MLS star Landon Donovan will join German champ Bayern Munich and be with the team until mid-March. “He (Donovan) will in any case now play for us until March 15,” Bayern manager Uli Hoeness said. Donovan is the second Los Angeles Galaxy player to move overseas in the MLS off-season as David Beckham joined AC Milan earlier this year.

Donovan led the MLS with 20 goals in 25 games for the Galaxy this past season. He is also the U.S. national team’s all-time leading scorer. Donovan has not had much success in the Bundesliga in the past. Twice previously he has tried to make it in the league with Bayer Leverkusen and failed. He never got into a match from 1999-2001. He returned in 2005 but failed to score in seven league appearances and two in the Soccer Betting Champions League.

Donovan has been practicing with Bayern for the past week or so in hopes of joining the team. “He is the exceptional player in North America, including Mexico,” Bayern coach Juergen Klinsmann said, “Landon knows that Europe is where it’s at in football. And he has all the qualities to break through in Europe.” The addition of Donovan could be an important one for Bayern. “He is an excellent player with many qualities and he is only 26,” Bayern striker Miroslav Klose said. “I think that he would find himself in the Bundesliga.”

Soccer Betting Preview: Landon Donovan to join Bayern Munich

Chelsea will have to do without one of their best players for the next three matches as Didier Drogba was suspended . The suspension happened to Drogba because of an incident in a League Cup game last Wednesday against Burnley. Drogba had scored a goal and was celebrating near the visiting fans. Some of those fans threw coins at Drogba who then picked one up and threw it back. He was given a yellow card for celebrating in front of the Burnley fans but the referee did not see him throw the coin.

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The Football Association though decided to punish Drogba for the incident. He will now miss Premier League games against Newcastle, Arsenal and Bolton. “I tried to celebrate the goal and I received some things at me,” Drogba said, “The big mistake I did was to throw it back, so if someone was hurt I just want to apologize for it. This is not something I should show in a football match and I want to apologize. It was an incident in the heat of the moment and I regret it. It was just a mistake and nothing more.”

Soccer Betting Preview: Chelsea’s Didier Drogba Suspended

The Columbus Crew will be making their first appearance in the Soccer Betting MLS Cup after they defeated the Chicago Fire 2-1. Chad Marshall and Eddie Gaven scored as Columbus took out Chicago last Thursday. The Crew will now face New York on Sunday in the MLS Cup at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California.

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The win for Columbus was a come from behind victory as Brian McBride scored the first goal of the game for Chicago. Marshall tied it in the 50th minute and five minutes later Gaven scored. The Crew nearly made it 3-1 in the 59th minute but Fire goalkeeper Jon Busch made a great save on Robbie Rogers. The game was a very physical affair that the referee let the players decide. Five yellow cards were given out in the game.

In the other semifinal it was New York defeating Real Salt Lake 1-0 on a goal by Dave van den Bergh. He scored in the 28th minute and New York held on for the win. It will be the first appearance in the MLS Cup for the Red Bulls. New York definitely had things go their way as Real Salt Lake hit the post three times in front of a sell-out crowd of 20,008 at Rio Tinto Stadium.

Soccer Betting Picks: Columbus and New York to Meet for MLS Cup

There will be a new Soccer Betting MLS Cup champion this season as the New York Red Bulls took out the defending champion Houston Dynamo, winning 3-0 on Sunday. Dane Richards had a goal and an assist to lead the Red Bulls. New York tied the Dynamo 1-1 in the first leg so the winner of Sunday’s game advanced. New York will now play Real Salt Lake in the MLS Cup semifinals on Saturday. It is the second time that New York will have advanced to the Conference finals.

There will also be a new runner-up this season as the New England Revolution lost to the Chicago Fire. The Fire defeated New England 3-0 to advance to the conference finals. “It’s a big relief,” Fire coach Denis Hamlett said. “These are the guys that have knocked us out of the playoffs — I keep losing track of how many years.” New England had knocked out Chicago the last three seasons. “It was huge,” said Justin Mapp, “For most of the time I’ve been here, we’ve ended up playing them and, more often not, they’ve knocked us out.” New England was playing without Steve Ralston, who led the team in goals and assists and without Taylor Twellman who had tied for the team lead in goals. Chicago will now travel to Columbus in the Conference final.

