New York City will be hoping to close the gap on Eastern Conference leaders Philadelphia Union when they meet at Yankee Stadium in Saturday’s MLS clash.
The Blues are currently nine points adrift of top spot, although have four games in hand on the pacesetters.
Latest odds
Having won five of the previous six encounters against this opposition, they are 11/10 (2.10) favourites with 888Sport to gain some ground by coming out on top here.
Jim Curtin’s team has lost just two of their last 16 MLS fixtures, and are priced at 21/10 (3.10) to maintain their position at the top with a first ever victory at this ground.
Just one of the last 10 meetings between this pair has resulted in a draw, but there are odds of 23/10 (3.30) available on this one finishing up all square.
Team news
Ben Sweat and James Sands are both absent through injury, while Sean Johnson and Ronald Matarrit are both away on international duty.
Andre Blake and Marco Fabian are also at the Gold Cup, with Warren Creavalle and Olivier Mbaizo unavailable due to injury.
Preview
After failing to win any of their first six games of the season, Domenec Torrent’s men have finally started to slip into gear after winning five and losing none of their most recent eight – extending their unbeaten streak to 10 matches.
This has a lot to do with an attack that has averaged more than two goals per game over the last nine fixtures, hitting the net 19 times in that period.
While they will therefore back themselves to score past a Philadelphia defence that has only kept one clean sheet in nine away matches this season, although may struggle at the other end to contain the Eastern Conference’s highest-scoring forward line.
Predictions
With that in mind, odds of 8/11 (1.73) are not to be missed on over 2.5 goals being scored for New York City’s five consecutive game, and a fifth home meeting in a row versus The U.
Over 2.5 goals at 8/11 (1.73) for a 2.5pt stake with 888Sport
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