Inter Miami will be looking to clinch their place in the second round of the MLS Cup Playoffs when they face Atlanta United at the Chase Stadium on Saturday night. Miami is the favorite and most punters’ soccer betting picks to win. But Atlanta has proved to be an awkward opponent and won’t go down without a fight.
Inter Miami blew their chance to make it to Round 2 at the first attempt when they lost 2-1 to Atlanta at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Saturday night.
Former EPL star Xande Silva ruined Miami’s party with the winner after 94 minutes. His strike came just seconds before the full-time whistle and not long after Lionel Messi saw his goal ruled out for an obvious offside.
As a result, the best-of-three series is now tied at one match each and the two teams go to the Chase Stadium for the deciding game on Saturday.
On the surface, the third match looks like being another routine win for Inter. But Atlanta has been dogged in the playoffs and it would be stupid for Inter to take them lightly on Saturday night.
On the money line, Inter Miami is the -240 betting favorite. The draw is +440 and a win for Atlanta is +500.
In the team total market, Inter Miami is -105 to score over 2.5 goals and -125 to score under. Atlanta is -251 to score under 1.5 and +191 to score over.
In the double chance market, Inter/draw is -900, Atlanta/draw is +175, and Inter/Atlanta is -600.
A market we like is the match result and both teams to score. Here, Inter to win and yes in both teams to score is +140. A win for Inter with both teams to score/no is +225.
Onto betting to qualify, and the best soccer betting sites have Inter Miami at -400 to make it through to the second round.
To pull off a shock and keep their remarkable run going, Atlanta United is +275 to win by any method and take their place in the second round.
More options can be found on our Inter Miami vs. Atlanta United betting table. The Vegas 2024 MLS Cup Odds we have used are from our recommended soccer betting partners.
Most MLS fans didn’t see this first-round tie making it to a third and deciding match.
Despite not being at their best in match one, Inter got the job done with a 2-1 win thanks to goals from Luis Suarez and Jordi Alba.
Showing how hard they are to shake off, Saba Lobzhanidze did equalize Suarez’s opening goal for United. But Inter did dominate the game and Jordi Alba’s goal on the hour mark was the difference.
Moving onto the second match, Inter looked set to win at the Mercedes-Benz. Miami went into the fixture as the -110 favorites on the money line. Those odds looked justified when David Martinez gave them the lead after 40 minutes.
But a second-half fight back from Atlanta with goals from Derrick Williams (58 minutes) and Xande Silva (90+4) took the tie to a third match.
The defeat ended a ten-match unbeaten streak in all competitions for Miami. Tata Martino backed his players in the aftermath. The Inter Miami head coach was quoted as saying “I am very satisfied with what they did beyond the fact that we are very frustrated with the final result and we have to try to do the same in the third game.”
In theory, Martino is right. Inter won the Eastern Conference by eight points and the Supporters’ Shield by playing the way they do.
Furthermore, Inter is not the +137 betting favorite to win the MLS Cup for no reason.
Atlanta United made the playoffs by finishing ninth in the Eastern Conference with 40 points from 34 matches.
In the MLS, Rob Valentino’s team won ten, drew ten, and lost 14. It’s hardly surprising Atlanta is +20000 to win the MLS Cup with that record.
Atlanta finished the MLS season with two straight wins. After sneaking into final playoff place the Five Stripes had to go to Montreal for their Wild Card match.
Valentino’s team raced into a 2-0 lead at half-time. They were pegged back by two goals from the hosts in the second half. But Atlanta still found it within them to win the penalty shoot-out 5-4 and take their place in the first round.
Atlanta has looked down and out for some weeks now. But here they are, with a chance of making the second round of the MLS Cup.
As scorer of the equalizing goal against Miami in match two of the tie Derrick Williams said, “We’ve been the so-called underdogs every week. We’re in fight-or-flight mode, and we’re definitely fighting.”
Do the Five Stripes have another shock result in them? They may well do.
But the statistics all point towards a win for Inter Miami.
Our pick is for Inter Miami to win and both teams to score at +140.
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