There may be not Euros or Copas today, but there is MLS, with 10 games on Wednesday and 3 on Thursday from July 3-4. Let’s get into our top MLS predictions for Week 24 here.
MLS Picks and Parlays #1
DC United vs FC Cincinnati Prediction
When they played back in March it was 0-0. But I don’t see that happening again.
Christian Benteke was suspended for DC on the weekend and DC went to New York, took another red card from Cristian Dajome, but still hung around and drew the Red Bulls 2-2.
Benteke is back. Dajome is out here.
But DC is still winless in 9 and outscored 20-9.
I thought Cincy’s game vs Dallas would see goals. Cincy is always goal dangerous and they’re out a ton of defenders. They got their goal, but kept a clean sheet and won 1-0.
Cincy are 10-0-2 in their last 12, have scored in 16/17 recent MLS games and has conceded in 6/7. Before the Dallas game, their scores were 2-1 loss, 4-3 win, 4-2 win, 2-0 loss, 4-3 win and 3-1 win. Lots of goals. Cincy should win here but definitely should score.
- MLS Predictions: CIN to score
Chicago Fire vs Philadelphia Union Prediction
Their last 2 meetings have ended 2-2 including this season in February.
Both are spiralling here.
Chicago have lost 2-1 and 4-2 in their last 2 games. They have 2 wins in 13. The offense has improved with 12 goals in 6 games. The defense is still bad giving up 10 goals in 6 games. BTTS bets are 7-0.
For Philly, they’ve lost 4 straight, 4-2, 2-0, 4-3 and 2-1. They’re winless in 7 and have 1 win 14. BTTS and Over 2.5 bets have gone 4-1 and 11-4 in their most recent games.
They just let Montreal score 4 last week after being up 1-0 and 2-1 and let in goals in the 89’ and 92’. This Philly defense can’t be trusted, but I don’t trust the Fire’s either.
- MLS Predictions: Both to Score
- Parlay Picks: CIN to score / CHI vs PHI btts (-106)
MLS Picks and Parlays #2
St Louis City vs San Jose Earthquakes Prediction
In the only 2 all-time meetings, STL won 2-1 and 3-0 last season.
This season, STL went on the road to Vancouver last weekend and lost 4-3. It was 4-2 until a stoppage-time goal too. They also coughed up an early 2-0 lead.
And … that makes them 0-3-6 in their last 9 and outscored 21-9 in those games. Ouch. That run of poor form cost head coach Bradley Carnell his job this week. Technical Director John Hackworth takes over on an interim basis.
Luckily they play a team in just as poor form. But they’ll do without Joao Klauss who suffered an MCL sprain and will be out for a number of weeks. Keeper Roman Burki also missed the Vancouver game.
The Quakes are out two keepers Daniel and JT Marcinkowski themselves.
San Jose got blanked in Ian Russell’s debut as interim coach in the Cali Classico 3-0. They’ve lost 5 straight in MLS are winless in 8 in MLS and 9 overall and have been outscored 26-9 in those 8 MLS games.
So it’s interim vs interim on the sidelines for this one.
Usually, the Quakes can get on the scoresheet, last week notwithstanding, they’ve scored in 18/22 overall games this season.
STL has 1 clean sheet in 10 games.
- MLS Predictions: Both to Score
Real Salt Lake vs Houston Dynamo Prediction
RSL had a 14-game MLS streak undefeated streak snapped vs the LA Galaxy on June 22. They also lost Chicho Arango to injury that game to a head injury requiring a ton of stitches.
He is a question mark to play here but the week off could be enough rest for him and all of RSL who didn’t play this past weekend. 2nd leading scorer Andres Gomez is definitely out with yellow card accumulation. If both are out, that takes out 26 goals from the lineup (16/10). Anderson Julio and Diego Luna are next with 6/3.
They were off last week and will look to start a new streak here vs a Houston team on an impressive run of their own, undefeated in 6.
The Dynamo won 1-0 at home to Charlotte last weekend, but for a team that is known for tight games and Unders, recent scores have been:
4-1 win, 2-2, 2-2, 2-2, 3-1 win and 2-1 loss. The Dynamo have scored in 10/11 as well.
If it feels like these teams always play, it’s cause they played 6 times last season.
- Meeting 1: 0-0 in MLS
- 2: 1-1 then won 3-1 Houston in extra-time in the USOC
- 3: 3-0 Houston win in MLS
- 4: 2-1 Houston win in MLS Playoffs
- 4: 1-1, won in PKs by RSL in MLS Playoffs
- 5: 1-1, won in PKs by Houston in MLS Playoffs
So last season in regulation, Houston was 2-4-0, and overall only lost 1/6.
Houston seems to have found their scoring boots starting with Sebastian Ferreira who has 3G/1A in 2 games, but they haven’t kept a road clean sheet in 9 games. The Over 2.5 has gone 7-3 in their road MLS games this season. Some betting options for straight bets or parlays:
- BTTS (-143)
- HOU +1.5 (-268)
- HOU +2 (-625)
- HOU +2.5 (-770)
Without some key players for RSL I can see Houston keeping this close. And sometimes when you see long streak end in multiple sports, not just soccer or MLS, their is a slight dip in form for a few games.
