After last weekend’s heroics from Zlatan Ibrahimovic, MLS took the interest of millions across the globe. Assuming that at least a portion of those millions return to watch this weekend, they’ll be in for a few tasty games with guaranteed goals in a fair share of those.
Friday 6th April
New England Revolution vs Montreal Impact
Like last week, week six in MLS starts on a Friday and tonight’s game looks to be quite the match up.
This game sees the Eastern Conference’s 4th and 6th placed sides do battle but it looks like the home side coming into this with more confidence.
As well as winning the last four meetings between the side’s, last week Brad Freidel’s side will take encouragement from their last three games. The Revolution have picked up two wins and an impressive draw against NYCFC.
Montreal could also come into this one feeling confident as they’ve already beaten both of last season’s MLS Cup finalists this year. Something that could encourage them to take on anybody.
Saturday 7th April
Atlanta United vs LAFC
To start off Saturday’s football, it’ll hard not to expect goals.
Atlanta may have only come out as 1-0 winners against Minnesota last week but it’s fair to believe Leandro Gonzales Pirez’s red card had something to do with that.
Before that Tata Martino’s side had hit seven goals In their first two home games of the season. something that when looking at LAFC’s game from last week, could draw a similar outcome this weekend.
Bob Bradley’s LAFC side have seen 12 goals fly in each net in their past two games with the most recent being their 4-3 blockbuster loss to LA Galaxy on Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s debut.
The West coast side will be desperate to ensure they don’t allow a winning position to slip but with such strong opposition this week, it’s difficult to predict which way this one will go.
Philadelphia Union vs San Jose Earthquakes
Although Philadelphia come into this game as the hosts and San Jose come in having lost their last two games, I’d make out the visitors as favourites.
Philadelphia have only scored twice this season, with both goals coming against a ten-man New England Revolution. Whereas, the Quakes have bagged triple the amount of goals.
San Jose can also take encouragement in scoring the opening goal in their 2-1 win over NYCFC.
However, Union will be hoping they are able to keep up their good form at home where they’ve only lost once in 13 games.
To add to that San Jose have only won one of their last 11 away games in MLS. However, I still favour them to come out with all three points this weekend.
FC Dallas vs Colorado Rapids
FC Dallas have been quite impressive despite only taking five points from a possible nine this season and with another home game, they could take another three this weekend.
Their highlight of the season came when they put three past Seattle Sounders and with Roland Lamah scoring three in his last two games you wouldn’t put it past them or him to get a few goals this weekend.
However, Colorado will be hoping to gain some proper momentum after Dominque Badji’s hat trick against Philadelphia last week.
The last five meetings between the sides have seen three draws but at least with two in form strikers we can hopefully see a high scoring game.
Chicago Fire vs Columbus Crew
Last week, Chicago Fire were on the brink of three successive defeats but did will to fight and rescue a point against Portland.
Now that they’ve stopped the rot, a game in front of their home fans gives them a chance to put their first win of the season on the board.
However, in their way is the Eastern Conference’s 2nd best side in Columbus Crew.
The away side have won three games already this season and the football they’ve been playing has been second to none for the majority.
Gyasi Zardes has returned to the scoresheet after his goal last week took him up to a season tally of four, so he’ll be looking to keep his goalscoring form going.
However, they did pick up their first loss of the season against Vancouver Whitecaps last week. Whether that was just Vancouver poking the bear before a massive reaction or the end to their impressive start, we’ll see this weekend.
Real Salt Lake vs Vancouver Whitecaps
The start of the 2018 MLS season hasn’t been too kind to Real Salt Lake. After home opener against LAFC they then played New York Red Bulls, Tornto FC and now they welcome Vancouver Whitecaps to the Rio Tinto Stadium.
Unsurprisingly, RSL haven’t performed too well on that run, picking up just a single point (they have two for the season) and with the Whitecaps coming into this game after beating a sky-high Columbus Crew, they’ll be looking for three points.
Its not just the recent form that points to a Vancouver win but also the stats.
Since 2014 Vancouver have picked up the most away wins (22) and clean sheets in MLS. Following on from that, in this specific fixture Cristian Techera has notched five goals in six games which could also be a good omen for the Canadians.
If Techera fails to score, then the Whitecaps aren’t lacking for attacking talent as Kei Kamara and Alphonso Davies showed last week (although Davies’ goal was ruled out).
Sunday 8th April
Orlando City vs Portland Timbers
After initially struggling in MLS this season, Orlando City really kicked into gear last week with a 4-3 win over New York Red Bulls.
This win came by no coincidence however, as the game saw the return of Dom Dwyer who scored his 12th brace in MLS since 2012.
Going up against a team who are one of the best in the West, despite their current struggles, he will be a key as Portland are likely to throw everything at Orlando in search of their first win of the season.
That elusive win is something they came within touching distance of last week against FC Dallas, but they were pegged back by a late equaliser.
For Portland, Sebastian Blanco will be key as the Argentinian has already scored three goals this season.
Monday 9th April
LA Galaxy vs Sporting Kansas City
To close this week in MLS, it’s almost guaranteed that there’ll be goals in this game.
After last week’s heroics from Ibrahimovic, as many would know, LA Galaxy overturned a three-goal deficit to win the first LA derby 4-3.
However, despite the Zlatan show getting underway, it was clear for all to see after the game how tired he was. Maybe this will lead to another cameo appearance this week.
If this is the case, then I wouldn’t be surprised if the game takes a similar storyline as last week’s LA derby.
Sporting Kansas City have been on fire all season going forward, scoring ten goals. But like LAFC last week, they’ve also been quite open at the back letting in nine.
However, one thing that could hinder Sporting KC’s chances going into this game is the doubts surrounding Felipe Gutierrez.
The Chilean has proved to be the Western Conference’s leading side’s main man with five goals in his first five MLS games but came off injured after scoring the only goal in Sporting KC’s win over D.C. United last week. However, he could still make an appearance at the StubHub Center.
Even without Gutierrez though, KC will be encouraged by the fact that they’ve come out on top in the last two meetings between the teams.
