It’s down to the final four with both Leagues Cup Semifinals on Wednesday, August 21.
The quarterfinals were tight with only 7 goals in 4 games and 3 of those came in one, a 3-0 LAFC win over Seattle. That was the only Over game, with Under going 3-1.
All other games ended tied, 1-1, 1-1 and 0-0 and needed to go to PKs.
But let’s move onto Wednesday and make our top Leagues Cup predictions for the semifinals.
Columbus Crew vs Philadelphia Union Prediction
Kick-off at 7:30pm EST.
The Crew let in a goal just 14 seconds into the game against NYCFC, but Cucho levelled it in the 41’ and they had tons of chances to win before penalties but couldn’t finish.
They led in shots 18-5 and shots on target 6-3. But needed PKs where they won 4-3.
The Crew are 6th in the Supporters’ Shield race, own the top defense in all of MLS, have only lost once at home and have only allowed 7 goals when playing at Lower.com Field in the regular seasion.
Columbus kicked off Leagues Cup in the Round of 32 beating SKC 4-0. The Round of 16 saw them fall behind 2-0 to Inter Miami, but they stormed back in the second half with 3 goals to win 3-2.
Diego Rossi was odd last game but he still has 9G/5A in his last 10 games.
Columbus is now 8-1-1 in 10 outscoring opponents 30-8 in that time.
Philly met Mazatlan in the quarterfinals. Tai Baribo took a red card after two questionable yellows in first-half stoppage time in the quarters but Mikale Uhre still put the Union up 1-0 just moments after. Mazatlan would level in the 59’ and it ended 1-1.
Both had 5 shots on target and Andre Blake made a huge save late in the second half to get Philly to PKs and then made 2 more saves during penalties to guide Phily to the win. Blake won Man of the Match and since his return from injury the Union are 6-0-1.
Missing Baribo who has 5 Leagues Cup goals will be a big blow.
But he’s not the only key Union player who won’t feature in the semifinals. Reports are Jose Martinez played his last game after accepting a transfer to Corinthians in Brazil.
Other tournament games saw Philly beat Charlotte 1-0 before drawing Cruz Azul 1-1 and losing in PKs in the Group Stage.
In the Round of 32 it was a 2-0 win over CF Montreal. Then it was off to the Round of 16 where they went to Cincinnati and won 4-2.
The Union are now undefeated in regulation in 7 games. They’ve also scored in 10/11.
That will give them some hope of upsetting the odds in this game, but the money is clearly on the Crew as I’ve seen odds shift from around -150 to -170. Columbus has been falling behind in games so the best way to get value would be betting on Philly scoring in this game too. But then no Baribo is a big loss.
To qualify by PKs if needed Columbus is -300 and Philly +225.
While these teams haven’t met this season, last year the Union won 4-1 and they drew 1-1 and Philly is 4-3-0 in the last 7 meetings.
I can’t bet against the Crew at home, but unless you ask them to win by 2 or parlay them to win with LAFC, there isn’t much value.
So let’s create a same-game parlay at Bet365 with Columbus to win in regulation and Rossi to have over 0.5 shots on target.
Rossi has 2, 3 and 3 shots on target in his last 3 games. Only once in 9 games has he not had at least 1.
- Leagues Cup Predictions: Columbua to win and Rossi over 0.5 shots on target (+100)
LAFC vs Colorado Rapids Prediction
Kick-off at 10pm EST.
Over to the West and LAFC had goals in the 13’, 25’ and 53’ from Ryan Hollingshead, Kei Kamara and Denis Bouanga. LAFC continued their dominance over Seattle in recent seasons and held the Sounders to only 2 shots on target in a 3-0 win.
LA also beat Tijuana 3-0, drew Vancouver 2-2 before losing in PKs, beat Austin 2-0 and then San Jose 4-1 in other Leagues Cup games.
LAFC is 17-2-2 in 21 overall matches and have scored multiple goals in 16/21.
Bouanga is tied in 1st for Leagues Cup scoring with 5 goals and tied in 2nd for assists with 3. Cristian Olivera is tied for 2nd in scoring with 4 goals himself, and Olivier Giroud is still easing his way into the lineup with minutes off the bench, but clearly they haven’t even needed him.
Club America were LigaMX’s last chance in this tournament in the final game of the quarters. They faced Colorado and despite America leading in possession 61%, shots 20-7, shots on target 4-1 and corners 6-1, they could not break through and really never looked in top form all tournament.
The game ended 0-0 with Colorado going on to win 9-8 in PKs and Rapids’ keeper Zach Steffen scoring the winning goal and then stopping his opposing keeper Luis Malagon for the winning save as well.
The Rapids’ other games have seen Colorado lose 4-0 to Portland, then draw Club Leon 1-1 and win in PKs. In the Round of 32 they won 3-2 over Juarez. In the Round of 16 Toluca also piled up 22 shot attempts (6 on target) to go with 66% possession. The Rapids had only 4 shots and 2 on target. That game was 1-1 until a late Colorado goal to make it 2-1.
Last game’s clean sheet was rare for Colorado as they had allowed a goal in 11 straight prior. That’s now a goal conceded in 15/18. It was a also a rare low-scoring games. In MLS, 25/27 Colorado games have seen 2+ goals, so too had their first 4 games in Leagues Cup. Colorado not scoring was also rare. They have done so in 8/10 and 23/26.
But then LAFC have clean sheets in 4/6.
This is a big matchup. LA are 2nd in the West in MLS and Colorado 4th. Both can score, and in fact the Rapids have scored more (50-48) regular season goals. But defensively there’s a big gap where LAFC have conceded 30 and Colorado 43. And Colorado’s defense has lost Canadian international CB Moise Bombito who is signing with Nice in France. Now he’s missed the past 3 games as well and Colorado has advanced, but it’s still not a positive.
This is the 3rd meeting this season and both have won at home. The Rapids 3-2 and LAFC 3-0. With a 4-0 win last year, LAFC have now scored 9 goals in their last 3 games vs Colorado.
This is another game where the favorite has taken money with LAFC moving from around -180 to now over -200. To simply advance by any means, LAFC is -400 and Colorado +275.
So again, unless you parlay Columbus and LAFC together to win in regulation, which does look like a good option to set up an MLS Cup Final rematch at +134 odds, we’ll again have to get a little creative.
So let’s go LAFC to win + score over 1.5 goals + Bouanga to have over 0.5 shots on target at -150 at Bet365.
Bouanga has 14 shots on target in his last 8 games and at least 1 in 7/8.
- Leagues Cup Prediction: LAFC to win + score over 1.5 goals + Bouanga to have over 0.5 shots on target (-150)
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.
