Betting Picks

Thursday, August 5^th, 20:00 EST

The world on online sports betting enters an exciting month, as August begins and the fall sports season looms. Football has returned, as all NFL training camps begin this week; with that, NFL betting is in full force. Meanwhile, those who enjoyed the World Cup and jumped on the soccer bandwagon can enjoy soccer betting as Europa Cup qualifiers take place and European leagues near their begins, while in North America MLS enters the second half of the season.

Major League Soccer continues in August and every match becomes more and more important after the All Star break. The Eastern Conference’s top team, the Columbus Crew, travel to Philadelphia as they try to increase their first place lead while the Union try to climb back up in the standings.

After two impressive victories over New York and Houston in which they did not concede a goal, the Crew suffered a letdown against lowly Chivas USA, losing 3-1 to a team with only two previous home victories. Columbus has distanced themselves from the New York Red Bulls with a seven point lead in the table, and an 11 point lead on third place Toronto FC.

Columbus has been mediocre away from home, and will look to avoid dropping two in a row as they their road trip to Philadelphia before heading to Salt Lake City. With two victories and four draws in eight road games, the Crew have scored and conceded 10 goals in their away matches.

Philadelphia, meanwhile, has played well of late after a tough start to the season and a rough schedule in their inaugural campaign as part of the MLS.  The Union have two wins and two draws in their last four games, and look to cap off a four game home stand with a victory.

Sebastien Le Toux and Danny Mwanga lead the Union with eight and five goals respectively however, it is the defense and goalkeeping that consistently hurt the club.  They have conceded 27 goals in 15 games, and have not held a team scoreless in any match. However, at home the team has fared better, with a plus three goal differential, scoring 11 goals and allowing eight in only six matches.

The Union strikers will have a tough time against a very strong defensive team in Columbus. The Crew are particularly strong in the back end; they have blanked their opponent in eight games on the season. Their loss to Chivas USA, however, was the first game in which they conceded more than two goals, and only the fifth time they have allowed more than one goal in a game.

Betting lines: Columbus and their first place Eastern Conference record are favoured as well they should be.  Despite being on the road, Philadelphia does not have the offensive prowess, the pedigree, or the goalkeeping to keep pace with Columbus.  Even though they are at home, they will fall to the Crew as Columbus  looks to bounce back from a rare loss.  The Crew win on the road 3-1 as Philadelphia falls again.