MLS Cup Playoffs 2025 – Monday 27th October Matches Tips and Betting Preview

The MLS Cup Playoffs continue with another double header of first round action on Monday night with two more ties playing the first of their possible three matches on a night where rivalry is very much the order of the day.

Once again both of the matches will have full coverage via the MLS Season Pass on Apple TV with an extended build-up and analysis. If you don’t have that option then you can watch both games with the bookmaker streaming consoles.

FC Cincinnati vs Columbus Crew (22.45)

The opening match of the night pits number two against number seven in the Eastern Conference against each other when the two Ohio rivals FC Cincinnati and Columbus Crew begin their tie in the latest instalment of the ‘Hell is Real’ derby at TQL Stadium.

Cincinnati have had a brilliant season and progressing to the Eastern Conference semi-final at the expense of their arch-rivals will continue that. The blue and orange go into this match as one of the form teams in the league having won four of their last five matches to round off the regular season. Columbus Crew went into Decision Day needing a result to avoid the wildcard match and to their credit they eased past the New York Red Bulls but that was at Lower.com Field but this is on the road and that could be an issue as this is a Crew side that have won one of their last seven on their travels and they nearly didn’t win that from 5-0 up so they don’t have the same confidence and assurance on the road as they do at home. The flip side of that is they did win 4-2 here in the regular season. This is going to be an extremely competitive affair and I would expect some blood and thunder in the first 30 minutes but the difference could be that the Crew have a few injuries at the top end of the pitch and that extra quality that Cincinnati will have could be the difference. Evander is an MVP candidate while Brenner and Kevin Denkey are starting to combine nicely too and with Columbus having shipped 31 goals in 17 games on their travels, I think Cincinnati have to be favourites to take game one here. If there is a glimmer of hope for Columbus here, aside from form going out of the window in a derby, it is that Cincinnati only won nine out of 17 in this stadium this season but they look to have sorted their issues out and a fitter side can get the job done here. That is the hosts.

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Minnesota United vs Seattle Sounders (00.50)

The second half of the double header on Monday evening takes us to Allianz Field as the tie between the sides fourth and fifth in the Western Conference gets underway when Minnesota United play host to the Seattle Sounders in an intriguing tussle.

This might just be the most interesting tie of the entire first round because the Minnesota style isn’t an easy one to face and Seattle have lost both regular season meetings with the Loons which muddies the water a little bit, particularly when you consider that the Sounders are the favourites for this match. The odds just feel the wrong way around in this match for me. I’m conscious that the playoffs are not the regular season, and my decade or so of covering this league will tell me that Seattle generally come good when the real stuff comes along, but ultimately this is a Sounders side who picked up 55 points in the regular season and 36 of them were won at Lumen Field so they haven’t gone great guns on their travels. Minnesota United only won eight matches at home in the regular season so that might open up the door for Seattle to draw first blood in the tie but I fancy we are going to be in for a tight and tactical affair here and I’m happy to leave this opening game alone and use it as a watching brief for something to hopefully materialise for game two next weekend.

Tips

Back FC Cincinnati (0AH) to beat Columbus Crew for a 3/10 stake at 1.85 with Bet365