The 2015 MLS Cup playoffs are into their final four, and after a week off for an international break, the teams will be back in action with a home and home series.
There will be MLS Cup odds at BookMaker.eu this week on this tournament and will be available the rest of the way in the playoffs.
EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS PREVIEW
The Eastern Conference held according to form in the first round, but that really shouldn't be considered all that much of a surprise.
The New York Red Bulls probably had the easiest of the draws in the conference semifinals against a D.C. United team which looked beaten before it ever showed up to the party. United didn't even complete 60 percent of its passes over the 180 minutes, and it took 145 minutes to get its first shot on target.
RBNY scored just once in both matches to win the opening series 2-0, but it will need to be much more like itself and be a free-flowing offense to have a shot against Columbus.
The Crew meanwhile, had a doozy of a matchup with Montreal. In the first of the two legs, the Impact were all over the pitch and scored twice in a 2-1 result to setup the return leg at MAPFRE Stadium.
Columbus took the early lead with a Kei Kamara goal but gave it back just before the half when Dilly Duka, who was clearly in an offside position, slotted one home. Ethan Finlay knotted up the proceedings in the 77th minute, and the Crew went on to win in extra time on a brilliant header by Kamara.
There will surely be goals aplenty in this home and home series if both teams have it their way. Columbus has been brilliant going forward with Kamara and Federico Higuain causing all sorts of problems in enemy boxes of late, while the Red Bulls are generally much better served in attack with Bradley Wright-Phillips leading the way.
These two teams met three times this year, and all three clashes resulted in 2-1 final scores. The Red Bulls split the two games in Columbus and won the only meeting of the year at Red Bull Arena.
This series will start in Columbus on November 22 and shift back to Jersey on November 29.
WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS PREVIEW
Call Portland the "Little Engine That Could." The Timbers have had a heck of a road here in the MLS Cup playoffs. They outlasted Sporting Kansas City in the opening round of the postseason in an 11-round shootout, and they were the only team which played in the knockout round to reach the conference finals.
Portland though, had to be clinical and smart to reach this point against a very talented Vancouver side which was hungry for its first playoff win. The Timbers did an excellent job in possession of the ball for the full 180 minutes, particularly after taking the lead 1-0 on a Fanendo Adi strike in the 31st minute of the return leg after a scoreless draw at Providence Park.
The Timbers won't have Rodney Wallace or Diego Valeri for the home match in the Western Conference Finals due to yellow card accumulation, but that won't damper the spirits of the team.
FC Dallas took an awesome road to reach this point in the season. The Hoops took a 1-0 lead in Seattle in the first leg of this home and home series but conceded consecutive second half goals to head back to Frisco with a 2-1 deficit to make up.
Things were grim for the hosts after 83 scoreless minutes, but in the 84th minute, it was last year's Rookie of the Year, Tesho Akindele who scored on his first touch of the match after being subbed in that looked like it was going to put FCD through.
Instead, the Supporters' Shield runners up needed more magic. Chad Marshall sparked some more drama by scoring in the 90th minute off of a corner to put the Sounders back on top, but in less than a minute, the other sub of the game for FCD, Walker Zimmerman blasted one home off of a carom to send the match into extra time.
Dallas was the better of the two teams in the extra half hour, and it was a deserving 4-2 winner in a shootout.
Portland and Dallas are both clubs which prefer to work possession and look for tactical chances to break, so goals could be tough to come by. Both teams posted blowout wins at home against the other in the regular season. Portland won 3-1 at Providence Park, while FCD took the spoils in a 4-1 decision in Frisco.
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