The Eastern Conference Semifinals will conclude this Sunday, and the two New York clubs are looking to make it an all-Gotham affair. However, both teams lost their first leg 1-0, and both clubs need to grab wins in the second leg to advance. The New York Red Bulls played pretty level with the Columbus Crew despite their loss and the winners of the Supporter’s Shield are still in good shape to advance. However, the same can’t be said about New York City FC, as NYCFC lost 1-0 at home to Atlanta United and now need to pick up a road win to stay alive.
MLS Betting at BookMaker.eu
Columbus Crew +359
New York Red Bulls -142
Draw +294
Over/Under 2.5 and 3
Coming into this match, the New York Red Bulls are banged up, but what else is new? The Red Bulls have overcome injuries all season long, and they finished atop the regular season standings despite losing five players to season-ending injuries. Defender Kyle Duncan was lost for the year in March, and midfielders Florian Valot, Vincent Bezecourt, Ben Mines, and defender Tommy Redding were gone in July and August. They may also be without midfielder Marc Rzatkowski, who is questionable, but they have been able to improvise and win throughout the year. Meanwhile, Columbus won’t have midfielder Mike Grella and may be without midfielder Niko Hansen as well.
In the first meeting between these two teams, it was Federico Higuain who proved to be the difference maker. Higuain came off the bench at the start of the second half after playing all 120 minutes and scoring two goals for Columbus in their win over DC United a few days before, and he provided the spark the Crew needed. In the 61st minute, he deftly set up Gyasi Zardes with a delightful backheel pass and Zardes hammered home to put Columbus ahead. He was the best player on the field in the second half, and Columbus will need him to create once more.
The Red Bulls will ask the same of Bradley Wright-Phillips. Wright-Phillips didn’t make too much of an impact last time around, but he is the team’s main offensive weapon. He fired in 20 goals and added eight assists this season, and he is out to lead the Red Bulls to a double.
Take the under in this one. The Red Bulls defend well, and they will be cautious since the Crew only need one goal to make their job much more difficult. We should see a contained, controlled game as a result.
New York City FC +343
Atlanta United -136
Draw +289
Over/Under 3
The defensive performance of Atlanta United last week was pretty incredible considering the injuries the club had in the back line. Defenders Sal Zizzo, Mikey Ambrose, and Chris McCann, along with forward Brandon Vazquez and midfielder Andrew Carleton, missed last match and they will miss this match too.
Despite that, Atlanta United were able to hold NYCFC without a single shot on net Sunday. Captain Michael Parkhurst was a big reason for that, as his play helped blunt the NYCFC attack. Parkhurst is a great leader as a center back, and he has directed traffic well in front of his net. He has been good at marking and his positioning has been solid too.
That will make things difficult for NYCFC, but they can’t afford to come up short again. David Villa has helped lead this team to the Eastern Conference Semifinals in each of the last three times, but they are on the verge of crashing out there for the third straight year. They will also be without defender Cedric Hountondji for this match.
Any result will do for Atlanta United to advance, and I love their chances at getting a win here. The defense has been solid, and Josef Martinez has been sensational, so I see the combination proving to be too much for NYCFC.
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