Weekend tips: MLS and Women's Euros action

Banker

The new 2022/23 Premier League season edges ever closer and there have been some real power moves already in the transfer market. However, before the European domestic action returns in all its verdant pomp fans wanting a bet can still get stuck into the MLS, and this weekend Los Angeles FC look a cracking price at odds against to beat Sporting Kansas City.

Gareth Bale took just a couple of minutes into his debut to wow the LAFC fans and give a not so subtle hint of what MLS can expect from the Welsh wonder. The former Tottenham and Real Madrid man made his debut appearance at the weekend, coming on for the final 20 minutes of their victory over Nashville and pulling off an audacious back heel pass as his first act.

His new team ran out 2-1 winners over Nashville, keeping them top of the Western Conference, a point ahead of Austin (though they do have a game in hand). In the wee small hours of Sunday morning (UK time) they head to Children's Mercy Park and look worth a bet having now won four of their last five matches. LAFC have been trimmed to win the MLS Cup after their recent good form, with Steve Cherundolo’s men now 11/2 with bet365 but as short as 3/1 in places.

Bale – still remembered for that filthy overhead kick in the 2018 Champions League final - has been chalked up around the 5/1 mark to score first against Kansas, but Carols Vela and Cristian Arango are also massive threats in the final third.

Giorgio Chiellini also got his first taste of the MLS last Sunday, with the veteran Italian subbed off after a solid start. The duo are welcome additions to arguably the strongest squad in the MLS, and with Kansas bottom of the Western Conference having won just five of their 22 games to this point it’s a bit of a mystery why The Black and Gold are 5/4 shots here.

As Lord Alfred Tennyson once said though, ours is not to reason why and Bale’s mob look the bet of the weekend against a team who were thumped 3-0 by Real Salt Lake last time out.

Banker: Los Angeles FC to beat Sporting Kansas City at 5/4 (BetVictor/Hills/888 Sport)

 

Value Bet

Rosenborg are fifth in the Norwegian Eliteserien, but look a class above Tromso who visit the Lerkendal Stadion this Saturday. Tromso have yet to win on their travels this season, and were hammered 5-1 by league leaders Molde on their last away jaunt.

Normally Norwegian football’s powerhouse, who enjoyed some famous nights in the Champions League years ago, they have yet to hit the heights under boss Kjetil Rekdal and are fifth in the table having claimed 22 points from 14 matches.

They remain strong at home however (four wins and two draws from six matches) and should have too much for Tromso. The hosts are a shade of odds on in the 1x2 market but the value could like in taking the 11/4 currently on offer that they win without conceding. Rosenborg have shipped six goals in six home games so far and are fairly solid defensively, with Adrian Pereira a player to keep an eye on at left-back.

Value Bet: Rosenborg to win to nil against Tromso at 11/4 (Skybet)

 

First Goal Flutter

France’s Euro 2022 hopes suffered a body blow in just their second group phase game when Marie-Antoinette Katoto – who was among the favourites to claim the Golden Boot – hobbled off with a nasty looking ACL injury. Katoto had already signalled her intent in the first game, bagging a goal and an assist as Les Bleus demolished Italy 5-1.

However, injury meant her tournament ended prematurely, but she will be cheering her teammates on this Saturday when France face Netherlands in the quarter-finals. France are warm favourites to progress, but it won’t be a cake walk against the Dutch, who are ranked fourth in the FIFA World Rankings and who won Euro 2017. It should be an entertaining game (Netherlands have conceded 13 goals in their last eight games) and with this in mind, Ouleymata Sarr could be worth siding with to score first.

Sarr has yet to get off the mark in this tournament, but she has bags of experience and showed for Division 1 Feminine club Paris FC last season that she knows where the goal is.

The Netherlands striker Vivianne Miedema missed her team’s Euro 2022 Group C clash with Portugal after testing positive for Covid-19. Miedema, who is the all-time top goalscorer for her country, has been isolating and will need to show a negative test before she can be considered this weekend so current 6/1 quotes about Sarr scoring first look tasty in a game that should feature goals.

First Goal Flutter: Ouleymata Sarr to score first at 6/1 (bet365)