Toronto FC return home to BMO Field after a
pair of draws on the road to host the Seattle Sounders this coming Saturday.
The betting odds put up by the bookies predict a close, close match.
The recent form of both these sides screams
draw, as Seattle have drawn their last two and Toronto have drawn their last
three. Surely they won’t cancel each other out again. If they do, then the
betting odds on a draw are at +220 with Bodog and bet365 and you can get +700
on a scoreless draw with Paddy Power.
Looking further back, Toronto had a
humbling loss before their run of draws. They were spanked 6-2 by Philadelphia (who play Vancouver on Sat) at BMO before they drew their three consecutive games. While draws are less
than impressive, it’s worth noting that in two of those three games they kept a
clean sheet and not conceding is half way to winning games. Good teams tend to
start at the back, and that would suggest that Toronto have some good results
just around the corner. Toronto FC ‘keeper Stefan Frei will be looking for his
teammates to start scoring goals and making his clean sheets count. Speaking of
the Toronto defence, it looks likely that Saturday will see Burnley’s Richard Eckersley,
Doneil Henry, Ty Harden and Dan Leigh Borman appearing as the defence.
If you reckon that the Reds will keep
another clean sheet you can get some big numbers in the soccer odds on them
winning to nil. 1-0 is +650, 2-0 is +1200 and 3-0 is +3300, the list does go on
but I doubt very much that Toronto will manage more than three goals.
Winless
in Seattle
Seattle’s last game was a 2-2 draw in a Pacific
Northwest derby against Vancouver. The draw moved the Sounders to 5-4-7 and was
their second home draw in the Cascadia Cup standings after a 1-1 against the
Portland Timbers on 14th May. Wins seem to be annoyingly elusive for the Sounders,
“Let’s not forget that 80 minutes into the game we’re down 1-0 and we come back
and have a chance to win it,” Captain Kasey Keller said, “That’s just
frustrating that you battle like hell to get back into the lead and then you
concede so quickly after.”
It’s worth mentioning that Saturday’s match
will be the third game in seven days for Toronto, so expect Seattle to start
the brighter (and fresher) of the two sides.
If you like picking the half time / full
time results, you can do a lot worse than back the Sounders going in winners at
half time. Seattle winning both halves is at +300, winning at half time but
drawing the match is at +1400 and them winning the first half and losing the
game is at +3300, so there's some fat odds for the ballsey soccer gambler. However,
Toronto can score and must be due a win soon. Saturday would be good time to
start winning games.
In
the name of fairness it has to be mentioned that at present Seattle have 22
points from 16 games, seven more than Toronto, and the last time these teams
met Seattle won 3-0, back in April. A repeat of that result is at +2200.
A less
than outstanding standing
Toronto FC are currently 6th in the Eastern
Conference with 15 points and -10 Goal Difference, Chicago and New England are
both just one point behind with a better goal difference. Seattle are third in
the Western Conference on 22 points and +3 Goal Difference, but have a chance
to overtake Dallas (who are three points ahead with a +2 GD) there’s little
chance of them catching LA (on 31 points). There’s plenty
of odds out there but the shortest correct score odds are on either a 1-1 draw
+500, or either side wining by a single goal +600. I feel that home advantage
will top things slightly in Toronto’s favour, after Seattle get the opening
goal.
Prediction:
2-1 Toronto