MLS Expert Picks: Predictions, Best Bets & Analysis for 7/12

Author Image Article By Grant McQuillan GDC - Icon - Black - Info
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MLS Expert Picks: Predictions, Best Bets & Analysis for 7/12
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Eight midweek MLS games keep us going until the weekend’s soccer betting action which will see the final set of MLS games until late August because of the League's Cup.

Here are our MLS betting picks for this game week.

  • Cincinnati to beat the Red Bulls and both teams to score prop bet is +700 with BetMGM Sportsbook
  • New England or Atlanta to win and over 3.5 goals is +204 with FanDuel Sportsbook
  • Chicago to beat Montreal and both teams to score is +231 with Caesars Sportsbook
  • Houston to beat Minnesota 2-0 is +1000 with Unibet Sportsbook
  • Real Salt Lake to beat Kansas City 1-0, 2-0 or 3-0 is +750 with FanDuel Sportsbook
  • A tie and over 1.5 goals between Philadelphia and Nashville is +316 with DraftKings Sportsbook
  • Austin to win and over 2.5 goals is +530 with BetMGM Sportsbook
  • Los Angeles to beat St. Louis City, both teams to score and Denis Bouanga to score anytime is +289 with DraftKings Sportsbook

Cincinnati (+280) at New York Red Bulls (-110) 

Despite having 19 more points in the Eastern Conference, Cincinnati is an underdog against New York Red Bulls. However, we think the overall leaders get an upset win here.

Cincinnati still only lost two games this year, although it is winless in the last three games, while the Red Bulls have won just two of their past five matches.

These two also met in a U.S. Open Cup clash in May, as Yuya Kubo scored for Cincinnati before a late equalizer from Dante Vanzeir. The Red Bulls did have 35 shots that day,, so they should at least score here. 

Atlanta United (+270) at New England Revolution (-125) 

We expect a lot of goals in this game with two of the highest scorers meeting in Boston. Atlanta United has so far scored 40 goals and let in 35, while New England Revolution has scored 36 and conceded 27 goals.

This means a stunning record of 138 combined goal involvements from just 43 games. New England has also failed to make a shutout in its past five games where it has won three games.

Montreal (+330) at Chicago Fire (-145)

Montreal has lost two games in a row after a defeat against Atlanta last weekend. It has now also let in 29 goals and scored just 20 goals of its own, meaning only Toronto and Inter Miami have worse goals difference records.

Chicago Fire hasn’t been great this year, however, but it has managed to win three of its past four games and even beat Nashville 1-0 at home last weekend.

With this in mind, we think the Fire gets another win.


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Minnesota United (+240) at Houston Dynamo (-110) 

After a 2-2 tie at home with Sporting Kansas City, Houston Dynamo has now lost only one of its 12 games in Houston this year - no team has a better home record in MLS right now.

Minnesota also lost 4-1 at home against Austin last weekend and it has not won a game outside of Minnesota since winning at Portland Timbers seven weeks ago.

Real Salt Lake (+270) at Sporting Kansas City (-125) 

The excellent form of Real Salt Lake continued last weekend with a sensational 4-0 win against Orlando City. It has also managed to win at St. Louis, Toronto and D.C. United in the past month, making RSL the best team away from home in the past 10 games.

Kansas has improved a lot during this time, although it has made just one shutout in its last 10 matches.

Philadelphia Union (+250) at Nashville (+105) 

It's an incredibly tough game to call when Philadelphia heads to Nashville, as only four points keep the latter ahead of the Union in the table. Nashville has won one more game too, and sits with the best defensive record in MLS (17).

Philadelphia has also lost to LA Galaxy and Atlanta United in its past two games, just as Nashville lost at Chicago last weekend.

Austin (+330) at Vancouver Whitecaps (-150) 

Austin's excellent 4-1 win at Minnesota last weekend brought it to eight wins and eight losses for the 2023 MLS season. Oddly enough, it has also scored the same amount of goals it has conceded, with 29 going in at either end.

Vancouver has also conceded 29 goals after a 3-2 defeat at home to Seattle Sounders last weekend. Worse yet, Mathias Laborda was sent off that day and is now suspended for this match.

We think recent form and that red card give Austin a good chance to upset the odds here.

St. Louis City (+450) at Los Angeles (-210)

What a game we have here, as first and third place in the Western Conference meets in Los Angeles.

