On Aug 10 at 20:00 GMT and at the Providence Park Stadium in Portland, the local Thorns will have a meeting with the Reign of Seattle for Round 15 of NWSL. And the point of the exercise is to get a better playoff position and remain as close as possible to league leaders Kansas City. Easier said than done this task is, considering that Orlando Pride, San Diego Wave and Washington have better placements than the opponents of the match in discussion.
Stuck in the middle
6 wins 4 draws and 3 losses have led Portland to 5th position on the table with 22 points, 19 goals scored and 12 conceded. The team just below them at 6h are Seattle Reign with 21 points, 17 in favor, 13 against, 6 victories, 3 ties, 4 defeats. So0, we have two rather equal sides.
For the visitors the first vested interest is to replace the hosts at 5th if they manage to walk out of the pitch with the 3 points. Tomorrow, they have a match at home against Angel City, which, one way or the other, they will probably win. For the hosts, the incentive is even greater. A win will get them all the way to 3rd place behind only Orlando Pride. However, this also implies that when they fight the Washington Spirit two days from now, they can either win or get a draw. And that will be a tall order.
And they have 3 dangers below
That’s Racing Louisville, Sky Blue and North Carolina. The first two occupy the last 2 playoff spots, while the last one has the same points as the second but a worse goal differential. So, they are putting pressure on both, ready to take advantage of any wrong step. Essentially, what we have here is a situation where 8 teams have just about equal chances for the 7 spots behind KC Current.
The setting is ideal for tough fights and pitched close quarters battles. At this time, it would be pointless to discuss odds as they depend heavily on the results of the matches to be played withing the next 3 days. In any case, if you are interested in making some decent profit from this league, you should go ahead and open an account at the best betting platform and, when we get back next week, we will have kept an eye on things before our final recommendation.
Update
There have been serious developments since we first talked about this confrontation. As expected, Reign defeated Angel City by 2-0. Now, the first part of their incentive for fighting hard against Thorn has already been achieved. They are now 5th in the standings having replaced their opponents, since, Portland lost to Washington by 2-1.
Seattle can get right behind Kansas
A win for the Reign will mean 27 points and an 8 – 3 – 4 record. Orlando Pride and San Diego Wave, had draws in their last matches against inferior opponents. Another draw and they will get behind Seattle. The only team that can get above Reing is Washington. With another win they will get to 29 points and claim the 2nd spot on the table.
On the other hand, if Portland come out of the pitch with the 3 points, then they will get over Seattle again but they will not have the opportunity to climb any higher than the 5th place. Nevertheless, it will be a place to start and hope for something better in the future.
Under this premise, we quite disagree with the offer of @1.84 for the win of Portland and @3.98 for the visitors. Yes, Thorn may be in dire need for a victory, but we believe that Reign is in a much better condition. Therefore, what we propose to those that will make up their mind and open an account at the best betting platform is to take a risk and place a wager backing Seattle.