MLS Week 14 Odds & Picks: Portland Timbers vs LAFC, Austin FC vs Seattle Sounders & More

• MLS Week 14 sees the league right back in action for midweek play with games on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday
• The Seattle Sounders finally suffered their first defeat of the season last weekend
• Read on for the odds and our best bets from MLS Week 14

The page has just turned on MLS Week 13 and another round of fixtures are set to kick off in midweek as MLS Week 14 features 13 matches from Tuesday-Thursday.

Two teams will have a little extra rest for this round as the match between the Red Bulls and Inter Miami was postponed this past weekend. Others, like Houston, Austin and Sporting KC were simply off on the weekend but are back in action this round.

Let’s look ahead to the odds and best bets from the MLS Week 14 schedule below.

MLS Week 14 Odds

Odds as of July 20 at DraftKings

Inter Miami vs New England Revolution Prediction

At 7:30 pm EST Inter Miami will be hosting New England on MLS Week 14.

Miami is dead last in the East and MLS as a whole. They entered the weekend on a five-game losing streak and nothing changed. Their match against the New York Red Bulls was postponed due to inclement weather. So Miami will be the fresher side for this midweek clash, but that’s about where the advantages end.

24 hours till we welcome New England Revolution to #DRVPNKStadium for the first time! ⏰#MIAvNE | WED 7:30PM | My33, Unimás, #InterMiamiCF App pic.twitter.com/enIQ9b1HZv

— Inter Miami CF (@InterMiamiCF) July 20, 2021

They’re the only MLS side to have yet to score double-digit goals (9) on the year. They’re tied for the fewest expected goals (xG) at 11.4 with Columbus. They have the fewest attempts in the league at just 100, which is 24 less than the next worst team (Vancouver) with 124. Those two teams are also 26th-27th in shots on target with Vancouver at 40 and Miami at 39.

Defensively, giving up 17 goals in 11 matches with an expected goal against (xGA) of 15.4 is certainly not the worst in the league, but it’s not great either.

Adam Buksa was asked about appearing in every match since the beginning of last season and it’s definitely a point of pride for him #NERevs pic.twitter.com/5yZrasJLNu

— Sam Minton (@Sam_Minton22) July 15, 2021

Miami holds the second-lowest average possession in the league at 43.8-percent, so it should be expected that Carles Gil and co. will be controlling the play in this match. Possession isn’t everything, but the Revs have the fourth-most attacking third touches in the league and with the firepower they possess it should only be a matter of when and not if they find the back of the Miami net.

Miami have just a single goal in their past five and expecting that to change against a stingy Revolution side that gives up just the fifth-fewest shots on target in the league, seems unlikely. Plus-money for a Revs win looks like a good bet.

Pick: New England Win (+130)

Portland Timbers vs LAFC Prediction

Seventh place Portland hosts fifth-place LAFC at 10:30 pm EST Wednesday in MLS Week 14.

The Timbers were winless in three prior to Saturday’s 1-0 home win over FC Dallas. They’ve now won four of six at home, while only conceding five goals at Providence Park.

After a slow start to 2021, Bob Bradley’s LAFC are starting to heat up with wins in three straight and four of five. On Saturday, they were home to Real Salt Lake. The scoring started early with each team scoring in the opening 18 minutes, with LAFC finally bagging a winner with a fantastic strike from Carlos Vela in the 79′ minute. Despite the close score, it was an onslaught of LAFC attacks all match. LAFC held a huge advantage in attempts (29-3) and shots on target (9-2).

Carlos. Vela. Golazo. 😱

That's the tweet. pic.twitter.com/U8k4fp6v2Y

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) July 18, 2021

These teams have met nine times since LAFC joined the league and in eight of those, both teams have scored. In six of those, at least three goals have been scored overall as well. However, their past two meetings have ended in 1-1 draws.

At home, Portland has scored in five of six, while conceding in four of six.

LAFC has allowed a goal in four of six road matches, while they’ve also scored in five of those six road dates.

Both teams should score in this one (-185) but you’ll find better value with at least one side finding a second as well.

Pick: Both Teams to Score & Over 2.5 Goals (-138 at Bet365)

Austin FC vs Seattle Sounders Prediction

MLS Week 14 midweek action comes to a close on Thursday night at 9:30 pm EST when Austin FC hosts league-leading Seattle.

As one of the earlier mentioned teams who were off this past weekend, Austin FC will be the more rested side on Thursday. They’ve been off since losing 2-0 at home to LAFC on July 7. That second goal didn’t come until late though, so the match was closer than the score may look.

Austin has three wins on the season, however, only one of those has come in the past ten. That was two matches ago against Portland in a 4-1 win. Otherwise, their matches have been very low-scoring with eight of those ten all totaling less than three goals. One such match came in an earlier meeting with these same Sounders, a 0-0 draw in Seattle on May 21.

It took 14 matches, but the Seattle Sounders are unbeaten no more #MLS https://t.co/gUzaimp1Kw

— SI Soccer (@si_soccer) July 18, 2021

For Seattle, the talk of breaking records for an undefeated run have come to an end. After 13 matches undefeated, they finally fell in defeat to Minnesota (1-0) on Saturday.

Seattle still sits tops in MLS with 29 points but now has just a single win in their past four.

No team in the league has played to more UNDERs than Austin, sitting at 10-3 to under 2.5 totals. But the Sounders aren’t that far behind at 8-5 to the UNDER. Only Minnesota (9-4) and Philadelphia (9-5) have played to more.

The pressure of staying undefeated is now off for Seattle and sometimes after a streak like that, teams fall back just a little. Austin plays games close and Seattle knows they have three upcoming home games to get back on track.

This could be another draw between these teams, or a low-scoring affair.

Pick: Draw (+255), Under 2.5 (+105)