Cincinnati and Toronto will lock horns in a Major League Soccer game on February 25. Here is how bookies rate both teams' chances to win, according to the odds provided by our betting partners BC Game:
Cincinnati - 1.33
Draw - 5.30
Toronto - 7.60
Cincinnati
The Ohio club was founded in 2015 and started performing in MLS only five seasons ago. However, they already won the 2023 Supporters' Shield.
The plans for the new season are huge, and to achieve them, the club brass did everything to keep their best scorer Luciano Acosta.
Although attacker Brendon Vasquez left for Mexico for $8.5m but a few new players arrived during the transfer window: Corey Baird, Keep Keller, Miles Robinson and Pavel Bucha joined the ranks.
Toronto
If Cincinnati were the best team of the regular season, Toronto's campaign was disastrous: they were the worst team not only in the East Conference but in the entire league.
The managerial change was made during the last season: Toronto hired John Herdman but to do well they needed to bolster their roster as well. However, only defender Kevin Long's arrival looks like an impressive transfer.
It's not that Toronto don't have any big names on the roster though. The first ones that spring to mind are Italian stars Lorenzo Insigne and Federico Bernardeschi. They must be really disappointed by their previous exploits and should be eager to produce a better impression.
Cincinnati vs Toronto: Facts to know
Toronto have lost in their last seven MLS games.
The Canadian team have failed to score in five out of the last six MLS fixtures.
Last season, Cincinnati got three times more points than Toronto: 69 vs 22. They also had five times more wins than the Canadians: 20 vs 4.
Cincinnati vs Toronto: Head-to-head
For four games in a row, Toronto can't win a single point against Cincinnati. The Ohio outfit have scored at least twice in each game. However, if you look at the bigger picture, it's not that bad for Toronto: four wins and six defeats in ten MLS games.
Cincinnati vs Toronto: Prediction and betting tip
The hosts are obvious favourites in this one, and it makes sense to expect Acosta & Co. to score on the home ground. However, you can't write Toronto off either. It's quite likely that Insigne and Bernardeschi will try to wipe last season's memories off as soon as possible.
That's why placing a stake on goals totalling over 3 sounds reasonable. You can easily expect the game to end 3-1 or 3-2, especially when you know that the latter scoreline was registered in two of the last five games between the sides.
Our betting tip: Goals total over 3 (BC Game odds - 1.75)
