With the majority of top leagues across Europe coming to an end, it’s time for Major League Soccer to step up. There are plenty of reasons why this campaign has the potential to be incredibly exciting but beyond that, it’s just been nice to see the continued growth and development of the game in North America. Today, we’ll be taking a look at the upcoming clash between St Louis City and Portland Timbers.
St Louis Form GuideSt Louis did a tremendous job of topping the Western Conference and although the standard was lower in comparison to the East, they looked calm and composed. In the playoffs, however, they failed to live up to the hype, with their lack of experience really showing against Sporting Kansas City. They lost in back to back games, sending them crashing out of the competition.
While St Louis have only lost four of their first 15 games, they’ve also only won three of them. They seem to have turned into draw specialists and it isn’t particularly exciting to watch. They’re currently lingering down in 11th place in the West, and something needs to change quickly.
Portland Form GuidePortland, historically speaking, have had some great moments across their time in the MLS - and last season, they were somewhat unlucky to miss out on the playoffs as they wound up just one point outside of the wild card spots. Still, despite being so close, it’s worth noting that they have some big improvements to make, especially when you look at their defensive record.
Portland haven’t clicked into shape just yet as they sit down in 9th place in the Western Conference, but boy oh boy do they make their games exciting. In just 17 outings this season, they’ve scored 32 and conceded 32 - so it’s pretty clear to see where their problems lie.
Match PredictionWe’re at the point in the MLS season now where it’s time to start really making some noise, and it feels like these two sides are aware of that. They both have attacking threats and in this game, we expect to see them showcase that. Therefore, we’re going to shoot for over 2.5 goals scored.
