The final weekend in the MLS before the mid-season break concludes on Saturday night and it is a very busy evening across America and Canada with no fewer than 10 matches taking place over the duration of around 12hrs.
Toronto FC got the weekend going when they took care of the Philadelphia Union on Friday evening and on Saturday the other 20 sides in the competition will look to pick up confidence boosting victories.
Saturday’s fixtures are as follows: (UK kick off in brackets)
New York City vs Atlanta United (17.30)
Columbus Crew vs New York Red Bulls (22.00)
Vancouver Whitecaps vs Orlando City (00.00)
FC Dallas vs Montreal Impact (01.00)
Chicago Fire vs New England Revolution (01.30)
Houston Dynamo vs Colorado Rapids (02.00)
Seattle Sounders vs DC United (03.00)
Los Angeles Galaxy vs Real Salt Lake (03.30)
Portland Timbers vs Sporting Kansas City (03.30)
San Jose Earthquakes vs Los Angeles FC (03.30)
Big Matches
We have three matches live on Sky in the UK for us to enjoy although you will need to be a night owl or an insomniac to get through all three. The first one is the opening match of the evening as New York City FC host Atlanta United in a big Eastern Conference clash between the top two in the table. Two out of form sides meet in the second match when the Vancouver Whitecaps face Orlando City and Los Angeles Galaxy and Real Salt Lake clash in the Western Conference. Two of the better sides in that Conference meet at Providence Park when Portland Timbers host Sporting Kansas City.
Best of the Rest
There are a couple of key matches in the Eastern Conference as third placed Columbus Crew host fourth placed New York Red Bulls while lower down the table the Chicago Fire welcome the New England Revolution to the Windy City. Houston Dynamo will look to take advantage of the awful form of the Colorado Rapids in the Western Conference while FC Dallas could move to the top of the West if they can beat Montreal Impact and Sporting Kansas City lose later in the night.
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Betting
I’ll go with two bets over the course of the night. I was tempted by FC Dallas but they played in the US Open Cup on Wednesday night and Montreal didn’t which puts me off. I was also tempted by Chicago Fire but they went to penalties in midweek so I’m off them too.
My first bet is in the big clash first up. Something has to give here between we have the perfect six from six at home New York City against an Atlanta United who are unbeaten away from home since the opening round of the season. In truth I’m not sure who I fancy to win here but I do know that I like the idea of goals. That is nothing new. Regular readers will know I always like goals in Atlanta games but matches at Yankee Stadium tend to be high scoring. There have been 15 goals in the last four matches here. These two have already played out a 2-2 in Atlanta and I’m expecting to see 3 goals covered here.
The other bet I like is for Houston Dynamo to put the Colorado Rapids to the cleaners. They have lost their last two have the Dynamo but both were on the road in a busy period and they bounced back in the cup in midweek to win 5-0 showing their comfort at home. They have 11 goals in their last three on their own patch and now they face an awful Colorado side who have one point and two goals to their name away all season. The Rapids head to Texas with seven straight losses in MLS to their name and they lost to a team outside of MLS in the Cup in midweek. Confident must be low for Colorado and with forward Dominique Badji suspended things may not improve here. I expect Houston to cover 1.25 goals.
Tips
Back New York City FC vs Atlanta United – Over 3 goals for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with BetVictor
Back it here:
WON – Back Houston Dynamo (-1.25AH) to beat Colorado Rapids for a 4/10 stake at 2.00 with 888sport
Back them here:
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