A busy week in the MLS 2025 season continues on Saturday night when a number of sides are back in action with some playing their rivalry game and others looking for three points as the opening third of the season becomes a thing of the past.
Once again all of the action will be shown live and in full on the MLS Season Pass for those with access to it via Apple TV. Those who don’t subscribe will get the odd match for free or they are on offer with the bookmaker live streams.
Saturday’s fixtures are as follows: (00.30 unless stated)
CF Montreal vs Toronto FC (19.30)
New York City FC vs New York Red Bulls (21.30)
Columbus Crew vs FC Cincinnati (00.00)
Atlanta United vs Philadelphia Union
Charlotte FC vs Chicago Fire
New England Revolution vs San Jose Earthquakes
Austin FC vs Vancouver Whitecaps (01.30)
FC Dallas vs Houston Dynamo (01.30)
Minnesota United vs St Louis City (01.30)
Nashville SC vs DC United (01.30)
Colorado Rapids vs Real Salt Lake (02.30)
Portland Timbers vs Seattle Sounders (02.30)
San Diego FC vs Sporting Kansas City (03.30)
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Big Matches
Rivalry week always throws up some excellent action and two derbies have standalone kick off times to open the day. We begin in Canada where CF Montreal host their rivals Toronto FC before the opening Hudson River derby of the campaign takes place when New York City FC take on New York Red Bulls. The other standout derbies are the ‘Hell is Real’ clash between Columbus Crew and FC Cincinnati who happen to be two of the top three in the Eastern Conference while we have a Cascadia Cup clash between the Portland Timbers and Seattle Sounders too.
Best of the Rest
The Vancouver Whitecaps saw Cincinnati overtake them in the lead for the Supporters’ Shield in midweek and they will look to return to the front of the charge when they head to Texas to take on Austin FC. The other two Texan sides in the league also meet when FC Dallas host Houston Dynamo. Atlanta United are seeing the pressure mount on their shoulders and Philadelphia Union will be looking to pile more misery on them when the two meet at Mercedes-Benz Stadium while Charlotte FC will look to continue their strong home record when they entertain Chicago Fire. Nashville SC are another team enjoying their home surroundings and they will hope that continues when they welcome DC United to GEODIS Park. Bruce Arena takes his San Jose Earthquakes side to his former club New England Revolution in another good looking game.
Betting
After a successful midweek, I like three bets on Saturday night with the first of them coming in the match between Charlotte FC and Chicago Fire which is screaming goals at me. Charlotte go into the game without a win in four but we can largely ignore that because three of those outings were on the road and they are a lot more comfortable playing on their home turf. Chicago didn’t have a midweek game so they should be nice and fresh and this could be a tactical dream for both sides. Chicago will look to press high and find the spaces in the final third and don’t mind risking being done on the counter whereas Charlotte will be happy to play on the counter through the likes of Wilfried Zaha and Liel Abada and co. Charlotte average more than two goals a game at home while Chicago concede nearly three but there are definitely goals in this Fire side so over 3 goals looks good to me.
The second bet that I like over the course of the night takes us to GEODIS Park where Nashville SC can continue their fine home form when they host DC United. There is no sign that DC are anything but an average side this season but Nashville are really beginning to flourish and they are getting better by the game, especially at home. They came from behind to beat Charlotte here last weekend and were good value for their win over New York Red Bulls on this ground in midweek too. DC have only won one of their last four and have gone two games without scoring and are just a little too open for my liking. DC are just 1-1-4 on their travels this season but the 18 goals they have shipped is more than a worry. Nashville are 6-1-1 in front of their own fans and have scored 19 goals in those eight matches. They haven’t had to do any travelling this week which is a massive advantage and I expect that to translate in the score come full time.
The final bet I like is for San Diego FC to get the better of Sporting Kansas City. San Diego are in decent touch again having won their last three matches and in that time they have bagged nine goals and conceded only one. Sporting Kansas City are going the other way. They only have one win in their last four matches and that was against LA Galaxy which isn’t exactly the strongest form guide of all time. They were pretty ordinary in that match too but the reason for going against SKC here, as well as form, is that they have had to go away in midweek and away again here and have travelled time zones and that is always a huge disadvantage. San Diego control matches by having an average of 58.9% of possession so they can wear fresh sides down let alone jaded ones. SKC are 1-1-5 on their travels this season and I don’t see that improving here. San Diego should be far too good for them on their own patch.
Tips
Back Charlotte FC vs Chicago Fire – Over 3 goals for a 3/10 stake at 1.95 with Bet365
Back Nashville SC (-1AH) to beat DC United for a 3/10 stake at 1.80 with Bet365
Back San Diego FC (-1AH) to beat Sporting Kansas City for a 3/10 stake at 1.84 with William Hill
Back them here:
