FC Dallas - Colorado Rapids
Looking at the odds offered on the two teams, I do not believe they are so far apart in quality as the odds might suggest. While it's true FC Dallas were historically the better side, times change, and with that, we have come to a point when I believe teams could end up being equally matched.
This is mostly a result of FC Dallas questionable decisions in the offseason when they changed their longtime coach Pareja for Luchi Gonzales. Additionally, we saw some of their important players leaving the team, most notably Lamah, Figueroa and Urruti, while there were no big signings except Pedroso.
On the other side, Colorado did not play as good as they had hoped in the first year under Hudson, so the management decided it's time for a change. And by change, we are not talking about changing the coach, but rather change the players and giving Hudson another year to prove himself. With that, Colorado acquired Kamara, Rubio, Rosenberry, Mezquida and Feilhaber among others. Despite failing to win a match yet this season, Rapids did manage to draw against Portland Timbers (3:3) and Sporting Kansas (1:1), whereas they were beaten by Seattle Sounders (2:0). All in all, they look like an improved team and I do expect them to finish higher this season as they did last time out.
It's that time of the year when teams miss players due to international call-ups and Dallas as well as Colorado are not exceptions. Dallas will be without Acosta, Gonzales and Gruezo among others, while Rapids will be without key striker Rubio.
As mentioned I do believe we are watching at improved Colorado Rapids, and slightly worse FC Dallas, however, the bookmakers seem to think the teams are still far apart quality wise. That is far from the truth, as I don't see Dallas as a team they used to be. In addition to that, Dallas will miss some of the key players, which will level the playing field. Taking all into consideration I believe backing up Colorado here is a worthy option. I expect a close match between two sides that look equally matches and with that in mind, we will back Colorado Rapids with 1 goal advantage.
Prediction: Colorado Rapids +1.00
New York Red Bulls - Orlando City
After two high scoring matches behind them, NY Red Bulls await Orlando City who travel to Red Bull Arena New York, in hopes to add the first win to the season to their name.
New York Red Bulls are currently 5th team in the Eastern Conference with a 0-1-1- record. As of now, they are the only team who only played 2 matches this season, however, they are also among the few who have not yet lost a match. Looking back at the opening match of the season, New York Red Bulls managed to grab a point from Columbus Crew (1:1), where they played better than expected, and to be fair could even go on to win the match. Nonetheless, a draw was a great result and a good start of the season for them. In the second match of the season, which took place on March 16th, New York Red Bulls overcame San Jose Earthquakes in a match that took them quite a while to get going. Surprisingly, it was San Jose who scored the opener in the 5th minute, which was also the only goal of the first half. Despite subpar performance from Red Bulls in the first 45 minutes, we watched a completely different team in the 2nd half. I'm not exactly sure what happened during the halftime break, but it worked for the home side, who scored an equalizer only 6 minutes into the 2nd half. But it did not stop there. New York Red Bulls were hungry for a win and they pushed for another goal, which they got in the 71st minute. But it was not enough for them, as they went on to score two more before the match ended, defeating San Jose with a final score of 4:1.
The visiting side today, Orlando City come into this match as an 8th team in the East with a 0-2-1 record this season. Looking back at their performances, Orlando drew against New York City (2:2) and Chicago Fire (1:1) in the opening two matches of 2019 season but then went on to lose their most recent match against Montreal Impact last week (1:3). Not really the best start of the season for Orlando, who hoped for better results after bringing in the former Manchester United star Nani to the team, but then again not disastrous start either. While they are not a bad team when it comes to creating chances, I am a bit concerned about their defensive performance in the last match against Montreal, who had no problems creating chances. This might be a problem facing New York Red Bulls, who scored 4 goals in the last match.
New York Red Bulls did manage to humiliate San Jose in their last MLS match, but their performance in the first half was far from praiseworthy. Red Bulls seemed lost and unorganised in the defensive end, which almost resulted in more goals conceded. This is worrying heading into the remaining matches, especially if we take into consideration that they failed to protect themselves against San Jose. The only reason they managed to win the mentioned match is due to their exceptional attack who is more than capable of outscoring most of the teams in MLS.
With a sloppy performance in the first half of the previous match, I have my doubts about how forgiving the same approach would be against Orlando City, who are without a doubt better offensive team than San Jose. Having players like Kljestan, Dwyer and Nani, Orlando are more than capable of threatening the net of Red Bulls. While I do believe Orlando is capable of scoring goals, I am not too convinced they will be capable of keeping their goal untouched. Despite missing players in both sides due to international call ups, this is still bound to be an open match with plenty of goal scoring opportunities and with that goals. With strong attacks and mediocre defence on both sides, we predict this one to end with more than 3 goals.
Prediction: New York Red Bulls -1.50 Asian Handicap
Los Angeles FC - Real Salt Lake
After a great start of the season, Los Angeles hope to extend their impressive run and win their 3rd match of the season tonight at Banc of California Stadium, where they will host Real Salt Lake.
Los Angeles FC remain unbeaten this season, after a 2:2 draw against New York FC last week. Despite the fact only 3 rounds of MLS passed by, LAFC seem like one of the strongest contenders to win the league this season, and are expected to take on the Western Conference in hopes to finish at the top, which they could. Looking at their last 3 fixtures, LAFC won against Sporting Kansas City (2:1) and Portland Timbers (4:1) and managed to grab a point in previously mentioned match against NYFC. With 8 goals scored and only 4 conceded, LAFC are the 2nd best offensive and 2nd best defensive team in the West, only trailing Seattle Sounders (10:3).
The visiting side tonight, Real Salt Lake sit at the middle of the table with a 1-1-1 record to their name. Looking back at their MLS campaign, Real Salt Lake drew the opening match against Houston Dynamo (1:1), won the next one against Vancouver Whitecaps (1:0) and lost the most recent fixture against DC United (5:0). After such a defeat behind them, Real Salt Lake cannot be too confident travelling to Los Angeles, where they are up for another tough match. Additionally, they have a problem with all the missing players due to international call-ups, which won't help the cause. With severely weakened squad and low morale, Salt Lake will arrive at Banc of California Stadium as a huge underdog.
LAFC will enter the match without Christian Ramirez due to international duty. On the other side, Salt Lake have a lot of problems and a long list of missing players. Most notably, they will be without Corey Baird and Albert Rusnak.
Real Salt Lake has huge issues with all the missing players. Without Albert Rusnak and Corey Baird, their offence is expected to have problems creating chances, and while those two are the two most important players that will miss the match, their list of absences is much longer. While LAFC has a great replacement for Christian Ramirez in Adama Diomande, Real Salt Lake does not have players to replace their missing players. IN addition to international departures, Real Salt Lake also can't count on Silva and Jefferson who are both red-carded. I simply can't imagine what kind of lineup Real Salt Lake will use here against LAFC who left a statement in their opening two matches. Taking all into consideration I can't imagine this game going any other way than LAFC winning, which would most likely be the case without all the missing players, however, due to circumstances now, a win with at least 2 goals seems very likely.
Prediction: Los Angeles FC -1.50 Asian Handicap