Portland Timbers vs Whitecaps Betting Tips & Predictions

This isn’t the MLS Cup defence that Portland Timbers will have been hoping for after they beat Columbus Crew 2-1 in the cup final last December, and at the rate they are going they won’t even be in the running for the cup let alone favourites to retain it.

They started the campaign off with promise as they dispatched of Columbus Crew 2-1 in a re-enactment of the cup final a few months before. Then they embarked on a five match winless streak.

Portland Timbers did manage to break free of this poor for to pick up seven points from the next three matches, but since then they have been on the end of three straight defeats. The first one came against Whitecaps at the beginning of May and has since been followed with losses to Dallas and New York City, putting them down in 9th in the MLS Western Conference with an average of just a point per game.

Whitecaps have had an up and down season so far, with peaks of good form being interspersed by troughs of poor performances and below par results. At the moment they are on one of their peaks though having won their last three matches on the bounce.

The visitors’ troughs tend to come on the road unsurprisingly. They have only won two of their seven away days this season and have lost four times. However, Portland Timbers have only managed to win half of their six games at Providence Park this season.

One thing we can be fairly confident about is that there will be a few goals. Portland Timbers have seen at least three goals scored in all six of their home matches this season and in ten of their 12 overall matches. Whitecaps have played their part in five goalfests in their six away days this season, and their last two away matches have seen a total of 12 goals scored.

This makes odds of 8/11 for Over 2.5 Goals look incredibly good value, so I’m backing that alongside a 3-1 win for Portland Timbers at 14/1.