MLS Week 9 Odds & Picks Sept 2: Atlanta United vs Inter Miami, Houston Dynamo vs Minnesota United & More

• A full midweek slate of matches take place this week in MLS Week 9, with 11 games on Wednesday night
• Will goals be on display when ex-Loon Darwin Quintero faces his old team now as a member of the Dynamo
• Read on for the odds and best bets from the midweek slate of games below

Toronto and Montreal kicked off MLS Week 9 midweek play last night with the Impact snapping an 18-match regular season undefeated streak for TFC. The rest of the midweek slate resumes tonight with a heavy schedule 11 matches.

We preview some of tonight’s top matches with our best bets here.

MLS Week 9 – Sept 2 Odds

All odds taken  Sept. 1

Pick 1: Atlanta United vs Inter Miami

Wednesday begins with a 7:00 pm EST kick-off between eighth-place Atlanta and 14th-place Inter Miami.

David Beckham’s Miami may be in the basement of the Eastern Conference but it’s Atlanta who may be struggling even more right now. After narrow wins over Nashville and Cincinnati to start the year, they lost all three group stage matches at the MLS is Back tournament, scoring zero goals, which prompted the firing of head coach Frank de Boer.

They returned to play with a 2-0 win over Nashville but fell back into the loss column with a 3-1 defeat to Orlando on the weekend. Atlanta now only has wins over the expansion Nashville SC and last year’s worst team, FC Cincinnati.

Inter Miami and Atlanta United stand together in solidarity as they boycott their match tonight. pic.twitter.com/AuJDSbNvQ1

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) August 27, 2020

That may bode well at home on Wednesday to another expansion team in Inter Miami who have just one win on the year themselves. That came in their home opener on August 22 against Orlando. However, they too came back down to earth in a 1-0 road defeat to Nashville on Sunday. Miami could’ve found themselves down by more if not for a Nashville missed PK, however, they did hold the advantage in possession, attempts (19-5) and shots on target.

On paper, Atlanta at home should win. But they’ve been a mess so far and won’t have their typical fan support. If Pity Martinez doesn’t have a big game, where the goals come from right now for The Five Stripes is anyone’s guess. A full-time draw could be in the cards, but I’ll simply bet on a cagey start between these two and bank on a stalemate at the half.

Pick: Halftime draw (+130)

Pick 2: Houston Dynamo vs Minnesota United

It’s an 8:00 pm EST kick-off between Houston (11th) and Minnesota (3rd) in the Western Conference Wednesday night.

Despite the vast difference in current positions in the table, it’s arguably the Dynamo who are on a better run of recent form. Houston has just one win on the season, but it came in their last matchup a week ago Tuesday in a 5-2 thumping of Sporting Kansas City.

Houston was up 3-1 just 48 minutes into the match, while ex-Loon Darwin Quintero scored two second-half goals. Quintero will face his old team tonight and will surely be looking to extend his scoring streak.

One win doesn’t sound like a great accomplishment, and it isn’t. But they’ve also lost just once in their past five, a 2-1 loss to MLS is Back champions Portland during the tournament, along with three draws.

Darwin Quintero appreciation post. https://t.co/XUKdCWqPkT

— Pete Mackin (@PeteMackin8) August 26, 2020

The Loons’ lofty spot near the top of the West comes from a strong start to the year with two wins back in March, to go with a win and two draws during the group stage of MLS is Back. But after losing to Orlando in the playoffs of the tournament, they’ve now dropped back-to-back results since restarting with 2-1 and 3-1 losses to SKC and Dallas respectively. Allowing three goals to Dallas is especially concerning considering FCD had failed to score a single goal in their three previous matches.

But allowing goals has been the norm for Minnesota this season, despite a much-improved defensive approach last season. Counting all ten competitions, Minnesota has conceded in nine of them so far but has also scored in the same number. A 0-0 draw to RSL was the lone outlier. Minnesota has conceded eight goals in their past three (counting the tournament) and four-straight have gone OVER 2.5.

