Although April 1 does officially mark April Fool’s Day, the betting action on deck for this weekend is no joke. Despite the UFC being on hiatus this week, we still have the Final Four in March Madness, XFL action, domestic soccer from the English Premier League, and regular season baseball, hockey, and basketball.
It promises to be a weekend where couch-sitting might be the best play of the day for both Saturday and Sunday! And, as usual, we’re promising to deliver you with a valuable parlay payout ranked by level of confidence. All betting odds are courtesy of Bovada.
Parlay Picks Today
| Pick | Odds |
|---|---|
| Crystal Palace PK | -120 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | -115 |
| St. Louis Battlehawks | -110 |
| San Diego St. | -150 |
Pick 1: Crystal Palace PK (-120) vs. Leicester City
April 1st at 10:00 a.m. ET
While this might be seen as somewhat of a riskier opening play of the weekend parlay compared to what we’ve typically offered up, it’s something I am quite confident in.
Crystal Palace is the only side in England without a victory so far in 2023. Though they aren’t yet in relegation danger from the top-tier division, many players, fans, and management are concerned about their run of form of late.
In response, manager Patrick Vieira was ousted and the Eagles brought back their former sideline boss Roy Hodgson.
While many might see this as a backward or a negative move, Hodgson is a tried and tested coach who is familiar with the Premier League and the Palace players.
This remains a talented and rapid club, with skill and speed up front and Hodgson can secure results. He’s been at this for years with a variety of English clubs and will have his group well-prepared for the threat Leicester offers.
Crystal Palace enters Saturday’s clash sitting 12th. Although Leicester City enters in 17th position, there are just two points separating the sides. Suffice it to say, Saturday’s game is a huge clash for both sides.
Crystal Palace train ahead of Roy Hodgson’s return to Selhurst Park against Leicester 🦅🔵 pic.twitter.com/YJC0rNIZx4
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) March 30, 2023
Palace has an edge in skill and, despite a poor run of form, they’ve been woefully unlucky. They have generated plenty of offensive chances at goal, and their expected goal metrics remain strong.
Hodgson will bolster their defense and empower their talented attackers to challenge a weakened Foxes’ back-line that has struggled to keep balls out of their own goal on the road.
Leicester City doesn’t offer much up front and they’ll again be without midfield maestro Youri Tielemans who has endured a setback on his ankle injury. With him absent, Palace’s pesky midfield should control the bulk of possession and dictate the pace and tempo of this match from opening kickoff.
Wilfried Zaha cannot be marked by anyone in a Leicester shirt. Backing Palace in what promises to be an emotional reunion with old boss Roy Hodgson seems like a good fit.
Crystal Palace to win is +160 at most soccer betting sites, but backing them on the pick’em line at -120 seems to be the safer wager. This means a draw would serve as a ‘push’ while a victory allows our parlay to roll along to the next leg.
Pick 2: Toronto Blue Jays (-115) vs. St. Louis Cardinals
April 1st at 2:15 p.m. ET
One of the more thrilling Opening Day fixtures from baseball’s loaded Thursday schedule was the Toronto Blue Jays taking on the St. Louis Cardinals in an offensive slugfest. The Jays emerged victorious with a 10-9 victory in a game that saw over thirty combined hits from both offenses.
While the bats were surely alive, the thinking here is that the second game of this series will be a bit more defensively-inclined, given the quality of pitching on tap.
For Toronto, Kevin Gausman will take to the mound. Gausman was excellent last season in his first year as a Blue Jay, and thrived in a tough AL East division.
Gausman is coming off of an impressive spring training and went 12-10 with a 3.55 ERA last season. The movement on his pitches continually confounded batters and there is a real belief that Gausman is one of the pitchers in baseball who should benefit from the rule changes the most.
Kevin Gausman led MLB starting pitchers in highest chase rate induced in 2022 at a 39.8% rate 💨
The next highest? 35.7% 😳@BlueJays | @KevinGausman pic.twitter.com/KL7pTxQ56d
— MLB Now (@MLBNow) March 28, 2023
Toronto’s red-hot bats will look to pick up where they left off on opening day, gearing up for Jack Flaherty of the Cardinals. Flaherty has had a couple of injury plagued seasons of late, and big questions remain about his ability as a thrower coming off some surgeries.
Flaherty’s spring training starts weren’t overly convincing and, given Toronto’s knack of hitting around hard-throwing right-handers, this isn’t an easy start for Jack.
Toronto went out and really enhanced their batting order this off-season, making it more versatile both at the plate and on the basepaths.
With Daulton Varsho, Brandon Belt, and Kevin Kiermaier all adding some versatility and flexibility to their plate approaches, this Jays’ roster has no easy out. Look for that to be problematic both for Flaherty and a worn-down Cardinals’ bullpen after a busy Opening Day.
With Gausman likely to cruise, and a likely candidate for this season’s Cy Young award, look for the Jays’ offense to offer up some big-time support on Saturday afternoon in St. Louis. Toronto boasts one of the best line-ups in baseball and, as short favorites at MLB betting sites, this is absolutely a good spot to back this talented line-up.
