MLS betting preview : Toronto FC- San Jose Earthquakes
These two both did us a favour last weekend, Toronto beating Columbus Crew 3-2, coming from behing late in the game to seal a deserved win, ahead of which I wrote ...
Toronto FC played Montreal Impact in midweek, in the first leg of the Voyageurs Cup final, but rested 5-6 first teamers and the visit from Crew was clearly given priority, or at least they were "managing" their squad, with five starts inside 14 days (this is #3) leading up to the three week break. They are without Michael Bradley and Julio Cesar who are on international duty and Steven Caldwell who is suspended, but have a little depth in the squad now after the summer investment and it is a sign of how far they have come that Dwayne de Rosario, MLS MVP two seasons back, who returned to his home Province to join TFC, is struggling to command a starting position. He did feature and started in the 2-0 win in the reverse fixture in Ohio which came without both star forward Jermain Defoe and the aforementioned Caldwell who was also missing that day too. DDR seems sure to play tonight after getting game time in midweek and Defoe and strike partner Gilberto will pose a big threat to Crew. The Brazilian is desperate to get off the mark and is without a goal eight games into his MLS career, he had 14 in just 24 starts for a struggling and ultimately relegated Portuguesa in the much stronger Serie A last season, a goal every 138 minutes. He has been close several times for TFC and once the first comes, the floodgates will probably open, but the pressure is on as the 12th highest paid player in the league and he needs it sooner rather than later.
The hosts feel they have only just started to gel as a team and that they will continue to get stronger, they will move into the playoff spots with a win this evening and having broken their duck against Crew last season with a 2-1 win here, their first in nine h2h starts as hosts and following up in Columbus earlier this season, they fancy their chances of the hat-trick, infact, someone in the back office went close to guaranteeing it ! Their cause will certainly be helped tonight by Crew being without defenders Waylon Francis and Giancarlo Gonzalez, who are away with Costa Rica and the massive loss to suspension of Federico Higuain ( 22 goals in 52 starts.... 6 in 12 this year) the Argentine is many peoples idea of the most influential player in the MLS and Crew have been faced with answering the question all week about how it will be possible to win in his absence.........it will be very tough. With the visitors weakened both offensively and defensively, this is a good opportunity for TFC and I favour them to edge it.
San Jose will surely be fresher having had a free midweek since winning for us in Dallas last Saturday night, those notes are reproduced at the foot of the email. Everything went their way there and after Dallas went a man down and Earthquakes had the lead, they were happy to sit back and hold on to what they held. Plenty has been made about their failure to create a valid second half chance against ten men, but that was not really the game plan after the half time team talk. They remain without Chris Wondolowski and Victor Bernardez and could be unchanged from last week. Their midfield has started to gel and their could be some joy this evening for them withTFC tired and missing Michael Bradley in the centre of the park. Khari Stephenson, Atiba Harris and Jean- Baptiste Pierazzi whom some of you might know from Ajaccio, have really upped their game in the last fortnight and also scored five goals from midfield between them and I favour them to come away with a point or better in a city where they have never lost and have scored seven goals in their last three visits.
Good Luck.
MLS:FC Dallas- San Jose Earthquakes (written 31/05)
Dallas will take heart from a 0-0 draw with Real Salt Lake in midweek, ahead of which my preview went a lot like this ...
Dallas have not won in over a month and are coming from a 1-1 home draw with Chivas USA ahead of which I wrote ....
FCD have a couple of key absences tonight , with right back Kellyn Acosta (4-1-0 when he plays, 1-0-5 when sidelined) , defensive midfielder Hendry Thomas ( 9-0-1) and midfielder Mauro Díaz (8-3-3.........0-0-3 without him) all missing, the trio played in the earlier meeting here this season, which the hosts won 3-1,with all four goals coming in the final 19 minutes. You can see highlights of that game here, Chivas were guilty of some very naive defending , I would expect them to have improved a little in that department and they will not have to face the killer balls from Diaz, who was provider for two of the goals. The visitors will surely have learned a lot from that and hopefully will not so many many free kicks away around the box ( two goals came from dead balls). Chivas did pose a threat especially down Acosta's flank and they can further expose his absence this evening.
The visitors ended an eight game streak without a win in a 3-1 win in Colorado last week, they have not conceded more than a single goal on the road in four away starts since the loss to Dallas and showed some non Erick Torres (10-8-2) potency up front for the first time this season. With new signing Marvin Chavez scoring twice on his debut and against a former club, he faces another tonight and will not lack in motivation and he and Torres are a very lively pairing, especially dangerous on the break, with Chavez incredibly speedy.
Chivas have avoided defeat here in six of nine visits and with Dallas having failed to keep a clean sheet all seaon, weakend defensively and missing their playmaker and Chivas having increased offensive options, they have a good chance of adding to that record and possibly registering a second straight road win and at 5.0 + are a decent price to do so.
The visitors were close to that big odds win, taking the lead around the hour mark, before FCD equalised 7 minutes from time. Tonight they are again without Acosta, Thomas and Diaz (see all three above), three big losses which more than offset the missing dup for LA and I favour the hosts to record their third straight home win over Dallas.
The scheduler has not been kind to Dallas, three tough matches inside 7 days without several key players (see above), this will actually be their sixth start in 21 days, with four of the last five on the road. Tonight they travel not just without the same three players, but also minus left back Michel who is their free kick specialist and has already got five goals this season.
They would have settled for the point, but it extended their run without a win to seven games and it has been a gruelling recent schedule. Tonight they will be without Acosta, Diaz and Thomas (see all above) again, Michel and Andrew Jacobson will both be subject to last minute decisions by coach Oscar Pereja, who is a lifetime 0-1-6 against Earthquakes, which included a 2-1 defeat in San Jose just 20 days ago. The loss there was particularly disappointing as SJE played 50 minutes + with ten men.
Earthquakes opener there came from an assist from defender Clarence Goodson who was cut from the US squad in midweek, which means he is available tonight, he was fuming at Jurgen Klinsmann at the decision and will surely be extra motivated this evening. The visitors are without Chris Wondolowski (USA) and Victor Bernardez (Honduras) on international duty, but saw off Houston 3-0 in midweek without the pair and Goodson too. They were boosted by the return of the influential Steven Lenhart , who had not played in two months and also Yannick Djalo who had missed four weeks, SJ played with great energy, especially after the break , suddenly have a few more options and can get a result against a favourite and strugggling opponent.
1.5 units San Jose Earthquakes +0.25 ball 2.21 asian line/ibramarket.
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