LAFC is five points behind St. Louis in the table after a poor run of form that has seen it win just one of its last five matches. It is still the favorite to win here and conquer the Western Conference for the second year in a row.

St. Louis has scored 40 goals this season, and after winning for the third time in a row last weekend, it should get a goal or two here.

However, we give the edge to LAFC after Denis Bouanga got his 12th goal of the season in a tie with San Jose Earthquakes last time out.

MLS Schedule
May 4th | 7:30pm
Home
Draw
Away
San Jose Earthquakes San Jose Earthquakes SJE
+200FanDuel
+270DraftKings
+115DraftKings
Los Angeles Football Club Los Angeles Football Club LAF
May 4th | 7:30pm
Home
Draw
Away
Toronto FC Toronto FC TOR
+120DraftKings
+230FanDuel
+220DraftKings
FC Dallas FC Dallas DAL
May 4th | 7:30pm
Home
Draw
Away
Atlanta United Atlanta United ATL
-140DraftKings
+310DraftKings
+320FanDuel
Minnesota United Minnesota United MNU
May 4th | 7:30pm
Home
Draw
Away
Charlotte FC Charlotte FC CLT
-120DraftKings
+285DraftKings
+300FanDuel
Portland Timbers Portland Timbers POR
May 4th | 7:30pm
Home
Draw
Away
Inter Miami CF Inter Miami CF MIA
-130DraftKings
+295DraftKings
+320FanDuel
New York Red Bulls New York Red Bulls NYR
May 4th | 7:30pm
Home
Draw
Away
Orlando City SC Orlando City SC ORL
+105DraftKings
+240DraftKings
+250FanDuel
FC Cincinnati FC Cincinnati CIN
May 4th | 7:30pm
Home
Draw
Away
D.C. United D.C. United DCU
+135FanDuel
+260BetMGM
+190DraftKings
Philadelphia Union Philadelphia Union PHI
May 4th | 8:30pm
Home
Draw
Away
Nashville SC Nashville SC NSH
-120FanDuel
+270BetMGM
+320DraftKings
CF Montreal CF Montreal MTL
May 4th | 8:30pm
Home
Draw
Away
Houston Dynamo Houston Dynamo HOU
-105DraftKings
+255DraftKings
+260FanDuel
St. Louis City SC St. Louis City SC STL
May 4th | 8:30pm
Home
Draw
Away
Chicago Fire Chicago Fire FIR
-105DraftKings
+270FanDuel
+260DraftKings
New England Revolution New England Revolution NER
May 4th | 9:30pm
Home
Draw
Away
Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake RSL
-135DraftKings
+275DraftKings
+340FanDuel
Sporting Kansas City Sporting Kansas City SKC
May 4th | 10:30pm
Home
Draw
Away
Vancouver Whitecaps FC Vancouver Whitecaps FC WHI
-155DraftKings
+310BetMGM
+425DraftKings
Austin FC Austin FC ATX
May 5th | 4:00pm
Home
Draw
Away
New York City FC New York City FC NYC
-125FanDuel
+260FanDuel
+320FanDuel
Colorado Rapids Colorado Rapids RAP
May 5th | 6:45pm
Home
Draw
Away
Seattle Sounders FC Seattle Sounders FC SOU
+100BetMGM
+280FanDuel
+240FanDuel
Los Angeles Galaxy Los Angeles Galaxy GAL
May 11th | 7:30pm
Home
Draw
Away
Toronto FC Toronto FC TOR
+150BetMGM
+260BetMGM
+150BetMGM
New York City FC New York City FC NYC
May 11th | 7:30pm
Home
Draw
Away
Philadelphia Union Philadelphia Union PHI
-130FanDuel
+280BetMGM
+320FanDuel
Orlando City SC Orlando City SC ORL
May 11th | 7:30pm
Home
Draw
Away
New York Red Bulls New York Red Bulls NYR
-185FanDuel
+300FanDuel
+490FanDuel
New England Revolution New England Revolution NER
May 11th | 7:30pm
Home
Draw
Away
CF Montreal CF Montreal MTL
+210FanDuel
+270FanDuel
+115BetMGM
Inter Miami CF Inter Miami CF MIA
