Week 5 MLS Picks
As we talked about to close out our midweek episode, we weren’t able to start a winning streak with the picks. Undeterred, we press forward into the fifth week of the MLS regular season. The official league injury report came out this afternoon so let’s dive in.
Inter Miami
ML +200
We won’t see Messi again this weekend, but this pick is really about who the Red Bulls will be missing. Midfielders Emil Forsberg and Daniel Edelman, defenders John Tolkin and Noah Eile, forward Cory Burke and starting goalkeepers Carlos Coronel are among those absent for international duty. Then add in Sean Nealis, Dante Vanzeir and Elias Manoel all being questionable and things look bleak for New York.
Miami has so much fire power offensively. For example, even without Messi and Suarez in the starting XI last weekend against DC United, they simply slot in Leo Campana up top. Campana himself is questionable coming into this game, but if he’s out, oh look we have a rested Suarez who only played 30 minutes last weekend. Suarez picked up his fifth and sixth goals in the last five games across all competitions. He’s also had four assists in that span, just incredible production. Lock in Inter Miami to take care of business on the road against this depleted NYRB side.
Portland Timbers
Ml -105
International duty is a theme for our targets this week. The Union will be without Andre Blake, Daniel Gazdag, Jose Martinez, Damion Lowe, Jack McGlynn, Jesus Bueno and Tai Baribo due to international call ups and Leon Flach, Isaiah LeFlore and Holden Trent due to injury.
The Timbers will be missing Claudio Bravo and Marvin Loria with knee issues along with Kamal Miller, Maxime Crepeau and Miguel Araujo to international duty. But they’re at home with a healthy Evander and seven points from their four matches. We’ll grab Portland at near even odds to get another home win on Saturday.
Toronto FC
ML +120
Guess we’re buying the strong start out of Toronto. We’re also factoring in the international list for visiting Atlanta as well. The Five Stripes will be without Thiago Alamada, Giorgos Giakoumakis, Bartosz Slisz, Caleb Wiley, Luis Abram and Ajani Fortune due to international duty along with Stian Gregersen who is nursing a knee injury.
Toronto on the other hand has a much rosier outlook and most importantly, a clean bill of health for their two Italian stars Lorenzo Insigne and Federico Bernardeschi. We’ll take them to grab all three points at plus money.
Austin FC
ML +450
Alright we’re going to do this for the vibes. Half unit on the Verde & Black to steal 3 points in a game with two very depleted teams.
Goal Scorers
Every week we’ll pick a few of our favorite goal scoring options in the betting market. Here are the Week 5 shouts.
Luis Suarez (+170)
Hugo Cuypers (+260)
Aaron Boupendza (+180)
Sebastián Driussi (+280)
Andres Gomez (+400)
Joseph Paintsil (+280)
Hany Mukhtar (+300)
Sam Surridge (+350)
Ahmal Pellegrino (+280)
Results
Last week: -2.53 U
Season: +0.77 U
