The second quarter final of the MLS is Back tournament forms the schedule in the competition on Friday evening when Orlando City take on Los Angeles FC for a place in the semi-final of the event down in Florida.
We saw Philadelphia Union make it through to the last four on Thursday night and we will get our second semi-finalist confirmed here as two exciting and attack minded teams battle it out in what should be an entertaining encounter.
The Format
The 26 MLS teams have now become 24 with FC Dallas and Nashville being withdrawn from the tournament after positive Covid tests. The remaining teams have been placed into six groups of four. Each team plays the other three in their group once in the group stage. The results of these matches not only count in this tournament but also towards the regular season when it resumes. At the end of the group stage the top two from each group and the four best third placed finishers go into a 16-team knockout stage. The entire tournament takes place in Orlando with the final scheduled for August 11. There is a Champions League place for the winners which should ensure it is competitive.
Where to watch
The match will be shown in full on the Sky Football and Free Sports channels in the UK. The build up to the contest begins at 1.00am and the match itself kicks off not long after that.
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Orlando City FC
Orlando City had a weak start to the season but the lockdown appears to have come at a good time for them because in this tournament they have been a lot more assured and go into this quarter final unbeaten for the competition. They have scored plenty of goals and in the main they have looked like they can keep control of things defensively. It has been in defence where their problems have come in recent times but the addition of an international goalkeeper looks to have helped those problems.
Orlando deserve a lot of credit for the way they have played in this tournament. You could argue with a bit of justification that they were fortunate to win their opening match, but they have taken the confidence from that victory and built on it. I think at this stage of the tournament anything is a bonus for them so they can play with a bit of freedom but you would think they would need their very best performance if they are to come through here.
Los Angeles FC
Heading into the tournament the current Supporters’ Shield holders were one of the fancied runners to go all the way in the competition, although there was a little bit of caution when MVP Carlos Vela decided to pull out of playing in the event. There was a fear that their goal output would dry up in his absence but we needn’t have worried about that. They have scored every bit as freely as they have done over the last couple of seasons and look the team to beat.
The concern when the real business end of this tournament and the season as a whole comes around is their defence. After keeping a clean sheet in their opening match of the campaign prior to the lockdown, they have leaked 11 in their latest five matches either side of the shutdown and you just can’t guarantee winning titles if you can’t keep the ball out of the back of your own net, no matter how able you are when it comes to scoring goals.
Betting
The bet I like in this match is for Los Angeles FC to win the match and more than 2.5 goals to be scored. If they are on it in front of goal they could easily run away with this and win the match 3-0 or 4-0 but I’ve a feeling that Orlando City will score and this bet would cover 2-1 which handicaps on LAFC would only get half wins and things for. I think whichever way this match ends there will be more than 2.5 goals so basically we are buying a decent price on the LAFC win.
There is a doubt about the defensive solidarity over the Los Angeles side but I refuse to believe they are not going to put a lot of pressure on the Orlando defence and I don’t expect that defence to stand up to the scrutiny. I would be very surprised if Los Angeles FC don’t win the match in 90 minutes and I would be even more surprised if there are not three or more goals in the match over the course of the contest. LAFC and over 2.5 will do for me.
Tips
Back Los Angeles FC to win and over 2.5 goals for a 3/10 stake at 2.30 with Betfair
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