Major League Soccer Betting Tips from our Experts
MLS BETTING TIPS 2021
Betting on the MLS is always an exciting opportunity - between the regular season, the playoffs and the MLS Cup, there’s plenty of action due to take place over the course of the season.
Major League Soccer (MLS) sees teams from both America and Canada (mainly America) battling it out in two conferences and then the MLS Cup play-offs. The 2021 MLS season begins on April 17 with the regular season running until November 7. Twelve days later the play-offs begin with the MLS Cup Final taking place on December 11. This is the latest the MLS season has finished.
The 2020 season was a stop-start affair as was the case with many leagues around the world. Just two sets of fixtures were played before the decision was taken to suspend the season. July 8 saw the MLS Is Back competition held with some games counting towards the league tables. When the MLS regular season did resume, not all the fixtures were able to be played so the percentage points gained per game was used to decide the final tables. Philadelphia Union won the Eastern Conference and Sporting Kansas City topped the Western Conference. It was Columbus Crew who went on to win the MLS Cup in the play-offs, beating Seattle Sounders 3-0.
Two new teams joined the MLS last season, there's a new one in 2021 too. Both Nashville SC and Inter Miami reached the play-offs last season. Austin FC are the new recruits this year and will play in the Western Conference. That means this season there's 14 teams in the Western Conference and 13 in the Eastern.
As is the case in many sports - especially American ones - there is a regular season and then teams qualify to play in the play-offs leading up to the MLS Cup Final. The team with the best regular season record wins the Supporter's Shield. This was won by Philadelphia Union in the 2020 season.
The top seven in each of the conferences qualify for the play-offs. The conference winners automatically go into the play-off semi-finals. Each conference crowns its champion and the two meet in the MLS Cup. Not since 2012 has a team won the MLS Cup two years in a row, that was LA Galaxy, can Columbus Crew do it this year?
MLS: THE STATISTICS TO KNOW
A look at how the previous MLS season went can be helpful when trying to decide how the 2021 season will progress. Statistics can be of great help to you when trying to decide what to bet on. For example, teams on good runs, those struggling to get results, sides that are scoring lots of goals and those who are wondering where the next one is going to come from. All of this helps you decide who to back on markets such as both teams to score, under/over goals and first/last/anytime goalscorers. here are ten top stats about the 2020 MLS season.
- There was an average of 2.86 goals scored in each MLS game, -0.18 compared to the 2019 season.
- Both teams scored in 57% of MLS games last season.
- 47% of games were won by the home side, 24% were draws and 29% away wins.
- 58% of matches had under 2.5 goals scored in them.
- A bet on under 2.5 goals in the first half would have won in 87% of bets made.
- Cincinatti only scored one goal in the first half hour of their matches last season.
- Columbus Crew won the MLS Cup but didn't score in the first 15 minutes of a game with no goals by either side at home in that time period.
- 63.6% of goals scored by Chicago Fire in the 2020 MLS season came in the first half.
- In the Western Conference, Los Angeles FC had the best home record but the worst one on the road.
- Neither Vancouver Whitecaps or Cincinnati FC drew an away game last season.
Sporting Kansas City have won the Western Conference regular season twice in the last three years. The last team to retain the title was FC Dallas in 2016. Not since LA Galaxy in 2011, have the regular season champions gone on to win the MLS Cup. Seattle Sounders have only once won the regular season, that was in 2014. However, they come alive when the play-offs arrive and have won the Western Conference play-offs for four of the past five seasons.
In the Eastern Conference, Philadelphia Union won the regular season for the first time since the MLS began. The last team to retain the title were New York Red Bulls in 2016. Toronto FC were the last team to win the conference and then go on to win the MLS Cup. The past four seasons has produced a different winner of the Eastern Conference play-offs, won last season by Columbus Crew.
These are the kind of statistics that can produce winning tips. Our betting experts will be previewing matches throughout the 2021 MLS season, all the way to the MLS Cup Final in December. Hopefully, they will supply you with plenty of winners.
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