The second Conference Championship tie is between the Western Conference teams of Houston Dynamo and Seattle Sounders. Neither of these teams came top of the Western Conference in the regular season, with Portland Timbers taking that honour but it has not stopped them from progressing to this match, which sees them two games away from the MLS Cup final. The first leg sees Houston Dynamo with the home advantage and they will want to build a decent lead to take with them to Seattle for the second leg next week.
MLS – 22st Wednesday November – 02:30 UK Time
|
Draw Best Odd of: 23/10 at PaddyPower |
|
Houston Dynamo
Seattle SoundersHouston Dynamo Form
Houston Dynamo come into this match having recorded an excellent 2-1 away victory at Western Conference winners Portland Timbers in the second leg of their Conference semi-final. Having drawn the first leg at home 0-0, it was Portland Timbers who started the second leg at home with the advantage but despite falling a goal behind, Houston Dynamo fought back impressively to win the match 2-1.
That result means Houston Dynamo have lost only 1 of their last 9 MLS games and have found a good run of form at the right time. However, other than the 3-0 home win over Chicago Fire, they have struggled to beat teams convincingly, with their 4 other victories being by a single goal margin.
Seattle Sounders Form
Seattle Sounders used their home advantage in the second leg to full effect having held Vancouver Whitecaps to a 0-0 draw in the first leg of their Conference semi-final away from home. Two goals from Clint Dempsey was enough to see them win the second leg 2-0 at home and progress. Seattle Sounders have lost just 2 of their last 19 games but both those defeats have come in their last 7 outings and they were each away from home. They have kept a clean sheet in 5 of their last 6 MLS games which is a good record defensively but Seattle Sounders have failed to score a single goal in their previous 4 away MLS matches and have not won in their last 5 on the road.
Team News
Houston Dynamo are without the injured defensive duo of George Malki and AJ DeLaGarza, as they have been for some time. They have been joined on the treatment table by midfielder Memo Rodriguez. Seattle Sounders are also without two defenders as Brad Evans and Jordan Morris will both miss the match due to injury. The visitors also have doubts over Chad Marshall, Osvaldo Alonso and Victor Rodriguez.
Top Betting Tips
Much like the first leg of the Eastern Conference Championship game, this is going to be a close match in terms of the final score and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see this one finish level. The draw is available at 23/10 with PaddyPower. However, goals could be at a premium in this match and with Seattle Sounders struggling to win and score away from home, they would be happy to take a 0-0 with them to the second leg. The 0-0 final score is 17/2 with William Hill and the draw with under 2.5 goals can be backed at 11/4 with Ladbrokes.