- MLS Predictions: HOU +1.5
Colorado Rapids SKC Prediction
The Rapids have been streaky. Winless in 4, 3 straight wins and then a 3-0 loss away to LAFC last week. No real shame there. It did stop a run of 15 straight games where they had scored, and 3 straight where they had scored multiple. In 21 games, the Rapids have only failed to score twice.
They should get back in the scoring stats on Wednesday versus SKC.
SKC got a win on the weekend, 2-0 at home to Austin. It’s just their 4th this season. And just their 2nd in 15 games. It’s their first clean sheet since March 9. 3 of those 4 wins have come at home. They aren’t at home here.
SKC have scored in 18/21 and conceded in 19/21. BTTS bets for SKC this season have gone 17-4 in MLS.
But not just that, the BTTS & Over 2.5 has gone 8-2 and 15-3 in recent SKC games. SKC has given up multiple goals in 8/10 and in 12/15 recent MLS games.
Last year it was 1-0 Colorado and 0-0. The Under usually hits at 5-1 in the last 6.
Neither of these teams have been Under teams this year. Colorado is 15-6 to the Over and SKC 16-5.
Only 1 is a winning team. Colorado is 5-2-2 at home. SKC is 1-2-7 away and outscored 21-11.
This should be Colorado win (-175) or Colorado to score 2 (-200) or just Over 1.5.
- MLS Predictions: Over 1.5 (-600)
- Parlay Picks: STL vs SJ btts / HOU +1.5 / COL vs SKC over 1.5 (+135)
MLS Picks and Parlays #3
FC Dallas vs Portland Timbers Prediction
The Dallas offense had scored 2, 5 and 2 goals in the 3 games prior to last weekend vs Cincy, and then … lost 1-0 at home. Just the 4th time in 22 overall games and 2nd time in 15 they didn’t score.
Portland were dominating an undermanned Minnesota on Saturday, but still found themselves down 2-0. They fought back with goals from Evander (45+8), Moreno (73) and Rodriguez (92’) after a goal minutes earlier was called off to win 3-2.
It should not have been this close. Portland had 25 shot attempts to 6 and 11 shots on target to 4, and 42 dangerous attacks to 24. Their xG was 5.1.
Portland has only lost once in 9 games at 6-2-1, have scored multiple goals in 6/7 and outscored opponents 18-10 in that time.
The last game between them was 1-0 Portland last year but the previous 3 were 1-1, 1-1 and 4-1 Portland. The Under 2.5 has gone 6-2 of late as well.
Only SKC and SJ have seen a higher rate of BTTS game than Portland’s 76%. Dallas is not far behind with 70%, the 7th most.
- MLS Predictions: Both to Score
LA Galaxy vs LAFC Prediction
I can’t remember the last time these teams met and both were in good form. This El Trafico takes place at The Rose Bowl as an added bonus.
LAFC: 1st at 12-4-4 (40 pts)
LA: 2nd at 11-7-3 (40 pts)
LAFC rolled to a 3-0 win over Colorado backed by a hat-trick by Mateusz Bogusz. The shots were 22-10 and 11-1 in shots on target.
In 11 games in all comps, LAFC have not lost and have just 1 loss in 16. During this undefeated streak they’ve scored 28 and allowed just 5.
The LA Galaxy beat their Cali Clasico rival San Jose 3-0 on the weekend with goals from Paintsil, Jovelic and Cuevas, have won 4 straight, 6/7 and have just 1 loss in 11. In their last 7 they’ve outscored opponents 16-6.
On April 6 was 2-1 LAFC at home. All the goals came in the 1st half with Tillman scoring in the 4’ for LAFC, Aude tying it for the Galaxy in the 29’ and Bouanga getting what would be the winner in the 35’ from a PK.
In 22 all-time meetings:
- BTTS is 18-4
- Over 2.5 is 17-5
- BTTS and Over 2.5 is 16-6
El Trafico is always an auto-bet on goals for me so it’s likely BTTS and Over 2.5.
But then the Galaxy have 3 straight clean sheets.
And LAFC have clean sheets in 7/10.
- MLS Predictions: Both to Score
- Parlay Picks: DAL vs POR btts / LA vs LAFC btts (+130)
Ryan Métivier is a seasoned editor, writer and communications professional with years of experience in all fields. When it comes to covering sports, he’s written for numerous outlets and organizations including the OHL, CHL, SportsXpress, Sports Betting Dime, Cleveland.com, MassLive, FanSided and others.
While he’ll always cheer for his hometown Toronto teams, when it comes to betting, his only allegiance is his bankroll. Ryan specializes in global soccer, the NFL and the NHL, but if there is a bet to be made, he’ll make it. As the founder of Shred The Spread, Ryan focuses on combining storylines, trends, analytics and good bankroll management to creating simple bets that make sense.
When not making a case for why both teams will score in an MLS soccer match, he can be found focusing his efforts on fitness, attempting to learn Spanish, cooking or planning his travel adventure.
