MLS: Atlanta United vs. New England Revolution Betting Preview, Odds, News, Prediction

Atlanta United hosts the New England Revolution in the opening match of Major League Soccer‘s round 14. Things haven’t been that great for the Five Stripes, who are sitting outside the playoff zone, and now have to win to reach the same. On the other side, the Revs are topping the Eastern conference, with 24 points in 13 games, but feel a lot of heat coming from behind, as Orlando City bids to take over their place. Neither team played really well in the recent few weeks, which makes this match even more interesting.

Preview

Atlanta United (+165) has had numerous problems with absent players and plays awfully in the last several weeks. Their latest match in Nashville, 2-2, was the first one in which United scored after three straight. Overall, in the past 10 contests, the Five Stripes have just one victory, and that was all the way back in mid-May, beating Monreal at home, 1-0.

Apart from that, Gabriel Heinze’s squad has seven draws and two defeats, which is way under the expected. In 12 MLS games this year, Atlanta posted two wins, seven draws, and three losses, having a negative goal difference, 13-15.

United has three players called up for the Gold Cup and a couple more injured, which severely impacts their performances. We’ll talk more about that in the Latest News paragraph.

New England Revolution (+140) has a superb run of five wins in a row, but lately, they’ve lost the pace, not triumphing in three consecutive matches, losing two during that stretch.

This team plays very efficient contests, and the previous five all ended with both teams to score and over 2.5 goals. Furthermore, four of those events were with four or more goals which is a clear indicator that Bruce Arena’s team likes to entertain the crowd.

The Revs, too have certain problems with injuries and Gold Cup call-ups, which is the main reason for a massive slowdown in the past three weeks.

Latest News

Three United players are on international duty, goalkeeper Brad Guzan, Miles Robinson, and George Bello, both defenders. Midfielder Emerson Hyndman injured his crucial ligaments, and he is out the same as Mo Adams, who damaged his quadriceps. Defender Alex DeJohn fractured the left elbow and is too ruled out for quite some time.

Luis Caicedo is not available for Revolution because of a leg injury, while Tajon Buchanan plays for Canada at the Gold Cup. Matt Turner starts for the US team at the same competition.

Head to Head Games

The two sides met in early May this year in Foxborough, and the Revs posted a 2-1 win, which was their first-ever against this opponent. Bye and Gil scored a goal each for the hosts, while Moreno added the only one for the guests.

Prediction

Since both teams have problems in defense, Atlanta with injured and absent, and the Revolution with consistency, our first pick for this match is over 2.5 goals with the current odds sitting at -125. If you add both teams to score and over 2.5 goals, the odds are even better – +105.

Pick: Over 2.5 goals -125