We break down the likely winners and losers as the Houston Dynamo travels to LA Galaxy, Seattle Sounders visit New York City FC and Columbus Crew face off against Atlanta United. Expect some surprises and a whole lot of goals.
Betting lines brought to you by Bovada and Topbet.
Steel yourself for another weekend of Major League Soccer action with these winning bets for three of the weekend's matches.
We start with the Houston Dynamo's visit to LA Galaxy on Sunday, a match that could have meaningful reprucussions for both sides.
LA initially struggled in their first season since legendary coach Bruce Arena left for the US Men's National Team, but since the start of May they have begun to look like their old selves. They are unbeaten in six matches, three of which were wins. A win against Houston could take them into the playoff positions.
Houston, in contrast, have struggled of late, losing three and drawing one over a similar stretch of games. They remain within reach of the top of the Western Conference table however, and with two games in hand over current leaders Sporting Kansas City.
If LA's recent record is intimidating, Houston might take some surprising solace in the fact that this match is happening on the Galaxy's own turf. All but one of the Galaxy's wins this season have come on the road, including all three they earned through their recent hot streak.
Houston will hope that trend continues on Sunday, and it's worth a bet in their favor.
Next up we've got the Seattle Sounders cross-country trip to New York City FC on Saturday. This is an intriguing bit of inter-conference play, as the result here could solidify the winning team's position in their respective tables.
Seattle currently reside in sixth, a respectable enough position considering their sputtering offense. With Clint Dempsey's powers waning at 34-years-old, and young Jordon Morris' suffering through a sophomore slump, the Sounders have been desperate for goals of late. Though they have won three of their last four matches, all of have been very narrow 1-0 affairs.
Add to that the fact that Seattle's record against this season's more competitive teams is decidedly terrible. Since the beginning of May they have faced Toronto FC, Chicago Fire, Sporting and Columbus Crew -- and lost by a combined scoreline of 11-2.
Which will come as good news to a NYCFC squad that currenly sit third in the Eastern Conference despite some inconsistency of late. They will lean hard on the efforts of their own aging beauty, David Villa, who has scored eight and assisted three other goals so far this season. Patrick Vieira's team have also made something of a fortress of Yankee Stadium, having lost only once there so far this season.
Expect a relatively easy New York City victory over the Seattle Sounders. Topbet backs this up with +105 to Seattle and -125 to NYCFC.
Finally, cocky upstarts Atlanta United welcome Columbus Crew for Sunday's early game, and there is likely no better place to see goals this weekend.
Columbus are enjoying a fine season thanks almost entirely to the three men that lead the line: Ola Kamara, Federico Higuain and Justin Meram. Between the three of them, they have scored 22 of Columbus' 24 total goals this season. That makes them arguably the most productive attack in all of the MLS.
Which might be enough for Columbus to be a real force -- if it weren't for a positively porous defense. At 26 goals conceded, no team in the Eastern Conference has a worse record.
That might not be especially worrying against a team like Atlanta, except for the fact that coach Tata Martino is slated to be welcoming back Josef Martinez for his first full start since getting injured in March. The Venezuelan scored five goals in his first three matches with the club, and could not ask for a better matchup than Columbus' leaky backline to help him regain his footing.
Expect some magic here if Martinez can hit the ground running. Pick Atlanta for a shock win over Columbus. Bovada currently has Atlanta at +110 and Columbus at -130.
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