The inaugural 32-team Club World Cup has come and gone, with Chelsea besting Paris Saint-Germain in the final to lift the trophy. While there were some ups and downs, the tournament was generally considered to be a success overall and raised the stature of soccer in the United States, especially with the MLS’ Inter Miami knocking off Porto to advance to the knockout stages.
Miami also received $21.05 million in prize money, including $4.7 million paid out to players after the MLS Players Association agreed to a deal allowing players to split up to 30% of the prize money awarded for performance in the Club World Cup.
Now, with the world’s best back on their respective continents, the MLS’ best are back to domestic play. The regular season will continue tonight with a 14-game slate.
Football fans can make bets every match at DraftKings Sportsbook. Here are my favorites from this evening’s slate.
First, let’s take a look at the full list of fixtures:
Chicago Fire FC at Atlanta United FC, 4:30 p.m. ET
D.C. United at Charlotte FC, 4:30 p.m. ET
Inter Miami CF at FC Cincinnati, 4:30 p.m. ET
New England Revolution at New York Red Bulls, 4:30 p.m. ET
New York City FC at Orlando City SC, 4:30 p.m. ET
CF Montréal at Philadelphia Union, 4:30 p.m. ET
Vancouver Whitecaps at Houston Dynamo FC, 5:30 p.m. ET
LAFC at Minnesota United FC, 5:30 p.m. ET
Columbus Crew at Nashville SC, 5:30 p.m. ET
Colorado Rapids at Seattle Sounders FC, 7 p.m. ET
Austin FC at LA Galaxy, 7:30 p.m. ET
Real Salt Lake at Portland Timbers, 7:30 p.m. ET
Toronto FC at San Diego FC, 7:30 p.m. ET
FC Dallas at San Jose Earthquakes, 7:30 p.m. ET
Lionel Messi to Score Two or More Goals (+500)
Though Inter Miami found itself outmatched in the Round of 16 during the Club World Cup, there’s no shame in not being able to beat the European champions. Encouragingly, the 38-year-old Messi proved himself still to be more than capable of competing against the best players in the world, as his game-winning free kick against Porto proved to be one of the most memorable goals of the tournament. He’s now scored a brace in each of his last five MLS games, and it doesn’t seem like anyone not named Gianluigi Donnarumma is capable of stopping him. Recording a brace in six straight games is rare — only 2011-12 Messi, arguably the greatest player to ever live, has accomplished that feat in any league.
His odds are low both because of the magnitude of the feat and Cincinnati’s talent level. The Ohio-based side sit second in the Eastern Conference with 42 points after 22 games, and they’ve lost just twice in 12 home matches. Their defensive talent is solid; 26-year-old Dane Lukas Engel ranks in the 92nd percentile in blocks, clearances and interceptions per 90 minutes, and both DeAndre Yedlin and Miles Robinson have caps for the United States Men’s National Team. But Cincinnati has still been exploitable, giving up the sixth-most goals and third-most expected goals in the Eastern Conference.
Matt Freese 4+ Saves (-110)
Though the United States lost the CONCACAF Gold Cup final to bitter rivals Mexico, it appears to have found its goalkeeper of the future. Freese was tremendous throughout the Gold Cup, recording 10 saves across the semifinals and final alone and keeping the team in the competition in the quarterfinal penalty shootout against Costa Rica. Sure, the 26-year-old conceded a pair of goals against El Tri in the final, but the game wouldn’t have been remotely close without him.
He had a rough first game back in domestic play against Charlotte on Sunday, making just one save from three shots on target, but I expect him to bounce back tonight. NYCFC should be tested heavily by Orlando, which has had the second-most potent attack in the Eastern Conference by both goals and expected goals. The Lions have a tremendous forward partnership of Marco Pašalić and Martín Ojeda, each of whom have netted 10 goals this season, so Freese should have enough opportunities to post more gaudy numbers than he did against a lesser Charlotte attack.
Denis Bouanga 5+ Shots (+100)
Bouanga didn’t necessarily star at the Club World Cup as much as some fans would’ve hoped for after his game winner propelled LAFC into the tournament in the first place. He had all three of his shots saved by Chelsea’s Robert Sánchez and gave Espérance Sportive de Tunis a gift by slinging a penalty straight into the dive of Bechir Ben Saïd, securing LAFC’s elimination after just two matches. By the time he finally netted against Flamengo, it was already too late, as the Brazilian giants topped the group with a draw.
But domestically, the Gabonese international is still a star. He’s scored 10 goals this season in just 19 matches — LAFC still has two matches in hand over any other team in the Western Conference, thanks to its participation in the Club World Cup — and he’s tied with Messi for the most total shot attempts in the league. He should be just fine against Minnesota United, a team that, despite sitting second in the West, tends to play a heavily defensive 5-3-2 or 5-4-1 formation and has controlled possession just once in the league this season. They’ve allowed an above-average number of total shots per 90 minutes.
Austin FC Moneyline (+255)
Prior to the Club World Cup, there were several murmurings about Inter Miami being the United States’ representative as host nation, given that LA Galaxy ended up winning the MLS Cup last season. But this season, the Galaxy have been horrible, sitting dead last in the Western Conference on 15 points even after winning each of their past two matches. 36-year-old Marco Reus has made his presence felt, with 11 goal contributions in 16 appearances, but the rest of the Galaxy squad simply hasn’t done enough. They didn’t pick up a single win until the 17th match of the season and have allowed the most goals in the Western Conference while scoring the fourth-fewest.
It’s not like Austin is a great side; it has taken just one point from its last two matches and has had by far the least potent attack in the MLS. Still, Los Verdes have compensated with an elite defense, allowing just 23 goals, the second-fewest in the league. They’ve also been slightly better on the road than Galaxy have been at home, with 10 points in 11 matches away. Austin is clearly the better side, even with LA’s improvement in form, which makes the +255 odds extremely appealing.