May 11th | 7:30pm
Home
Draw
Away
Charlotte FC Charlotte FC CLT
-110FanDuel
+240FanDuel
+290FanDuel
Nashville SC Nashville SC NSH
May 11th | 7:30pm
Home
Draw
Away
Atlanta United Atlanta United ATL
-110FanDuel
+260FanDuel
+275BetMGM
D.C. United D.C. United DCU
May 11th | 7:45pm
Home
Draw
Away
Columbus Crew Columbus Crew CLB
--
--
--
FC Cincinnati FC Cincinnati CIN
May 11th | 7:45pm
Home
Draw
Away
Columbus Crew Columbus Crew CLB
-105BetMGM
+240FanDuel
+290BetMGM
FC Cincinnati FC Cincinnati CIN
May 11th | 8:30pm
Home
Draw
Away
Sporting Kansas City Sporting Kansas City SKC
+105FanDuel
+230FanDuel
+250BetMGM
Houston Dynamo Houston Dynamo HOU
May 11th | 8:30pm
Home
Draw
Away
FC Dallas FC Dallas DAL
+115FanDuel
+220FanDuel
+230FanDuel
Austin FC Austin FC ATX
May 11th | 8:30pm
Home
Draw
Away
St. Louis City SC St. Louis City SC STL
-105BetMGM
+240BetMGM
+290FanDuel
Chicago Fire Chicago Fire FIR
May 11th | 9:30pm
Home
Draw
Away
Colorado Rapids Colorado Rapids RAP
-145BetMGM
+333BetMGM
+340FanDuel
San Jose Earthquakes San Jose Earthquakes SJE
May 11th | 10:30pm
Home
Draw
Away
Los Angeles Galaxy Los Angeles Galaxy GAL
-105FanDuel
+270FanDuel
+250BetMGM
Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake RSL
May 11th | 10:30pm
Home
Draw
Away
Los Angeles Football Club Los Angeles Football Club LAF
-150BetMGM
+300FanDuel
+380FanDuel
Vancouver Whitecaps FC Vancouver Whitecaps FC WHI
May 12th | 4:45pm
Home
Draw
Away
Portland Timbers Portland Timbers POR
+150FanDuel
+240FanDuel
+150FanDuel
Seattle Sounders FC Seattle Sounders FC SOU
May 15th | 7:30pm
Home
Draw
Away
Philadelphia Union Philadelphia Union PHI
--
--
--
New York City FC New York City FC NYC
May 15th | 7:30pm
Home
Draw
Away
Orlando City SC Orlando City SC ORL
--
--
--
Inter Miami CF Inter Miami CF MIA
May 15th | 7:30pm
Home
Draw
Away
CF Montreal CF Montreal MTL
--
--
--
Columbus Crew Columbus Crew CLB
May 15th | 7:30pm
Home
Draw
Away
D.C. United D.C. United DCU
--
--
--
New York Red Bulls New York Red Bulls NYR
May 15th | 7:30pm
Home
Draw
Away
FC Cincinnati FC Cincinnati CIN
--
--
--
Atlanta United Atlanta United ATL
May 15th | 8:30pm
Home
Draw
Away
St. Louis City SC St. Louis City SC STL
--
--
--
Los Angeles Football Club Los Angeles Football Club LAF
May 15th | 8:30pm
Home
Draw
Away
Nashville SC Nashville SC NSH
--
--
--
Toronto FC Toronto FC TOR
May 15th | 8:30pm
Home
Draw
Away
Minnesota United Minnesota United MNU
--
--
--
Los Angeles Galaxy Los Angeles Galaxy GAL
May 15th | 8:30pm
Home
Draw
Away
Chicago Fire Chicago Fire FIR
--
--
--
Charlotte FC Charlotte FC CLT
May 15th | 8:30pm
Home
Draw
Away
Austin FC Austin FC ATX
--
--
--
Houston Dynamo Houston Dynamo HOU
May 15th | 9:30pm
Home
Draw
Away
Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake RSL
--
--
--
Seattle Sounders FC Seattle Sounders FC SOU
May 15th | 9:30pm
Home
Draw
Away
Colorado Rapids Colorado Rapids RAP
--
--
--
Vancouver Whitecaps FC Vancouver Whitecaps FC WHI
May 15th | 10:30pm
Home
Draw
Away
Portland Timbers Portland Timbers POR
--
--
--
San Jose Earthquakes San Jose Earthquakes SJE

Updated by GDC - Icon - Black - Info

Grant McQuillan

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