Soccer Betting Preview: MLS Cup Playoffs Down to Final Four

Arsenal is already facing a must-win game in the Soccer Betting Premier League as they host Manchester United on Saturday. Manager Arsene Wenger has said the team must come away with a win if they expect to contend for the title this season. A loss would make it very difficult for the Gunners because they would be four points back of United and could fall as many as nine behind Chelsea and Liverpool. “It’s a massive game of massive importance for us,” Wenger said. “Manchester United-Arsenal is always a special one. It’s important for us that we do well in the big games in this league now.”

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Arsenal has not won in any of its last three matches. They played to a 4-4 draw with Tottenham after leading 4-2. One of those matches was a draw to Fenerbahce at home in the Soccer Betting Champions League. Wenger is not happy with his players or with the referees. “In the second half, we dropped physically and were less dangerous from then on,” Wenger said, “We were not sharp enough to put our strikers into good positions. You expect us to make chances in the last 20 minutes and this didn’t come because physically we didn’t have the resources.”

Wenger is really upset about the amount of penalties his team is getting in the Premier League. “Look at the fair play table. Who is top? Arsenal,” he said. “Look at the team that makes less fouls. Arsenal. (Yet) who gets more yellow cards after four or five fouls? Arsenal. Some teams get their first yellow cards after 15 fouls.”

Soccer Betting Preview: Arsenal Facing Must-Win Game on Saturday

The Soccer Betting 2008 MLS Cup Playoffs are underway as three of the first four matches ended in draws. Kei Kamara scored late to give Houston a 1-1 draw with New York. In other first-leg matches it was Columbus and Kansas City playing to a 1-1 draw, New England and Chicago playing to a scoreless draw and Real Salt Lake winning 1-0 against Chivas USA

All four opening playoff matches could have ended in draws but Real Salt Lake got a goal from Yura Movsisyan in the last minute of regulation to defeat Chivas. It was the second time that Movsisyan saved Real Salt Lake as he scored at Colorado last week to get Real Salt Lake into the playoffs. Now they can advance with a win or a tie at Chivas this weekend. Late heroics happened in another match as Steven Lenhart scored in the second minute of second-half stoppage time as Columbus got the 1-1 draw against Kansas City.

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The defending Eastern Conference champs are in a bit of trouble. They played to a scoreless draw against Chicago and now the Fire can advance with a win at home this weekend. Chicago had never even earned a point in six previous playoff trips to New England. It is the fourth straight year the Revolution and Fire have met in the playoffs, and the sixth time in the last seven seasons.

Soccer Betting Preview: MLS Playoffs Underway

David Beckham will go from the Los Angeles Galaxy of the MLS to AC Milan of the Soccer Betting Italian League beginning in January. It will be a loan from the Galaxy to AC Milan. Much of the details remain unknown. “Terms of the agreement will remain confidential,” said the Major League Soccer and the Italian League.

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Beckham could join AC Milan in late December but it is more likely he will make his first appearance with the team in January. He will return to the Galaxy in March. “He’s going to be back in March, and we believe it’s right around March 1, and he will be available for our opening game,” Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena said, “I haven’t seen the exact details of the loan agreement yet . . . but we fully anticipate that this loan is for approximately two months. There’s a possibility he could go in December.”

The MLS season is expected to begin sometime between March 14th and March 28th. Beckham will be getting a lot of action considering he will probably be playing for England as well. England has a friendly against Slovakia in London on March 28. They then play a World Cup qualifier against Ukraine on April 1st. That is a lot of travel for Beckham. “I am fine with everything. I have a very good feel for the whole situation,” Arena said.

Soccer News: David Beckham to Join AC Milan