David Flower
Dailysports's expert
Vancouver Whitecaps
Chicago Fire FC
One of the matches of the upcoming MLS round will be played on Sunday at BC Place, where local team Vancouver will host Chicago Fire. I suggest betting on the outcome of this clash with a good odds.
Match preview
Vancouver finished eighth in the Western Conference last season and passed Portland Timbers in the first round of the playoffs. However, Los Angeles FC proved too strong for the Canadian team. This new season, the team has started excellently and currently holds the top spot in the West after 4 rounds.
The team hasn't dropped a single point and approaches the match against Chicago Fire with a 100% record. In the last round, Vancouver played an away game against Dallas and secured a narrow 1-0 victory. The only goal was scored by Blackmon in the 54th minute.
Meanwhile, Chicago Fire prefers to forget last MLS season as a nightmare. The team finished the regular season in last place, trailing the top ten teams by 10 points. The start of the new season wasn't much better, with only one point from two matches.
However, in the last two games, the team delighted their fans and took maximum points. First, they defeated Dallas away (3-1), and in the last round, Gregg Berhalter's team also won away against Canadian Toronto (2-1). The "Men in Red" conceded first in the 11th minute but managed to score twice by halftime.
Probable lineups
- Vancouver: Takaoka, Ocampo, Blackmon, Veselinovic, Laborda, Cubas, Ngando, Berhalter, Pedro, White, Ahmed
- Chicago Fire: Brady, Dean, Rogers, Elliot, Gutman, Gutierrez, Orgel, Pineda, Zikernagel, Kuijpers, Bamba
Match facts and head-to-head
- Two seasons ago, the teams exchanged away victories
- The "Both teams to score" bet won in three out of five matches
- The "Over 2.5 goals" bet won in two out of five encounters
Prediction
Bookmakers favor Vancouver in this match, offering odds of 1.85. The Canadians have indeed started well, and their opponent doesn't seem capable of taking the first points from the leader. Our bet is "Vancouver win."
