BoopProps: Over/Under picks on a handful of MLS Is Back Tournament matches through Sunday
We would have been an excellent soccer player in high school . . . if it hadn’t been for all that running and kicking and stuff. And because I didn’t play, I didn’t pay very much attention to the sport itself other than when friends and classmates of mine were leading Philadelphia’s North Catholic to its many titles.
These days, I will follow the World Cups (men and women) and keep an eye on how the Union is doing and even watch their most important matches if the bar I happen to be in sees fit to have them on.
But now, with all this money I didn’t get a chance to lose on the NCAA Tournament burning a hole in my pocket, here comes the MLS Is Back Tournament. (At least, we think it will be back. Teams and games seem to be dropping by the hour . . . )
So, figured we’d take a shot at the Total Goals Over/Under for a handful of matches scheduled to be played the first few days, based solely on the scores of the two games each of the teams played when the actual regular season kicked off just over three months ago.
For the most part, teams’ personnel are the same now as then and since they are coming off a long layoff, we kept an eye to the goal total in each team’s season opener. We also looked to take an adjusted line when we saw fit to make the odds work in our favor.
Lastly, soccer purists will please forgive us for using standard city names without the FCs and SCs and the Uniteds and the Reals. It’s just the way we have always rolled. No disrespect intended. (We also may use the word “tie” when we mean “draw”.)
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ORLANDO vs. MIAMI
Wednesday, 8 p.m.
Pick: Under 2.5 ($10/+117)
Orlando played a scoreless tie in its opener. Miami droped a 1-0 decision.
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NEW YORK CITY vs. PHILADELPHIA
Thursday, 9 a.m.
Pick: Under 2.5 ($10/+155)
Don’t be swayed by the Union’s 3-3 late Sunday night slugfest with Los Angeles in the last MLS regular season match played back on March 8. Both New York (0-1) and Philly (0-2) went scoreless in Week 1. NY had the same result in Week 2.
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MONTREAL vs. NEW ENGLAND
Thursday, 8 p.m.
Pick: Over 2.5 ($10/-148)
Montreal topped New England in Week 1 by 2-1, and had a 2-2 tie in Week 2.
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ATLANTA vs. NEW YORK RED BULLS
Saturday, 8 p.m.
Pick: Over 2.5 ($10/-167)
Atlanta has a pair of 2-1 wins under its belt. New York opened with a 3-2 victory.
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CINCINNATI vs. COLUMBUS
Saturday, 10:30 p.m.
Pick: Over 2.5 ($5/-108)
We’re halving our normal $10 bet here. Cincinnati has losses of five (2-3) and three (1-2) goals, but Columbus has combined for just two goals for and one against in its two earlier games. Tough call, hence the halving, but we will put it to good use.
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KANSAS CITY vs. MINNESOTA
Sunday, 8 p.m.
Pick: Over 3.5 ($5/+148)
Pick: Over 4.5 ($5/+350)
Pick: Over 5.5 ($5/+800)
Pick: Over 6.5 ($5/+2000)
Get the married men off the field, Harry. Both teams opened with 3-1 victories and then saw even more offense generated in Week 2 (4-0 and 5-2 wins). We’ll split our normal $10 wager between Over 3.5 and Over 4.5 and take the $5 we didn’t bet on Cincinnati-Columbus for the Over 5.5 and the $5 we won’t bet on the match below for the Over 6.5. If Pat Mahomes’ offensive magic is rubbing off on KC, we want to be a part of it.
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SALT LAKE CITY vs. COLORADO
Sunday, 10:30 p.m.
Pick: Over 2.5 ($5/-118)
Salt Lake opened with draws of 0-0 and 1-1. Colorado has two 2-1 wins under its belt. Could really go either way, so we half the bet. (See above for what we did with the other half.)