Two-Team Parlay Odds
If you prefer to just go with a two-team parlay card, Crystal Palace PK (-120) and the Toronto Blue Jays (-115) have parlay odds of +243. This means you would win $243 dollars for every $100 dollars wagered.
Pick 3: St. Louis Battlehawks +3.5 (-110) at Houston Roughnecks
April 2nd at 2:00 p.m. ET
We have been quite hot with our hit rate in terms of XFL betting with these articles, so you better believe we’ll be back betting it again this weekend. This time, we’re looking at the Week 7 action between the Battlehawks and Houston Roughnecks.
We were on the winning side with St. Louis last week, and we’ll be looking to back them again on the road this Sunday in Houston. The Battlehawks enter with a stellar 4-2 record and look to continue their push to the top of the North division.
St. Louis dominated last week, easily winning by 23-points over the Vipers. Although Houston also enters with an identical 4-2 record, they’ve been showing some signs of fading lately.
The Roughnecks have been better at home, though they’ve lost back-to-back contests. Quarterback Brandon Silvers hasn’t been as solid as he was in the opening weeks and it’s heavily impacted their passing offense. His completion rate has plummeted to just 53% and he has multiple turnovers in his past few outings.
As a result, the Roughnecks could turn more heavily to their initial backup in Cole McDonald. McDonald has made big plays for the Roughnecks throughout this season, but has limited reps.
The Battlehawks boast a proven and hungry defensive unit, and they’ve only allowed 4.2 yards per play all season. They’re opportunistic in the secondary and enter Sunday’s contest leading the league in interceptions. Whoever is under center for the Roughnecks could be in line for a rough outing.
“It’s just fun to come out here and play. I’ve missed playing.”
AJ McCarron is taking full advantage of another chance to play football again 👏 @XFL2023 I @XFLBattlehawks pic.twitter.com/vwHa4TeF8O
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) February 24, 2023
On the other side of the football, the Battlehawks’ AJ McCarron has been excellent under center thus far in the XFL. He’s near the top of the league in passing yards and completion percentage. After a lengthy hiatus from the QB position, it’s clear he is enjoying being out there and competing with his new teammates.
McCarron is loaded with a talented receiving corps and, if he can get the right amount of protection, this offense can really keep the chains moving. Last week this offense was simply firing on all cylinders as they went for 236 passing yards and three TD’s through the air.
McCarron completed an impressive 79.3% of his passing attempts. With Houston’s passing defense being near the bottom of the league through six weeks, this could be a tough matchup for their secondary.
Houston has come back to reality a little bit over the past few weeks, and they won’t be facing an easier matchup in Week 7 to help them out. The Battlehawks can expose their weaknesses and Houston’s uncertain QB situation is concerning.
This line is disrespectful to the visitors from St. Louis. Look for the Battlehawks to cover this number come Sunday afternoon.
Three-Team Parlay Odds
Taking the first three parlay bets of this Saturday parlay card, with Crystal Palace PK (-120), the Blue Jays at (-115), and adding in the St. Louis Battlehawks +3.5 (-110) returns juicy +562 parlay odds. This means you would win $562 dollars for every $100 dollars wagered.
Pick 4: San Diego State (-150) over Florida Atlantic
April 1st at 6:00 p.m. ET
What would a weekend parlay be without some thrilling March Madness hoops action? With all of the parity and upsets we’ve seen throughout the past month; it will certainly be sad for this dramatic action to come to a close.
Florida Atlantic burned us last week when we faded them against Kansas St., but we have good reason to believe it’ll be the Aztecs that eventually bring an end to this impressive dream run from the FAU Owls as the nine-seed.
San Diego St. is going to bully FAU everywhere on the court. The Owls simply don’t have the size to match up to an experienced and veteran-laden San Diego State squad.
“It’s all about believing in yourself” 👏
An emotional Darrion Trammell is lost for words after San Diego State earned its first trip to the Final Four #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/NIUvMfmV7Z
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 26, 2023
The athleticism and rebounding ability from the Aztecs should wear down the Owls. This is a talented and fast-paced San Diego St. squad, and one in which FAU should have difficulty guarding and keeping in front of them on defense.
FAU is heavily reliant on the three-pointer, though the Aztecs are quick to adapt. They’ve done supremely well at figuring out what other teams do best, and limiting that. The Aztecs allowed Creighton just two three-pointers last week, and if they do the same to FAU, this game shouldn’t be all that close.
San Diego St. uses their length and quickness to defend the three-point line incredibly well and that should be a key difference in this Final Four showdown.
Expect a close, back-and-forth affair, but the physicality and experience of the Aztecs should prevail here. FAU is loaded with freshmen and sophomores, while the upperclassmen from San Diego St. are battle and tournament-tested.
In a tight game, look for the San Diego State Aztecs to move on to the NCAA Men’s Championship game.
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 selections of this parlay card, you will receive pretty nice parlay odds of +991. This means that you would win $991 dollars for every $100 dollars wagered.
