Friday MLS Betting Odds, Picks, Predictions for Real Salt Lake vs. Vancouver (June 18)
Alex Goodlett/Getty Images. Pictured: Real Salt Lake standout Albert Rusnak.
- Real Salt Lake and Vancouver take the pitch Friday in a Major League Soccer showdown.
- These clubs have shared the same stadium all season due to the Whitecaps not being able to host U.S. teams in Canada.
- Ian Quillen breaks down the match below and explains why he finds plenty of value on the draw.
Real Salt Lake vs. Vancouver Odds
| Real Salt Lake Odds | -121 |
| Vancouver Odds | +350 |
| Draw | +235 |
| Over/Under | 2.5 (-106 / -127) |
| Day | Time | Friday | 10 p.m. ET |
| How To Watch | ESPN+ |
| Odds updated Thursday evening via DraftKings. | |
After sharing the same stadium for two months, Real Salt Lake and Vancouver meet for the first time this season in Friday's Major League Soccer action.
With the global pandemic forcing the three Canadian teams to relocate for the first portion of the 2021 season, the Whitecaps have made Salt Lake City their temporary base camp.
In fact, Vancouver actually has a better record at Rio Tinto Stadium than Real Salt Lake. The visiting side has six points from three games, while Real Salt Lake has collected five points from four contests.
The question is if that form changes when Vancouver is officially the away team and playing in front of hostile fans.
Offensive Woes Haunting Real Salt Lake
The Claret-and-Cobalt began the season looking the part of a surprise success story, with a pair of wins to kick off its campaign. It would be short-lived, though, especially on offense.
A late collapse in a 2-1 loss to San Jose began a four-match stretch of offensive timidity in which RSL has created only 3.4 expected goals (xG) combined, according to StatsBomb.
Salt Lake's entire offensive output has come from three players, with Rubio Rubin scoring four goals, Damir Kreilach contributing three and Anderson Julio adding a pair of his own.
Playmaker Albert Rusnak is still searching for his first goal or assist, with that lack of production possibly costing the Slovakian a spot on his country's Euro 2020 contingent.
This follows a three-goal, two-assist campaign in 2020, well off the pace of his first two full MLS seasons when he scored 10 goals each in 2018 and 2019.
Vancouver Hoping for Better Production From Cavallini
The Whitecaps had their own surprisingly promising start to 2021 as well.
Manager Marc Dos Santos' squad began the season with wins over Portland and Montreal, as well as a draw with Toronto FC in their first four matches. They've scored only one goal since (and have lost three in a row), which came via an 80th-minute consolation strike from Deiber Caicedo in a 2-1 loss to Houston.
Vancouver has been a little better at chance creation than the end product suggests, generating 3.1 xG in that three-match slide, according to StatsBomb.
However, Canadian national team striker Lucas Cavallini is struggling to make an impact in his second year in Vancouver. He has a goal and an assist ,while playing all 630 minutes for the Whitecaps so far. Cavallini had six goals in 18 appearances in his maiden MLS campaign a year ago.
Betting Analysis & Pick
Real Salt Lake was a heavier favorite when this line opened, a clear oversight given its recent offensive struggles and Vancouver's lack of need to actually travel.
At the time, I bet the draw at +300 odds (an implied probability of 25%), reasoning that at the very least these are two imperfect offenses who are unlikely to run away from each other.
I'm not crazy about the same bet at +235, which are odds that bump up the implied probability to around 30%, but I'm still backing it.
There's just not enough separating these sides at the moment, even if the numbers suggest Real Salt Lake should be a substantial favorite.
Pick: Draw (+235)
How would you rate this article?
Follow Us On Social
