There aren’t many teams hotter than Orlando City SC. The Lions have been fantastic over the last month, shooting up the standings. Orlando City was winless through three games, but after four straight wins they are now sitting in third-place in the Eastern Conference.
They will be heading out of the Eastern time zone for the first time this season this weekend though. Orlando City will be facing the Colorado Rapids, a team that has yet to lose at home.
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MLS Betting Odds at BookMaker.eu
Orlando City SC +244
Colorado Rapids +101
Draw +267
Over/Under 2.5 and 3
Odds Analysis
I always seem to mention this here, but it’s important to note. Home field advantage means a ton in the MLS. It means more here than it does in any other leagues. There are a number of guesses for why this is, but the numbers play out. As such, Colorado is almost an odds-on favorite on the three-way line despite having a much worse record than Orlando City here.
Recent Form
The return of Dom Dwyer has been everything for Orlando City. The club gave up a lot to pick up the star player from Sporting KC last year, and he has lived up to the expectations. He missed the first few matches of the season, but the Lions have been on fire since he has returned. They have won four straight and are lighting up the scoreboard too. The club has found the back of the net 12 times in that stretch, with Dwyer accounting for five of those goals.
Colorado has had mixed results. At home, the Rapids are unbeaten. They are 2-1-0 with a win over Toronto and a draw against Western Conference leading Sporting KC. Away from the Mile High City, things aren’t nearly as rosy. They are 0-2-2 on the road.
Key Absences
Both clubs have some injuries to report coming into this game. For the Rapids, the club is still without starting defender Kortne Ford. Ford went down with an MCL sprain in his left knee in the season opener and is ruled out until mid-May.
Colorado is a little more hopeful with regards to the availability of defender Marlon Hairston. Hairston had minor surgery on his knee at the beginning of April and it was expected he would miss two to three weeks. It doesn’t sound like he has recovered enough to play in this game, but he has not been ruled out yet.
The Lions are dealing with injuries too. Orlando City has had some major issues at the back, even during their winning streak, and they won’t have much depth in this match either.
Defenders Scott Sutter and Jonathan Spector have both been declared out. Sutter is suffering from an undisclosed lower body injury, while Spector was concussed recently and has yet to be cleared to return. Defender R.J. Allen is considered questionable. Like Sutter, he is also dealing with an undisclosed lower body injury after leaving a match against Philadelphia two weeks ago.
Free Soccer Betting Pick
Colorado is going to be playing this game without starting goalkeeper Tim Howard. Howard picked up a red card for handling a ball outside the box in the team’s last match against Real Salt Lake, and he is serving a one-game suspension because of the transgression. Zac MacMath will be starting in his stead. MacMath is a veteran back-up and won’t perform poorly.
Despite this, the over is still a great play. Both teams are dealing with injuries along the back line and each team has quite a bit of talent on the offensive end.
Major League Soccer Odds: Colorado Rapids 3, Orlando City SC 2
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