Free MLS Playoffs Pick Sporting KC vs. Vancouver
Looking for Sporting Kansas City vs. Vancouver Whitecaps free picks? MLS betting sees Sporting KC taking on the Whitecaps on Saturday, November 20, 2021, at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City, MO. Cappers Picks provides complimentary expert handicapping picks on all MLS soccer matchups all season long so stay tuned for more FREE MLS Playoff predictions.
MLS Playoffs Handicapping
Sporting Kansas City vs. Vancouver Whitecaps
Date: Saturday, November 20, 2021
Time: 5:00 PM ET
Venue: Children’s Mercy Park
MLS Moneyline 3-Way 1×2 Odds: Home -145 / Draw +295 / Away +375 (Bet Now!)
MLS Spread Betting Odds: Sporting KC -0.5 -145 / Vancouver +0.5 +135
MLS Betting Total: O/U 2.5
The Kansas City Wizards… No, wait, that was a while ago, wasn’t it? All right, let’s start that again.
Sporting Kansas City will be fighting to win their 3rd MLS Cup in franchise history having done it once as the Wizards and once under their more recently recognized name, Sporting KC. The names may have changed and even the stadium sponsorships have changed yet again as well. No more Sporting Park because Subaru laid out a nice chunk of cash to have their name stamped all over the venue.
That is all just history and geography so let’s get to the match already, right? I know!
Sporting KC should have been the team getting the bye as they were in the Western Conference standings top spot until the final 3 games of the season played out. Sporting was a disappointing 0 – 3 taking now points from their final 3 games and that left them with 58 points in 3rd place instead.
So, the goal is to somehow figure things out before the harsh finish to the regular season carries over to the post-season. Having home-field advantage should help matters, as KC only lost 3 outings on this pitch throughout the regular season (9 – 5 – 3 at Subaru Park)
Vancouver would love to be at home because they were dominant on their own grounds in 2021 as well. Being left with a trip to Kansas City and the 6 seed, the Whitecaps were miserable away from home in 2021 finding only 2 wins from 17 away affairs.
Sporting Kansas City
Sporting KC took the 2000 MLS Cup in 2000 and Sporting KC won the 2013 MLS Cup but this team has not been back to the finals since then.
No team was going to catch New England for the Support’s Shield, but KC had every intention of being the home team throughout the Western Conference Playoffs before the disastrous finish to the regular season.
Sporting KC won 6 of 8 matches before the Halloween night loss to Minnesota, 2 – 1. They followed up that loss with a 3 – 1 defeat to Austin FC and finished the regular season with a 1 – 0 loss to RSL at home. Only 3 points separated KC from Colorado who now is the team with home-field advantage throughout the Western Conference playoffs.
These two clubs met twice during the regular season each hosting a game and both taking 3 points from wins on home soil.
Sporting will be without Alan Pulido again as he missed the final 6 matches of the season with a knee injury. Pulido is 3rd on this team in scoring with 8 goals and 3 dimes so his presence will be missed.
We know who to expect the goals to come from because this duo has been outstanding at finding the net all season. Daniel Salloi and Johnny Russell combined to score 31 goals (16 & 15 resp) and how they go this team goes. Vancouver will be keen on keeping either, if not both of them, out of their net on Saturday.
Vancouver Whitecaps
Vancouver was only 2 – 6 – 10 away from home in 2021 and that is an obvious concern for Whitecaps interim manager Vanni Sarttini. Florence native Sartini has a 7W – 5D – 2L record in his 14 games as the Caps head man since Dos Santos was released and that is obviously pretty damn good.
This team has lost two matches since his new assignment and he also has a pair of double-digit scorers to rely on upfront. Brian White (12) and Cristian Dajome (10) have led the way for this Caps squad and that has been a big reason why this team only lost one game from their final 11 outings of the regular season.
The Whitecaps are still among the rookie franchises in this league as they just got here in 2016 ahead of many of the new teams we see joining MLS lately. This team has never made it past the quarterfinals and they didn’t even qualify for the playoffs from 2018 – 2020.
If getting results matters, and oh, in case you missed it that is the only thing in your life when you play football… Vancouver has an overwhelmingly good chance to come out of Subaru Park and advance to the is next round with KC struggling coming into the playoffs.
This team can, at least, find a way to push this to extra time and keep a draw long enough to possibly get to PKs. I see a 1 – 1 draw coming in both of the opening matches in this year’s MLS Cup Playoffs. If you see my Philly vs. NY article here I have that posted for their match too.
Free Sporting Kansas City vs. Vancouver Whitecaps MLS Final Analysis:
This is where the value is anyway because you see Vancouver and their +0.5 handicap is plus money. Oh, those are my two favorite words in life!
4* Free MLS Playoffs Betting Pick: Vancouver +0.5 Goals Handicap/Spread +135
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