While soccer fans have enjoyed the international break, it’s almost time for players to return to their clubs and get the campaigns back underway. Such is the case for Major League Soccer, with games resuming on Saturday, June 12. In this article, we have MLS futures picks with the season heating up. This includes a change in who is the favorite to finish the year with the most goals.
For most of the year, it felt like Seattle Sounders star Raul Ruidiaz was going to be the top dog at the end of the year when it comes to finding the back of the net. Oh, how things change. Now, Javier Hernandez has the best odds to be the top goal scorer. The man known as ‘El Chicharito’ is in the middle of an incredible season for the LA Galaxy, which has been great to see.
Hernandez has scored seven goals this campaign, barely edging out Ruidiaz who has scored six for the Seattle Sounders. Ruidiaz is of course the captain for the Seattle Sounders, the club which is favored to go on and win the MLS Cup this season. That doesn’t matter to Hernandez, however, as he continues to dazzle on the pitch after making the move over from Europe.
| Goal scorer odds |  |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hernandez to win | +300 | +300 | +300 | +300 |
| Ruidiaz to win | +480 | +480 | +480 | +480 |
| Martinez to win | +750 | +750 | +750 | +750 |
| Vela to win | +800 | +800 | +800 | +800 |
It feels like Hernandez was indeed born to score goals. He enjoyed such a long, brilliant career overseas. This included scoring countless incredible goals for Manchester United when he was suiting up for the English Premier League giants. Not much has changed now that El Chicharito is now in Los Angeles making epic plays for the Galaxy.
Per the Las Vegas sportsbooks, Hernandez now holds +300 odds to finish the year as the top goalscorer. Meanwhile for Ruidiaz, he’s +480. This figures to be a two-man race the rest of the way, as they both hold pretty decent MLS odds here. At the end of the day, though, we’re going to have to give the slight advantage to the Mexican over the Peruvian. Hernandez it is.
Come this weekend, Kansas City will look to down Austin once MLS games return to action for us all on June 12. For Sporting KC, they’ve been nothing short of sensational this year, as the club currently sits in second place of the Western Conference standings with 16 points. If it wasn’t for Seattle and its 18 points, KC would be the kings of the West.
Both on offense and defense, this team is absolutely stacked with talent. They really make life difficult for their opposition from start to finish in the 90 minutes of action. This isn’t great news for Austin, as the team has struggled to prevent teams from scoring throughout the year. On top of that, Austin is in 11th place of the Western standings with a lowly seven points.
To make matters worse for Austin, they have a goal difference of -3, as they’ve only scored five goals this campaign in seven matches, while giving up eight goals. It goes without saying, but those kinds of stats are never going to be a good thing and it’s a major reason why the team is near the bottom of the Western table, instead of making a push for postseason play.
With the two teams getting ready to meet on Saturday, KC is a monster favorite with its -140 odds, while Austin has been set at +310. It would be a major surprise if Kansas City didn’t come away with a win here. Austin would gladly leave the stadium with one point and a draw, but we don’t think that’s going to happen. Our pick is for Kansas City to record a big win. Agree? Check out our betting sites to get your wagers in.
Looking ahead to things for next weekend, the Sounders vs. Galaxy is a huge showdown for June 19 which is all set to be played in Carson, Calif. If you haven’t marked your calendars for this one yet, be sure to do so as countless stars will be ready to try and power their team to a win. Of course, Hernandez and Ruidiaz will headline things here, as they are so darn good at scoring goals.
While the odds haven’t been released for this battle yet, you can count on it being a thriller. Seattle of course is in first place of the Western Conference table, while the Galaxy sit in third place with their 15 points. So, we have the No. 1 team going up against the No. 3 team in a Saturday night meeting? What in the world more could MLS fans ask for?
With that said, we think that an upset very well could be recorded here. Right before the break, the Sounders recorded back-to-back draws, including a disappointing 0-0 result at home against Austin. No one expected that to happen. Meanwhile for the Galaxy, they’ve won three of their last four matches. They’re riding hot right now and our pick is for that to continue against Seattle. We’re rolling with LA.
