The second set of matches in the opening round of the MLS Cup Playoffs 2024 continue on Saturday evening with a triple header of games as seasons are on the line for another three teams with three more looking to progress with a match to spare.
We begin the night with a couple of matches from the Eastern Conference before we finish in the Western Conference. As always Apple TV will carry full coverage of all three matches while bookmakers will live stream the games.
New York City FC vs FC Cincinnati (21.00)
The opening match of the night is do or die for New York City FC when they welcome FC Cincinnati to Citi Field knowing that if they don’t come out on top that will be it for their season. Cincinnati can win the series here but they will have home advantage in the decider if they fluff their lines.
The good thing for NYCFC is that the onus will be on them to attack in this match because the defensive stifle the opposition approach they decided to take in the opening game never looked like working and were the FC Cincinnati attackers outside of Luciano Acosta any good that first game would have been a blowout. On a tighter pitch the home side should be able to keep control of the situation much more and then it is on them to go and win the game. Nothing is likely to change as far as Cincinnati are concerned. Their forwards are still likely to struggle unless they are given a helping hand once again. In an ideal world New York City FC would be a bit bigger than they are here but we get enough draw cover to take the home side with the belief that they won’t possibly employ the silly tactics they did in the first game and look to be on the front foot where they are a much better side.
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Atlanta United vs Inter Miami (23.00)
The middle match of the three on Saturday night is the one which will get the most attention as we find out whether Lionel Messi and his Inter Miami side get next week off or whether they have to go back to Chase Stadium to take on Atlanta United for a third time.
Miami won the opening match in this series but Atlanta United have a decent record against the Herons in recent times and having had a week to dust themselves down and recover from that tough schedule of three road trips in six days, they should come out fighting as they bid to keep their season alive. Miami have the comfort of knowing that they will be on home soil if they need next week but they would love to get the job done here and give some of their aging legs the week off before they go to battle against either Charlotte FC or Orlando City. You would imagine that this one is perfectly set up for goals but I thought that last week and ran into a monster performance from Brad Guzan. I find it hard to believe that the Atlanta stopper can possibly be that good again but I’m of a once bitten twice shy mindset in that regard. It might be that once kick off comes around and the teams and strategies are out I’ll take the over but a 3.5 line is a shade higher than I’d want in a game which Miami will look to control so I’ll leave this alone and just enjoy what should be a great contest.
Minnesota United vs Real Salt Lake (01.00)
The one Western Conference clash on Saturday night closes out the triple header as we potentially find out who goes to LA Galaxy in the semi-final. That will be Minnesota United if they can see off Real Salt Lake on home soil but if they fail it will be back to Utah next week to decide the series.
Minnesota won the opening game on penalty kicks and I don’t think anyone would be at all surprised were this one to go the same way, particularly after two scoreless draws between the two in the last month but whether the Loons can be quite as defensive on home soil remains to be seen. I suspect they will be because they are ahead in the tie so they can wait for Real Salt Lake to commit and look to catch them going the other way but at the same time I also fancy Pablo Mastroeni will have seen enough of this Minnesota tactical setup to come up with a way of combatting it. I still believe that RSL are the better side of these two and if they could have scored one of the one-on-one chances that they had in the opening game then I suspect they would be heading to Minnesota in front in the tie. RSL get Brayan Vera back for this match which will make them more comfortable in defence and against a Minnesota who are likely to be content with getting this to the last 15 minutes before they open up too much unless they are forced to chance approach, I think the value here is on the away side knowing they will be the ones carrying the game to the opponent. This could easily end up back at the penalty spot so Real Salt Lake on what is effectively a double chance Asian line feels the play here particularly with Minnesota having not beaten RSL inside 90 minutes in any of their last six meetings.
Tips
Back New York City FC (-0.25AH) to beat FC Cincinnati for a 3/10 stake at 1.94 with William Hill
Back them here:
Back Real Salt Lake (+0.5AH) to beat Minnesota United for a 3/10 stake at 1.93 with Bet365
