’ forecheck.
The Leafs had Tampa nearly beat last year in Game 6 and have put together excellent outings in Amalie Arena over the past 18 months.
This Toronto team is ready to prove they have another gear and should be able to take full advantage of this wounded Bolts squad. Toronto can be expected to generate roughly 60% of all even-strength expected goal chances on Saturday night, given their knack of doing so in Game 2.
Though Keefe loses the ability to line-match and loses last change, it really shouldn’t matter all that much given the depth of the Maple Leafs.
Their speed and transition game should bury Tampa Bay in the series from here on out and Toronto won’t be intimidated about playing a hungry and effective road game. At -115 odds with the NHL sportsbooks, Toronto is a solid play this weekend.
Three-Team Parlay Odds
Taking the first three legs of this weekend parlay card, Crystal Palace (+115), Curtis Blaydes at (-175), Toronto Maple Leafs (-115), returns exciting +532 parlay odds. This means you would win $532 dollars for every $100 dollars wagered.
Pick 4: Sacramento Kings +7.5 (-110) vs. Golden State Warriors
Sun. April 23rd at 3:30 p.m. ET
One of the most shocking results from a thrilling NBA regular season, was watching an upstart Sacramento Kings team win their division and head into the NBA Playoffs as the no. 3 seed in the Western Conference.
It was quite surprising, but now we’ll quickly find out how real they are as the Golden State Warriors punched back in a big way on Thursday evening. With the series now at 2-1 in favor of the Kings, Sacramento needs to find a way to respond in a hostile road environment on Sunday afternoon.
Though the Warriors did win three of the four regular season games against the Kings, Sacramento has proven to be a dangerous and fast-paced team that can challenge Golden State across all positions.
Led by All-Star De’Aaron Fox, the Kings are likely going to go as far as he can take them. This should be a good matchup for Fox as the Warriors don’t have too many great perimeter defenders and it seems unlikely that the Warriors can keep Fox in front of them. This includes Steph Curry.
Kings fan behind Warriors general manager Bob Myers 😂 pic.twitter.com/NSRzGJHnVT
— Daily Loud (@DailyLoud) April 18, 2023
The Warriors are now 34-8 at the Chase Center on the season and it looked like in Game 3 the Kings were just a tad rattled by the atmosphere of a road Playoff game.
They should be settled in nicely for Game 4 and can get back to Fox dominating on the perimeter, while Sabonis feasts on the inside. And even though Draymond Green will return to the Warriors line up, he’s proven to be more of a distraction this series than a benefit to Golden State.
The Kings’ shooting went cold in Game 3, but it will bounce back in Game 4 as their comfortability increases. This can be a hot shooting squad and, if they protect the ball, there’s zero reason this talented Kings squad can’t keep the game close. They’re a deeper roster and what they lack in experience, they have clearly made up for in skill and coaching.
Add in the fact that Sacramento has proven already in this series that they can play elite defensive stretches, the thinking here is that Game 3 was more of an anomaly. They have active hands and communication on defense.
The Kings have shown that they can force the Warriors into uncomfortable situations and turnovers. It also appears that they have forced NBA betting sites into a favorable situation for bettors because Sacramento will easily cover this 7.5-point spread, if not win outright.
Four-Team Parlay Odds
And there you have it folks! Four exciting wagers spanning Saturday and Sunday to add a little excitement to your betting needs this weekend. If you do choose to wager on all four legs of this parlay card, you will receive parlay odds of +1106. This means that you would win $1,106 dollars for every $100 dollars wagered.
