It is postseason time in the MLS with the MLS Cup Playoffs beginning on Saturday evening as four sides battle it out to take their season into another week. Two of them will achieve that and for two of them that will be it for the year.
We have one match in each Conference on Saturday with the teams who finished fourth and fifth in each Conference battling it out with the winners going away to the number one seeds next week. We’re set up for a good evening of football but you might need to stream it on the bookmaker streams unfortunately.
New York Red Bulls vs FC Cincinnati (17.00)
The postseason begins at Red Bull Arena for the Eastern Conference clash between the New York Red Bulls and FC Cincinnati with the reward for the winners being a trip to the Philadelphia Union in the next stage of the playoffs.
This should be a really entertaining opening match of the playoffs between two sides who are entertaining and who are not shy on getting involved in a crazy match or two along the way. The Red Bulls are pretty good at home but they won’t need reminding that their record in the playoffs leaves a lot to be desired. Cincinnati are in the postseason for the first time so everything from here on in is a bonus you suspect. That playoff record of the Red Bulls concerns me I have to admit so I would rather go with the more likely option of there being goals in this match. There is a general feeling that playoff matches are tighter affairs but since MLS has made it one match knockout there is actually a history of teams really going for it. That is the only way Cincinnati play anyway so that shouldn’t change. We get a 2.5 goal line here because it is the playoffs but I’m more than happy to take it given the regular flow of goals that come at both ends when Cincinnati are on the field.
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LA Galaxy vs Nashville SC (20.00)
The second match of the day comes from California where the former champions LA Galaxy take on Nashville SC with the home side looking to set up a blockbuster ‘El Trafico’ with Los Angeles FC with a win here. That is the reward for whoever wins this match.
Galaxy have been incredibly up and down in this campaign but when it really mattered they found enough wins to get into the top seven and then into the top four so that they could host this contest. Both these sides go into the match in decent enough form. Galaxy have lost just one of their last 11 outings while Nashville came home with just one loss in their last eight so both are proving tough to beat at present. This is very easily one of those matches that could get tight and tense and end up needing more than the 90 minutes to solve even with class acts such as Chicharito and Hany Mukhtar on the pitch. If pushed I would side with Nashville to avoid defeat in a tight match but there is enough quality on show to just watch this without a betting influence.
Tips
Back New York Red Bulls vs FC Cincinnati – Over 2.5 goals for a 3/10 stake at 1.85 with BetVictor
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