MLS Week 8 Odds & Picks – MLS Betting Tips for Portland vs RSL, NYCFC vs TFC & More

• MLS Week 8 features 14 games spread out over Saturday and Sunday
• Last week’s MLS betting predictions record: 2-1, +0.42 units; Season Record 17-7, +7.86 units
• Read on for the odds and our best bets for the MLS Week 8 below

MLS Week 8 kicks off Saturday afternoon with a Texas Derby between FC Dallas vs Houston Dynamo, plus Philadelphia vs CF Montreal at 3:00 pm EST. There are ten games on Saturday, followed by four on Sunday.

Heading into Week 8, there are now no more undefeated teams as Philly lost to TFC last week. There is still one winless team, the San Jose Earthquakes. This resulted in one of two coach firings this week. Matias Almeyda was let go and will be replaced by Earthquakes II head coach Alex Covelo on an interim basis.

Meanwhile, a 2-0-4 start for DC, good for last place in the East, cost Hernan Losada his job as well. DC’s assistant head coach Chad Ashton moves into the role on an interim basis. So before blindly fading these two struggling teams, remember they may play different styles or possibly even benefit from the “new coach bounce”.

Read on for the odds for every MLS Week 8 game, as well as our best MLS betting predictions.

MLS Week 8 Odds

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Looking at the MLS betting lines, the biggest favorites on the board this weekend for MLS Week 8 look to be the Philadelphia Union at home to Montreal, as well as Colorado hosting Charlotte and Austin hosting Vancouver.

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Portland Timbers vs Real Salt Lake Betting Tips

In 16 combined games played this season between these teams heading into MLS Week 8, they have combined for only five wins. So it’s safe to say neither is in fantastic form.

Real Salt Lake is fresh off an embarrassing 6-0 thrashing at the hands of MLS Cup champs NYCFC last week in MLS Week 7. They are now winless in four at 3-3-2 (WDL) with 12 points on the season.

Still, that is above their opponent Portland, who is 2-4-2 with 10 points. The Timbers have just a single win in their past five, They also only have a single loss in their past four. They drew 0-0 on the road in Houston last week.

Seven goals. Six assists.

Seba's stat-line vs. RSL and other must-know facts on the Timbers' matchup this weekend.

🗒️ | https://t.co/DsRAydlJEv | #RCTID pic.twitter.com/Vjk6vxE9LR

— Portland Timbers (@TimbersFC) April 21, 2022

The teams met in the MLS Cup Playoffs back in December, which resulted in a 2-0 Portland home win. During the regular season, it was three Timbers’ wins, 3-2, 6-1 and 3-1. That playoff game notwithstanding, the previous six meetings all saw both teams scoring and at least three goals or more scored combined.

Portland is rarely held off the scoresheet at home in Providence Park. They’ve scored at least one goal in each of their past 19 home dates. The defense is not always tight though as they’ve conceded in 13 of those 19 and in three of their four home matches this season.

RSL lost in the US Open Cup 1-0 to Northern Colorado (a lower division team) on Wednesday. Coupled with last week’s loss to NYCFC and their current winless slide they are in need a bounce-back performance here. I’m betting they can at least score one goal of their own.

Pick: Both Teams to Score (-134); 1 unit

FC Cincinnati vs Los Angeles FC Prediction

It’s an inter-conference match between one of the worst teams in the East and league FC Cincinnati, and one of the best teams in the West and league, LAFC.

Cincinnati defeated Pittsburgh in the US Open Cup on Tuesday. In MLS, last weekend they drew 0-0 in Atlanta. Overall they’re 2-1-4, with just eight goals scored and 14 conceded. They’ve allowed multiple goals in three of those four losses. This could be problematic against an LAFC side who are tied for the most goals scored in the league with 17.

LAFC is 5-1-1, with 17 goals scored versus seven conceded. They’re first in the West and tied for first overall and are favorites in the MLS Cup odds. They’ll have had one extra day of rest over Cincinnati having played their US Open Cup match on Wednesday, beating Orange County 5-1. Last weekend they won 3-1 at home to Sporting Kansas City.

Sources confirm Doug's scoop: Carlos Vela and LAFC have agreed on a contract extension. Can add Vela's deal is "at least" through 2023. Will continue as a DP.

Vela, 33, has 61g/37a in 93 regular season apps with LAFC and has been the face of the club from their inaugural season. https://t.co/IUmwyUjAjN

— Tom Bogert (@tombogert) April 20, 2022

Dating back to last season LAFC has lost just twice in their past 14. One came this season versus rivals the LA Galaxy and the other was during last year’s playoffs.

This looks like it could be a trap. Even money for LAFC against this opponent sort of looks too good to be true. But while that may be, this Cincy team is still a team with just two wins in their past 19 MLS games dating back into last season. Of those 19 games, 16 are losses. Look a little further back and they have just three wins in 32 games.

LAFC is rolling right now on both sides of the ball. They rank seventh in average possession, while Cincinnati ranks 27th. LAFC ranks third in shots and second in shots on target. Steve Cherundolo’s side should control the pace of this game and create plenty of chances for the likes of Carlos Vela, Cristian Arango and Kwadwo Opoku.

Pick: LAFC to win  (+100); 1 unit

New York City FC vs Toronto FC Betting Picks

With legal Canadian sports betting launching earlier this month in Ontario, Canadian sports bettors will be able to make a bet on this MLS Week 8 match with one of many new sportsbooks in the province.

The current title-holders, NYCFC got off to a slow start this season with just one win in their first five. Then last week happened. They exploded for six goals in a thrashing of RSL. The win saw reigning Golden Boot winner Taty Castellanos record four goals.

ANOTHER ONE!

That's 4️⃣ goals today for Taty Castellanos! pic.twitter.com/otZoY8FDER

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) April 17, 2022

At 2-1-3, New York has just seven points and actually ranks behind Toronto, who are 3-2-2 with 11 points. Bob Bradley’s TFC has been slowly improving with impressive results of late. They have three wins in their past four and are undefeated in those four at 3-1-0. One came last weekend, a 2-1 win over Philadelphia. The Union was previously undefeated and had only conceded two goals in six games.

TFC’s win prior to that, came against this exact opponent on April 1, beating NYCFC 2-1 in Toronto.

New York held 58-percent of the possession and outshot Toronto 15-8 and 8-3 in attempts on goals and shots on target respectively. Toronto recorded 1.0 expected goals, while New York had 1.5.

However, it was two first-half Toronto goals that proved enough for the win. One from Jesus Jimenez and another from an own goal. New Yotk didn’t find the scoresheet until a late 92′ minute goal. Jimenez leads the team with four goals scored and looks like the best candidate for any sort of TFC goalscorer prop bet. He’s +270 odds to score anytime.

🇪🇸 Jesús Jiménez for Toronto FC so far this season:

•7 games
•4 goals
•10 shots
•5 shots on target
•1 assist

⚽🔥 Clinical finishing by TFC's new striker, despite only 1.4 shots per game. He'll be even more prolific when the team starts creating more chances.#TFCLive pic.twitter.com/n6fSCHuft2

— Total TFC (@Total_TFC) April 17, 2022

New York should be hard to keep off the scoresheet on their home ground. But Toronto is playing some good soccer right now and are likely to also get on the scoreboard. The past three meetings with these teams have seen scorelines of 2-1, 2-2, and 1-1.

One of the pros and cons to soccer betting, is that there are many options to bet versus betting an outright winner. I think both can score again here as well which will be my best MLS betting pick.

Pick: Both Teams to Score (-115); 1 unit