MLS Betting – Salt Lake Ready to Romp Over Revolution
Real Salt Lake (-118) at New England Revolution (+270), Draw (+260)
The New England Revolution (5-7-7, 22 pts) aren’t having a very good season, sitting sixth in the Eastern Conference through 19 matches and boasting an MLS-worst -7 goal differential. They were able to stem a three-game losing streak last time out, though, beating Columbus 3-1. They’ll try to build a little momentum when they visit Real Salt Lake (8-5-6, 29 pts) this Saturday at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah (10:00 PM Eastern).
The Revolution had dropped points against DC United (2-0 away), Montreal Impact (3-2 away), and New York City FC (1-0 home) before the win over Columbus. There’s still ample opportunity for New England to turn things around, though. With 22 points in 19 games, they’re just two back of Toronto FC for fifth, and only five back of the third-place New York Red Bulls with a game in hand.
Playing on the road hasn’t been exactly great for the Revolution. They’ve won only one of their first nine road tilts, while drawing three and losing five. They haven’t been able to keep the ball out of their net away from home, giving up over two goals per game (22 goals against in nine matches).
That will have Real Salt Lake liking their collective chops. Salt Lake is one of the four teams in the MLS that has yet to lose at home this season, going 7-3-0 in ten fixtures at Rio Tinto Stadium. They haven’t just been eking out narrow wins, either, outscoring opponents 20-6.
They sit third in the powerful Western Conference, but will feel like they could be doing better after going winless in four straight, losing to FC Dallas (2-0 away) and the Vancouver Whitecaps (2-0 away) while recording draws against DC United (1-1 home) and the Montreal Impact (1-1 home).
There is a lot of inconsistency in the MLS this season, and these two teams epitomize that. However, Real Salt Lake’s performances at home can’t be taken lightly.
Pick: Real Salt Lake (-118).
(Photo Credit: Daniel Stalter (Flickr) [CC BY 2.0 [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0], via Wikimedia Commons)
Zack is a tour guide whose favorite sports are football, baseball, and golf. He enjoys giving obnoxious commentary during games and hopes to some day write a book about sports. His favorite underdog victory was the Diamondbacks beating the Yankees in game 7 of the World Series.
