Ahead of the Gold Cup beginning on Saturday, there is one last match in the MLS campaign which comes along on Friday night when FC Cincinnati host the reigning champions Columbus Crew in an all-Eastern Conference clash.
Both these sides will feel that they are underachieving this season and as a result of that they will both be keen to win here, although both sides go into the match having lost players to the Gold Cup so they will have to find new ways of coming out on top.
Where to watch
The match will be televised live on the Free Sports channel for those of us who are in the UK. The short build-up to the match begins at 12.35am with the action kicking off soon after.
FC Cincinnati
You get the impression that there is a bit of pressure on FC Cincinnati for the remainder of the season. I say that because this is their third term in MLS and as yet they haven’t made any sort of impact. They have a relatively high profile coach in Jaap Stam who doesn’t play overly entertaining football and when that style isn’t backed up by results then pressure soon mounts. To be fair to them though, they do go into this match unbeaten in their last three outings.
Given that they have a defence minded manager it will be no surprise to know that their struggles this season have come in finding the back of the net. That shouldn’t be the case because in Luciano Acosta and Allan Cruz they have a couple of the better attacking players in the league, although the latter is away at the Gold Cup now. In the main Cincinnati are strong enough at the back but they need to start scoring more goals if they are to challenge for the play-offs.
Special Offer
Sign up for a Boylesports account to get up to £25 in free bets! Perfect offer for this tournament! Click the image below for this great offer! New accounts only. 18+ T&Cs apply. Gamble Aware.
Columbus Crew
There was always going to be plenty of pressure on the Columbus Crew this season given that they are the defending champions. On the face of it they looked to have improved in the close season which put even more scrutiny on them so the fact they have just 16 points from their opening 11 matches has to be considered a poor return. That total leaves them outside the play-offs so they are going to need a strong second part of the campaign to open up the chance to defend the title.
There have been two big issues with the Crew this season. The first of those has been a lack of goals, which is a real surprise when you consider the attacking talent they have in their squad. The other problem they have is away from home where their form is terrible. They only have one win in six matches on their travels and that was the only time they have scored away from home this season. That is going to have to change if they are going to make the postseason.
Betting
I think the way the two sides have gone this season we probably shouldn’t expect too many goals in this one. I’m not a fan of backing unders in MLS but Cincinnati have 10 goals in 10 games this term and Columbus Crew have 11 in their 11 matches. The Crew don’t concede many goals and it has to go very wrong for FC Cincinnati to concede a number of them as well so we’re probably looking at the wrong match if we are looking at goals here.
Both teams have lost attacking players to the Gold Cup selections as well so that is another thing that is likely to curtail the scoring. I wouldn’t think either would be too unhappy with a draw too despite their league position so it isn’t like either are going to go hell for leather to win late on if the match is all square. When you put all that together I think the under 2.5 goals is the way to play this Friday night clash.
Tips
Under 2.5 goals for a 3/10 stake at 1.75 with BetVictor
Back it here:
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2021
