We have reached Decision Day in the MLS 2023 season with the final matches in the regular campaign being played in two blocks over the course of Saturday night into Sunday morning as we finalise the playoff brackets.
That means we have 14 matches in total over the course of the night, each of which gets full coverage on the MLS Season Pass with some available to Apple TV subscribers. Bookmakers streams will show the games too.
Saturday’s fixtures are as follows (Blue = 23.00 BST; Red = 02.00 BST)
Charlotte FC v Inter Miami CF
Columbus Crew v CF Montréal
FC Cincinnati v Atlanta United
Nashville SC v New York Red Bulls
New England Revolution v Philadelphia Union
New York City FC v Chicago Fire FC
Toronto FC v Orlando City SC
Colorado Rapids v Real Salt Lake
LA Galaxy v FC Dallas
Portland Timbers v Houston Dynamo FC
San Jose Earthquakes v Austin FC
Sporting Kansas City v Minnesota United FC
St. Louis City SC v Seattle Sounders FC
Vancouver Whitecaps FC v Los Angeles Football Club
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Big Matches
There are still two spots in the playoffs to be filled in the Eastern Conference and five teams battling for them. Two of those meet at Citi Field where New York City FC host Chicago Fire. CF Montreal are in control of their own destiny. If they win at Columbus Crew they are definitely into the postseason. The other two teams in the hunt are New York Red Bulls, who go away to Nashville SC, and Charlotte FC who host Lionel Messi and Inter Miami. Over in the Western Conference three spots are still to be filled and five teams are fighting for those places. Portland Timbers control their own destiny when they are at home to Houston Dynamo while if FC Dallas and San Jose Earthquakes both win they will also be in. The former travel to LA Galaxy while the latter host Austin FC. The other two teams faces each other when Sporting Kansas City welcome Minnesota United to Children’s Mercy Park with the winners hoping for a slip up above them.
Best of the Rest
The rest of the night is all about fighting for position, seeding and home field advantage in the opening stage of the playoffs. In the Eastern Conference the top three are pretty much secure but New England Revolution could move up to fourth if they can beat Philadelphia Union while over in the West, LAFC will look to hold onto second spot when they make the trip to Vancouver Whitecaps who could move into the top four with a win of their own. Seattle Sounders will look to stay in the top four when they travel to St Louis City SC while Real Salt Lake will hope to move up from fifth when they head to Denver for the Rocky Mountain Cup clash with the Colorado Rapids.
Betting
I’ll take two bets over the course of the night with them both coming in the Western Conference. The first one is the match between LA Galaxy and FC Dallas, a game which is much bigger for the visitors than the hosts and because of that I expect to see some goals in this one. I’m not really rewriting the realms of reality by suggesting goals here. I wrote last week how mental LA Galaxy games have gone recently and they duly drew 2-2 to keep that trend going. When you consider that both teams have scored in eight of the last nine Dallas games and were they to concede the chances are they would need to score twice to keep their season alive, I think we have the ideal opportunity for this one to explode into life. The attacking players within the Galaxy ranks have really come to the party in recent times but their defence has regularly been exposed. I expect the goals to flow in this one.
The other bet I like over the course of the night is for the San Jose Earthquakes to book their playoff spot with a win over Austin FC and a fairly comfortable one at that. Austin FC just haven’t been able to find any consistency in their game this season and they now know this will be where their campaign ends but that certainly isn’t the case for the Earthquakes, who despite just one win in the last nine are still in control of their destiny. While they haven’t won many matches recently they have only lost one of their last six at home and have beaten Seattle and Real Salt Lake in that time. Austin head to San Jose without a win in their last six on their travels and that includes a defeat in Colorado which takes some doing this season. All the motivation is with San Jose here and I expect them to get the win they need to secure an extension to their campaign.
Tips
Back LA Galaxy vs FC Dallas – Over 3 goals for a 3/10 stake at 1.85 with Bet365
Back San Jose Earthquakes (-1AH) to beat Austin FC for a 3/10 stake at 1.90 with Bet365