While it may be unlikely we see the Argentine this early, Minnesota made a splash this week by signing their third designated player in Boca Juniors’ midfielder Emanuel Reynoso. He’s already been quarantining in the US and has received his International Transfer Certificate so is eligible to play. Whenever he joins his new club, “Bebelo” will likely slot in at the No. 10 spot and will be expected to instantly improve the Loons’ attack.

"I'm here to give it my all, to work hard so we can accomplish great things at this great club"

A sit down with the man himself ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/REBPYd2fEZ

— Minnesota United FC (@MNUFC) September 1, 2020

Houston hasn’t been much better defensively having conceded in six of their seven overall matches while scoring in five.

Last season the teams each won at home in MLS play (MIN 1-0 and HOU 2-0) while the teams played to a 3-2 Minnesota win in the US Open Cup.

Neither has been strong defensively of late, the Dynamo are full of confidence after potting five goals and Minnesota coach Adrian Heath stated the Dallas defeat was the most disappointed he’s been with his team in two years. They’ll be ready to go and we should see some goals on Tuesday.

Pick: Both teams to score / over 2.5 goals (-125)

Pick 3: Parlay

I love backing goals in MLS and here are two matches, both with late kickoffs where I think we should see a few.

Portland Timbers vs LA Galaxy

MLS is Back champs Portland Timbers have been impressive with their tournament win and also in only suffering two defeats this year. One to start the season (3-1 to MIN) and one when the regular season resumed (3-0 to SEA). With Sebastian Blanco, Jeremy Ebobisse, Diego Valeri and Jaroslaw Niezgoda they have plenty of firepower and the team has scored 11 goals in their past five matches.

They’ve also conceded ten goals in those same five matches. Their latest result was a 4-4 draw on Saturday to RSL where they coughed up a 4-2 lead in the final minutes conceding goals in the 90′ and 94′ minutes.

The Galaxy were dreadful at MLS is Back with two losses and a draw. But they emerged from the tournament with an impressive 2-0 win over rivals LAFC and a 3-2 win in the Cali Classico over San Jose. They’ve still been without Chicharito with a calf injury (he’s apparently nearing a return), but Christian Pavon has been strong and Sebastian Lletget has goals in back-to-back games.

In three regular season meetings last season these teams saw results of 2-1 (LA), 4-0 (POR) and 2-1 (POR). The Timbers were also 4-0 winners in the US Open Cup. Portland has shown this season they can score but can’t keep the ball out of their own net, as 9/11 overall matches have seen both teams scoring and also 9/11 have gone OVER 2.5.

Pick: Both teams to score (-225)

LAFC vs San Jose Earthquakes 

The Earthquakes were winless to start the year prior to the shutdown, drawing 2-2 and losing 5-2. At MLS is Back they went undefeated in the group stage, before bowing out to Minnesota in the quarterfinals. In five tournament matches, they scored 12 while conceding nine.

A month between the tournament and the restart saw them lose their captain, Magnus Eriksson (return to Sweden), but come out strong against the Galaxy before eventually falling to defeat. San Jose led 1-0 and 2-1 in their 3-2 loss.

San Jose typically holds the bulk of possession in games but so too do their opponents LAFC. Something will have to give on Wednesday when these two meet.

For LAFC, you can rarely count them to be off the scoreboard. They tallied 16 goals in five MLS is Back matches, but also allowed nine. They were shockingly held off the scoresheet in a 2-0 loss to the Galaxy before suffering another setback in a 3-1 loss to Seattle on Sunday night.

The loss of players like Carlos Vela and Eduard Atuesta (injury) and CB Walker Zimmerman (trade) are starting to show for Bob Bradley’s Supporters’ Shield winning side.

It’s hard to not see them scoring at home and bouncing back after two defeats, but they’ve also conceded in 8/9 overall matches this year.

Pick: Both teams to score (-225)

Parlay: (+108)