Injuries have really marred the ends of the seasons for the Colorado Rapids and the Seattle Sounders. But one of those teams is going to be playing for the MLS Cup in a few weeks and is probably going to be favored to claim the championship as well. The 180 minutes these two teams have to play over the course of the next week though, are going to be outstanding, starting with Tuesday night's opening leg in Seattle, a match soccer fans will want to make sure they stay up late to catch.
At 10 p.m. ET, tune into FOX Sports 1 for live television coverage of this MLS match on Tuesday, November 22, 2016, at CenturyLink Field.
Soccer Odds at BookMaker.eu
Seattle Sounders -125
Colorado Rapids +325
Draw +280
Over/Under 2.5
Odds Analysis
Oh those tricky Sounders! You just knew that Seattle was going to figure it out at some point after a horrible start to the season. The Sounders went on a run at the end of the year, and CenturyLink Field has once again turned into a ridiculous fortress that the opposition has an insane time just trying to get out of with a point, let alone three.
That's why Seattle is favored at -125 to win this match and is the very slight favorite to ultimately advance to the MLS Cup.
The total of 2.5 with -140 vig on the under tells the tale of what should be yet another one of these gritty opening game matches of a home-and-home series.
Key Injuries
The Sounders are fighting to get back Jordan Morris and Roman Torres in the lineup. We already know that Clint Dempsey's season – and perhaps his career – is over, and if Morris isn't out there, we've got a really hard time seeing where the goals are going to be coming from for the boys from Cascadia.
Colorado isn't likely to have Shkelzen Gashi on the pitch, but the biggest problem actually had nothing to do with the Rapids themselves. Tim Howard suffered an adductor injury while playing for the U.S. National Team against Mexico and is now out for the rest of the season. That means that Zac MacMath is going to be cast back into a starting role, and that'll be an interesting storyline to watch, knowing that MacMath's struggles are what prompted the Rapids to go out and convince Howard to return to the MLS from his days at Everton.
Recent Form
Howard was such a crucial piece to the puzzle for the Rapids in dismissing the Galaxy from the conference semifinals. Colorado's prized keeper made three stops in the shootout on four attempts and ultimately helped the team move onto the conference finals. Colorado's last four games have ended with a grand total of just five goals between the two sides.
The Sounders opened up their home-and-home series with FC Dallas with a resounding 3-0 win, and they marched on from there in spite of a 2-1 loss back in Frisco. That came on the heels of a 1-0 dismissal of Sporting Kansas City and a regular season ending 2-1 win over Real Salt Lake that setup the Sounders to play that opening game at home.
Free Soccer Betting Pick
Goals are going to be hard to come by in this game for sure, especially if Morris doesn't play for the Sounders.
Our only concern with betting on the under is the fact that MacMath is going to be back in the pipes. But he's had plenty of time with the international break to get back in form with his defenders, many of which stayed behind in Colorado without any call-up duties.
We'd guess that Seattle manages to get the win in this one, but it's hard to see a circumstance in which both teams scored and one team scores more than once. The under is certainly the better of the two plays.
MLS Odds: Seattle 1, Colorado 0
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