Atlanta United continues to lead the Eastern Conference with 41 points, while FC Dallas leads the West with 38. They are the two MLS betting favorites to meet in the MLS Cup later this year at MyBookie Sportsbook. Here’s a look at two intriguing matches in the league this week.
The Crew made a trade last week, acquiring forward Patrick Mullins in exchange for $150,000 in Targeted Allocation Money. Mullins had played just 225 minutes this season under head coach Ben Olsen. During his time in D.C., Mullins made 44 regular-season appearances (28 starts), while registering 13 goals and providing three assists. The 26-year-old figures to battle for playing time with Adam Jahn behind Gyasi Zardes at the striker position for Crew SC.
Orlando beat visiting Toronto 2-1 on Saturday to snap a nine-game losing streak. The result came in the wake of Coach James O’Connor, in just his second game in charge, making changes to his starting lineup in an attempt to kickstart the struggling home side – namely the benching of starting goalkeeper Joe Bendik and former All-Star winger Justin Meram.
Chris Schuler and Dom Dwyer scored the goals. Orlando City had not won since defeating Real Salt Lake 3-1 on May 6. Schuler, in his fourth start of the season, opened the scoring in the 34th minute with his first goal. The Lions had not scored first since April 21 against San Jose and led 1-0 for only the third time this season.
MLS Betting Picks for Week 21 Action
🔜 #ElNuevo9 @RaulRuidiazM is set to make his @MLS debut on Saturday at @CenturyLink_Fld! #SEAvVAN
📝 https://t.co/Qpyx9PB0b0 pic.twitter.com/u69Po7wgxI — Seattle Sounders FC (@SoundersFC) 17 de julio de 2018
Seattle Sounders vs Vancouver Whitecaps
This match is Saturday at 4 p.m. from CenturyLink Field in Seattle and streamed on ESPN+. It’s one of the better rivalries in the MLS because the cities are so close together. The Sounders are -137 favorites at Mybookie.ag with Vancouver at +430 and a draw at +262. The Sounders are unbeaten this month but their past two games have been draws. They played Atlanta on Sunday and tied 1-1. That point as a good result for Seattle considering it played a man down the last 30 minutes after Jordan McCrary was sent off for a second yellow card. The Sounders led 1-0 at the half. Nicolas Lodeiro opened the scoring with his second goal of the season. His penalty kick at 45’ was poorly taken but managed to find its way in despite Brad Guzan getting a hand on the shot. Harry Shipp won the penalty when his shot from distance hit Escobar’s arm and the VAR indicated to the referee to review the call. After watching the replay, the penalty was given. From 63’ on Seattle was forced to play down a man due to that second yellow for McCrary. Kelvin Leerdam immediately entered for Harry Shipp as the Sounders switched to a 4-4-1. “This is a difficult team to play against in their stadium, difficult environment,” said Seattle goalkeeper Stefan Frei after the draw. “Not a lot of teams find joy here, so for us to go down a man and still fight and hang on and get a point, mentally that’s going to go a long way.” Frei was massive to secure a road point for the Sounders, making six saves, grabbing crosses and punching away attempts in wave after wave of a dynamic Atlanta attack. Vancouver lost to DC United 3-1 on Saturday. The Whitecaps came out of their funk in stoppage time. Alphonso Davies got a consolation goal in the 94th minute, robbing United goalkeeper David Ousted of his first clean sheet of the season against his former club. Vancouver will be at a disadvantage here because it was to play Montreal in a Canadian Championship first leg semi-final on Wednesday in Montreal. The Impact has won the competition three times, including back-to-back titles in 2013 and 2014, while the Whitecaps have reached the final seven times, winning just one Voyageurs Cup in 2015. A year ago, the Whitecaps won the opening leg, 2-1, at BC Place on May 23, 2017, before the Impact took the second leg, 4-2, on May 30, 2017, to advance to the final 5-4 on aggregate.Columbus Crew vs Orlando City
This match is 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday from Columbus and streamed on ESPN+. The Crew is -225 favorite with Orlando City at +582 and a draw at +386. Columbus comes off a 2-0 loss at New York City FC on Saturday. Jesus Medina’s goal in the 80th minute broke a scoreless draw. It was the Crew’s fourth loss in their past five games. Columbus has scored three road goals in 10 away games, have been blanked nine times overall and have won just once in the past eight matches. Crew SC’s Eduardo Sosa was given a red card in the third minute of second-half stoppage time for throwing an elbow.
The Crew made a trade last week, acquiring forward Patrick Mullins in exchange for $150,000 in Targeted Allocation Money. Mullins had played just 225 minutes this season under head coach Ben Olsen. During his time in D.C., Mullins made 44 regular-season appearances (28 starts), while registering 13 goals and providing three assists. The 26-year-old figures to battle for playing time with Adam Jahn behind Gyasi Zardes at the striker position for Crew SC.
Orlando beat visiting Toronto 2-1 on Saturday to snap a nine-game losing streak. The result came in the wake of Coach James O’Connor, in just his second game in charge, making changes to his starting lineup in an attempt to kickstart the struggling home side – namely the benching of starting goalkeeper Joe Bendik and former All-Star winger Justin Meram.
Chris Schuler and Dom Dwyer scored the goals. Orlando City had not won since defeating Real Salt Lake 3-1 on May 6. Schuler, in his fourth start of the season, opened the scoring in the 34th minute with his first goal. The Lions had not scored first since April 21 against San Jose and led 1-0 for only the third time this season.
