Most teams have now played 18 games in the new MLS campaign and the tables are starting to take shape. Over in the Western Conference, Sporting Kansas City sit proudly at the top with 34 points – one point ahead of Seattle Sounders in second place.
Below them in ninth are FC Dallas who are on 21 points and will be looking for a positive result when these two sides meet on Sunday. With home advantage, Dallas will be hoping to upset the odds and put their playoff aims back on track (8.30pm ET Saturday).
The primary American-facing sportsbooks are predicting a tight 90 minutes and there are some interesting odds in this tie.
While Dallas are the outside bet, the moneyline odds on all three possible results have exceeded +100 so there is some value here, providing we can make the right call. Sporting Kansas City are the clear favorites with most sportsbooks offering +150 on the home win. Victory for FC Dallas is next up at industry best odds of +177 while the draw rounds off the Moneyline picks at a general +225.
Thirteen points and eight positions separate these two franchises but outsiders FC Dallas edge the recent form guide. Over their last five matches, Luchi Gonzalez’s men have won three, drawn one and lost one and they are also unbeaten in their last four.
Over at Sporting Kansas City, the record stands at two wins, two draws and one loss. There’s not a great deal to split the teams on that basis so let’s now take a look at the players who can change the course of the match.
Dallas’ leading scorer at this stage of the season is Ricardo Pepi who has eight goals in 17 matches. At the age of just 18, Pepi looks to have a big future ahead of him based on that impressive start.
Over in Kansas, a twin strike-force has taken Sporting KC to the top of the table. Hungarian center forward Daniel Salloi has ten goals in 17 games while his Mexican teammate Alan Pulido isn’t far behind with seven from 13.
Pulido carries the shortest odds in the first goalscorer market at +500 but it’s a figure that he shares with Franco Jara. Dallas’ Argentine striker Jara may be the joint favorite to open the scoring but he has found the net just three times in 18 games so far this season.
Moving through the props and Both Teams to Score is available for Sunday at an industry best of -160. It’s a market that generally attracts lower prices but that looks a little too short this time. As an alternative, you may want to look at the Total Goals lines where a top price of -130 is in place to go Over 2.5.
There’s nothing to get excited about just yet but if we push that a little higher to Over 3.5 combined goals, the odds climb above +100 to a general +175.
The stats here offer an indication as to where we should be looking. In those ten combined games that we used for our form guide, Dallas and Kansas have scored a total of 18 goals. The Both Teams to Score bet would have dropped in on six occasions or 60% of the time.
There have been some higher scoring matches in that period but those figures suggest that we may not see too many goals on Sunday. With that in mind, a 1-1 draw will attract some interest in the Correct Score market and this is quoted at an average of around +550.
Alternatively, a 2-1 win for Sporting Kansas City is listed at +9000 in most places while the same price is quoted for the same outcome in favor of FC Dallas.
Our Betting Preview’s FC Dallas v SKC Predictions & MLS Game Picks Verdict
We have covered a number of tight games which have proved to be low scoring recently and this encounter could follow a similar pattern. There may be a gap in the table but there’s little to separate Dallas and Sporting KC as far as recent form is concerned.
What we have identified is a good set of strikers in productive form for their respective teams. Franco Jara may be misfiring but Pulido, Salloi and Pepi are all in good touch. Speaking of Daniel Salloi, he is out to +600 in the first goalscorer market and that seems a good value figure with the favorites starting at +500.
Between those players, they should combine to go Over the 3.5 goal line and we expect Kansas to edge it. Current form may be close but SKC have been more consistent over the season and we’re therefore backing the away win. So these are the betting predictions for this MLS matchup preview:
- Sporting Kansas City to win on the moneyline @ a best of +165 with BetOnline.
- Over 3.5 goals @ +175 with Intertops. It is next best at +170 with Bovada.
- Daniel Salloi to score the first goal @ +600 with Bovada or Intertops.
Matt Harris is a golf and soccer expert for USA Betting. His other area of specialist knowledge is cricket. He is well known in sports journalism and contributes articles to a plethora of big-name websites and media outlets. Titles that he writes or has written for include: Betfair, BetVictor, Unibet & Just Bookies.