The Major League Soccer season is reaching its climax and there are just two ties remaining in the playoffs before the MLS Cup final which will be played on the 9th December 2017. The two Conference Championships which remain will be played over the course of two legs, like the Conference semi-finals and the first match to be played is between Columbus Crew and Toronto FC at the MAPFRE Stadium. Toronto FC finished well clear of Columbus Crew in the Eastern Conference during the regular season but the playoffs have already shown anything can happen in these games.
MLS – Wednesday 22st November – 01:00 UK Time
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Draw Best Odd of: 5/2 at Ladbrokes |
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Columbus Crew
Toronto FCColumbus Crew Form
Columbus Crew come into this match on the back of a 2-0 defeat at New York City in the Conference semi-final. However, despite this defeat they still progressed to the Conference Championship thanks to their resounding 4-1 win over New York City in the first leg which was at home. Columbus Crew will be hoping they can stage a repeat of that result in this match and take a big lead with them to Canada for the second leg. The loss at New York City was Columbus Crew’s first defeat in 13 MLS games and underlines what great form they have enjoyed recently. They have won 8 of their last 9 home MLS games, with the other match ending in a draw. Both teams have scored in 4 of Columbus Crew’s last 5 home MLS games.
Toronto FC Form
Toronto suffered a shock 1-0 home defeat at the hands of New York Red Bulls in the second leg of their Conference semi-final. However, much like their opponents in this match, Toronto FC had completed the hard work in the first leg, winning 2-1 away from home and the away goal proved crucial in their progress to this Conference Championship match. Having dominated for long periods of the season, Toronto FC have now lost 3 of their last 7 MLS games and have conceded goals in 6 of their last 7 matches. Away from home however, they have tasted only 1 defeat in their last 9 MLS games and have scored in each of their last 10 matches on the road.
Team News
Columbus Crew will be without the injured Alex Crognale, Gaston Sauro, Ben Swanson and Connor Maloney. However, it’s Toronto FC with the major problems in terms of team news with Jozy Altidore and Sebastian Giovinco both suspended for this game, leaving them short of their best attacking options.
Top Betting Tips
Both Columbus Crew and Toronto FC have been enjoying good form home and away respectively and this should lead to close a match. The draw is on offer at 5/2 with Ladbrokes. Although this match may finish close in terms of the final score, that doesn’t mean this is going to be a boring game and both teams have been scoring and conceding goals in recent matches. You can get 11/2 with Ladbrokes for the match to end level with both team scoring. However, with two key attacking players missing for Toronto, they may find scoring more than 1 goal a problem and the 1-1 correct score can be backed at 13/2 with William Hill.