Two teams who find themselves jostling for places in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer clash this weekend, with Charlotte FC entertaining New York City.
The hosts are currently three places and five points worse off than their opponents, but they can close that gap and significantly boost their play-off prospects with a victory in this game. Dean Smith’s side have been struggling of late though, with nine of their last 12 MLS matches ending in defeat.
A long run of away fixtures can partially be attributed to that decline, with their stadium used to host Club World Cup action over the past month. They’d played five straight road games, losing four of them, before a 2-2 draw at home to Orlando last weekend.
New York City have also been much happier at home this season, with only one of their nine MLS victories coming on their travels. That was in Toronto in April, and they were also victorious against the Canadian side in their last match, with an early goal from Hannes Wolf setting up a 3-1 victory at Yankee Stadium.
How the bookies view it: Charlotte favoured with home advantage
Home advantage is so often key in this league, and despite their poor overall form, Charlotte are still the 20/21 favourites to win this game with Boylesports. New York City are priced at 2/1 to leave with all the points, while you can back the draw at 13/5.
Recent head-to-head: City winless at the Bank of America Stadium
New York City do not have any happy memories from previous trips to North Carolina. They’ve lost on all three visits to the Bank of America Stadium since Charlotte FC joined the league in 2022. All of those defeats came via one-goal margins, but the most recent encounter did serve up a 2-1 victory for City in New York last April.
Players to watch: Hosts must fear Wolf
There are plenty of potential goal threats in this game, but Wolf stands out as somebody who could cause real trouble for the home defence. The Austrian is in fine form right now, with six goals and two assists in his last six MLS appearances. He looks good at 9/4 to score anytime in this match with BoyleSports.
Predicted Lineups
Charlotte are in pretty good shape on the fitness front, but they are missing Nathan Byrne to a neck injury.
Goalkeeper Matt Freese is a selection doubt for the visitors. Keaton Parks is also rated doubtful, while Malachi Jones will definitely miss the game.
Charlotte: Kahlina, Marshall-Rutty, Malanda, Ream, Scardina, Bronico, Westwood, Zaha, Biel, Abada, Toklomati.
New York City: Romero, Risa, Martins, Haak, Ilenic, Perea, O’Neill, Ojeda, Moralez, Wolf, Martinez.
Anything else catch the eye?
Charlotte have not looked at all convincing defensively of late, with at least two goals conceded in 10 of their last 11 matches. That record points to potential value in backing New York City to score over 1.5 goals at 23/20 with Boylesports.
You can also back there to be over 3.5 goals in the game at 5/4 with the same bookmaker, a winning bet in each of the last three Charlotte FC home fixtures.
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