Sporting Kansas City (5 wins, 12 losses, 5 draws) will welcome LAFC (13-4-3) to Children’s Mercy Park Saturday. Kickoff is set for 8:30 p.m. ET. Below, we preview the Sporting Kansas City vs. LAFC odds and lines, and make our best MLS bets, picks and predictions.
LAFC, with the recent debut of F Gareth Bale and D Giorgio Chiellini, are at full strength and could be the best team in MLS history. F Cristian Arango leads the team in scoring with 8 goals on the season.
They’ve won 6 of their last 8 matches but are just 1-1-1 on the road over that stretch. LAFC has had fewer expected goals in 2 of its last 3 matches as well.
Sporting KC has been among the conference’s disappointments. They sit in 14th place. Sporting has lost 5 of their last 8 matches and have lost 3 straight at home.
Through 60 combined matches played, F Johnny Russell and F Dániel Sallói combined for 31 goals a season ago. Those numbers are at 38 and 10 so far this season, so Sporting’s attack hasn’t been nearly as dominant.
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Sporting Kansas City vs. LAFC odds, lines, picks and predictions
Odds provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated 11:30 a.m. ET.
- Money line: Sporting KC +245 (bet $100 to win $245) | LAFC +107 (bet $100 to win $107) | Draw +260
- Over/Under: 2.5 (O: -125 | U: +100)
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Prediction
LAFC 3, Sporting KC 1
Money line (ML)
BET LAFC +107.
The best team against the worst team in the West for a plus-money value is a play I’ll take every time. While LAFC’s road play is concerning, the same can be said for Sporting at home.
Sporting also has a US Open Cup semifinal match Wednesday in the back of its mind, so who knows how it will look personnel-wise.
Sporting has scored a league-low 19 goals and allowed 38. On the other hand, LAFC has the most potent attack in the MLS and should be able to abuse a weak backline.
Put it all together, and I’ll take LAFC +107 to win outright.
Over/Under (O/U)
BET OVER 2.5 (-125).
LAFC and its opponent has combined for under 2.5 expected goals just 3 times this season. That means it has been expected to be at or top this total in 17 matches.
Similarly, Sporting has topped this total in 5 of its last 7 and has scored 3 goals in its last 3 games, which is a positive sign for a side with significant scoring trouble.
LAFC won 3-1 when these teams met in March. There were a combined 25 shots in that match. With Bale in the lineup and LAFC having topped 2.5 in 12 of 20, the OVER 2.5 (-125) seems like a strong play.
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