Major League Soccer, Matchday 23, Thursday, 17.07.2025, 02:30
The Club World Cup is over, and the American representatives are quickly returning to their everyday lives – which, as we all know, means Major League Soccer. In the Western Conference, I’m now looking at two teams that very rarely lose.
One of them competed in the Club World Cup and has made an impressive comeback. In short: My Minnesota Los Angeles FC tip is here to give you an overview of this match. I’m going for an absolute betting classic: “Both teams to score”!
It was a short, unsuccessful interlude for Los Angeles: The Club World Cup was over after the preliminary round. A 0-2 defeat to eventual champions Chelsea, a 0-1 loss to Tunis and a 1-1 draw with Flamengo meant that there wasn’t much to offer in terms of offense.
LA didn’t have much time to ponder the reasons for their poor results, as the MLS resumed just a few days later. Thankfully, the 0-1 defeat to Vancouver did not herald a crisis.
Los Angeles bounced back with clear wins against Colorado (3-0) and Dallas (2-0), but the players are likely aware that they have yet to win three games in a row this season.
For the first time since the start of the season, they kept a clean sheet in two consecutive games. The problem: the third game at that point was a 2-5 defeat to Seattle – and now LA has to play away again!
So the team has been warned not to let it get that far again. With only one defeat in the last twelve games, they can be quite satisfied, but the regular draws are preventing them from catching up.
Striker Denis Bouanga has played a key role in ensuring that the team has hardly lost any games. Ten goals and five assists in the last twelve matches is a strong record. Anyone who has him on their list for Thursday would be well advised to place the corresponding goal bet.
At Bet365, the odds for this jump to 2.20. In eight of their last nine games, Los Angeles has scored before halftime, which is also very interesting. We’re sticking with Bet365, because here you can secure up to $100 in bonus betting credits.
Betting on Los Angeles to score in the first half will get you odds of 2.00. The fact that only one of the last ten direct encounters has been lost also speaks in favor of the visitors.
However, they have yet to win away from home! Crazy statistics that show that anything is possible here. The odds for a win at our bookmakers with fixed payouts suggest that there is no clear favorite.
I see an average of 2.70 to 2.55, so LA is slightly more favored. Minnesota did not participate in the Club World Cup, so they did not have to interrupt their rhythm in the league.
The last few weeks have been one thing above all else: turbulent. 3-2 against Seattle, 2-4 against San Diego, 3-1 against Houston, 2-2 against RB New York, 2-1 against Dallas and 4-1 against the San Jose Earthquakes – an impressive 27 goals were scored during this period!
They have only lost four times in total, which is better than anyone else in the Western Conference. Curiously, despite their recent spectacular performances and lack of clean sheets, Minnesota still has the best defense in the league with only 25 goals conceded.
The team scored six times in their last three matches before halftime. Based on the bet suggested earlier, you could also say: I’ll risk betting on “both teams to score” in the first half.
With high odds of 3.90, Betano has you well covered. But the same applies to Minnesota as it did to Los Angeles: they currently have two wins – and neither team has ever won three in a row!
Neither Minnesota nor Los Angeles FC know what it feels like to win three in a row – maybe it will stay that way! It’s quite possible that this duel will end in a draw, as the two teams are not that different.
In my analysis, I noticed that both teams rarely concede goals, either at the back or up front. The attacking lines are impressive, but Minnesota are currently conceding an unusually high number of goals.
I’m taking these facts into account and am looking forward to a fast-paced, turbulent game. My final tip is therefore:
Both teams will score!
