The Major League Soccer weekend comes to a close Sunday night when the Vancouver Whitecaps play host to Sporting Kansas City
The Major League Soccer weekend comes to a close Sunday night when the Vancouver Whitecaps play host to Sporting Kansas City. Like most games over the weekend, this one will have ramifications in the playoff race for both teams. Sporting KC is close to securing a playoff spot while Vancouver remains outside the playoff picture but within striking distance of a spot.
According to BetUS, the Whitecaps are a slight favorite at home with a Moneyline of +165, while Kansas City’s Moneyline is listed at +170. There is also a +240 Moneyline for a draw. Finally, there is an over/under of 2.5 total goals being scored in the game.
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The Chase is On
As mentioned, the Whitecaps are still chasing a playoff spot, as they currently sit eighth in the Western Conference standings. With 37 points, Vancouver is one point behind seventh-place Minnesota United for the final playoff spot. Of course, they are just two points behind fifth-place Real Salt Lake, so that a win could take the Whitecaps as high as fifth place depending on other results this weekend.
Meanwhile, Sporting KC can all but wrap up a playoff spot with a win on Sunday. The Wizards enter the weekend second in the Western Conference with 52 points, five points behind first-place Seattle. That means Sporting KC is playing to clinch a spot and pushing late in the season to earn the no. 1 seed in the Western Conference.
Wizards Cast a Spell
Kansas City surely looks like a team right now that has a chance to earn the top seed in the playoffs. The Wizards have won four of their last five matches, although their one loss during that stretch came against Seattle, which is the team they’re chasing. Nevertheless, the Wizards have scored 14 goals in those five matches, giving them the second-most goals in MLS this season.
Leading scorer Daniel Salloi has scored four goals in four matches to lead the way for the Wizards, while Johnny Russell has six goals and two assists during Kansas City’s five-game stretch. In addition to 26 goals, Salloi and Russell have also combined for 13 of the team’s 32 assists this season and are becoming an unstoppable duo. At the same time, the Wizards have conceded the sixth-fewest goals in MLS this year, although five goals have been allowed in the club’s last three games.
Melting Caps
Vancouver’s playoff hopes took a huge hit last weekend when the Whitecaps suffered a 4-1 loss at the hands of Seattle. That snapped a four-match unbeaten run by Vancouver and took away the team’s momentum following a 3-0 win over San Jose. However, the Whitecaps had managed to keep three straight clean sheets before running into the unstoppable Sounders.
The other silver lining is that Brian White has emerged as the team’s go-to striker, scoring against Seattle last week and getting all three goals in the recent win over San Jose.
However, nobody except for White has scored in Vancouver’s last six matches. The Caps aren’t getting goals from any other sources, including second-leading scorer Cristian Dajome, who has gone cold at the wrong time of the season.
Wizards Away from Home
When these teams met in May, Sporting KC dominated the game on the way to a 3-0 win. With the Wizards scorching-hot offensively right now and the Whitecaps unable to get goals from anybody but White, this game could follow a similar pattern. Despite the betting odds being close to even with Vancouver being at home, bet on Sporting KC to earn all three points on Sunday night.
