The MLS 2024 season continues on Saturday night when the majority of the competition are on show on a night where there are some standout matches and we head towards the conclusion of the first quarter of the campaign.
Once again all of the matches will be able to be streamed live on Apple TV via the MLS Season Pass but the pick of the games will be available just to Apple TV subscribers. Bookmaker live streams will also show each game.
Saturday’s fixtures are as follows: (UK kick off in brackets; 00.30 unless stated)
Columbus Crew v D.C. United
FC Cincinnati v New York Red Bulls
Inter Miami CF v Colorado Rapids
New England Revolution v Charlotte FC
New York City FC v Atlanta United
Vancouver Whitecaps FC v Toronto FC
Los Angeles Football Club v LA Galaxy (00.45)
Austin FC v San Jose Earthquakes (01.30)
Chicago Fire FC v Houston Dynamo FC (01.30)
Minnesota United FC v Real Salt Lake (01.30)
Nashville SC v Philadelphia Union (01.30)
St. Louis City SC v FC Dallas (01.30)
Seattle Sounders FC v CF Montréal (03.30)
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Big Matches
There is no doubting which match is the biggest of the set on Saturday night. That is the first ‘El Trafico’ of the season between the two teams from Los Angeles as Los Angeles FC host LA Galaxy as the visitors look to maintain their unbeaten start and remain ahead of the rest in the Western Conference. There is also a Canadian clash as the Vancouver Whitecaps host Toronto FC with both sides going well in their respective Conferences. FC Cincinnati are already holding the Supporters’ Shield and they will be looking to extend their unbeaten start when they host New York Red Bulls, who begin the night a point off top spot.
Best of the Rest
There is a queue of teams a point behind FC Cincinnati going into the night with Inter Miami hoping for a slip up from the leaders when they welcome Colorado Rapids to Florida. The champions Columbus Crew are the other team looking to move to the top in the East. They welcome DC United to Lower.com Field. The other undefeated team this season are Philadelphia Union and they head to Nashville SC looking to keep their record intact. Two sides are yet to register a first win in the campaign. New England Revolution are one of them and they host Charlotte FC while Seattle Sounders look to get off the mark against a dangerous CF Montreal side.
Betting
I like a couple of bets over the course of the night and that comes in the form of Inter Miami and Colorado Rapids to deliver more than 2.75 goals. Lionel Messi is back in the Miami squad for this match and that will be a boost to them. He is probably worth a goal whether he scores it or someone else does and that can lead us over here. I highlighted the Rapids in my pre-season preview and they are starting to show signs of life. They had a good win over LAFC last week and are looking like the team I thought they would be with all their winter recruits. Miami are capable of covering this line on their own and Tata Martino isn’t really one who rests players for the Champions League but even if he does the depth on this Miami roster is frightening. Expect this one to go over.
The other bet I like is my customary bet for El Trafico which sees goals on the horizon. It is well known that these two go out to get the better of each other and I see absolutely no reason why that will change here when you consider that LA Galaxy are on fire with their vibrant front three looking as good as anything in the competition at the minute. Los Angeles FC don’t lay down at home to anybody though and they are certainly not going to do that against their bitter rivals. 10 of the 18 battles between these two in MLS have had four or more goals which is what we need for the over 3.25 goals to cover while six of the other eight have had three strikes in them where we would get half of our stake back. The last two LAFC games have had five goals in them and before last week every Galaxy game this season had four or more goals. I expect goals in this one.
Tips
Back Inter Miami vs Colorado Rapids – Over 2.75 goals for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
Back Los Angeles FC vs LA Galaxy – Over 3.25 goals for a 3/10 stake at 1.90 with Bet365
