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- NY Red Bulls v Charlotte
- Wednesday 21 June, 2023, 19:30 ET
- At Red Bull Arena
New York Red Bulls has been enduring a nightmare season, but it has a chance to pick up a valuable win by edging out Charlotte FC at the Red Bull Arena on Wednesday night.
Who do Bettors Favor?
Checking out the best-rated online sportsbooks we can see that bettors favor the Red Bulls here, with the home team priced at around -130. The draw is available at around +265, while bettors can wager on Charlotte for the win at odds of +380 with some sportsbooks.
| NY Red Bulls v Charlotte |  |  |  |
| Red Bulls | -128 | -127 | -130 |
| Draw | +275 | +265 | +260 |
| Charlotte | +380 | +360 | +365 |
Red Bulls Making Slow Progress
It has been a disastrous MLS season so far for New York Red Bulls, but it could be argued that the team is making slow progress under interim head coach Troy Lesesne. Since he took over at the start of May, the Red Bulls has won three from six, having won just one of the previous eleven.
Going into its last game, it had recorded only one defeat in five games, but some of that work was undone by a 3-0 home loss against Orlando in which Andres Reyes was sent off just after halftime.
On the plus side, the team is in touch with the playoffs, just three points behind ninth-placed Montreal in the final wild card place. With a game in hand on some of the teams above, and back-to-back home games against Charlotte and Atlanta give Lesesne’s players a chance to close that gap further.
One notable aspect of the season so far has been the strong defensive record of the Red Bulls. The team has conceded just 16 goals, ranking joint second in MLS. Unfortunately, it has scored only 11 goals, which is the worst attacking performance in either Conference.
Charlotte Struggling for Consistency
The jury is still out on Christian Lattanzio in his first full season as the head coach of Charlotte FC as the team has struggled for consistency throughout the first half of its regular season schedule.
Charlotte is three points better off than the Red Bulls but has played a game more. Of greater concern is the team’s inability to string together any consistent form. It had a good run of four wins from five games in May, but has now lost three of its last five, and when last in action, was involved in a high-scoring clash with Seattle in which it came from behind three times to earn a point.
Charlotte seems to have the opposite problem to New York. While it has managed an above-average tally of 25 goals, it has by some distance the worst defensive record in MLS with 33 goals conceded, and it has let in three goals or more in a single game on six occasions. Finding some defensive stability is likely to be the key to unlocking more consistency.
MLS Match Betting Head-to-Head
Charlotte entered MLS last year, so this is one of the least storied rivalries in the Eastern Conference and so far, the two teams have met only four times, one of which was in the Open Cup.
The head-to-head record shows that their first competitive meeting was in May 2022, when the Red Bulls won 3-1 in the Fourth Round of the annual Cup competition. A little over two weeks later, they played their first MLS game, and this time it was Charlotte that emerged victorious with a 2-0 win.
Continuing the trend of home team domination, New York won the second MLS game of the season, and this year’s previous meeting ended in a 1-1 draw in Charlotte.
MLS Match Betting Team News
Andres Reyes’ sending off in the last game means that the New Yorkers will be without one of their key defenders for this one, along with the injured trio of Serge Ngoma, Steven Sserwadda and Omir Fernandez. Daniel Edelman is also missing on international duty.
The team news for Charlotte, meanwhile is that Lattanzio will be without four players for this game. Goalkeeper George Marks is out with a sprained ankle; winger Kamil Jozwiak is suffering from a hamstring injury while Hamady Diop and Enzo Copetti are also sidelined with muscle problems.
MLS Match Betting Pick
Charlotte’s high-scoring and high-conceding style of play adds an element of uncertainty to the match betting market for this game, but I think ultimately, it will work to the advantage of the home team.
The Red Bulls defense has been impressive, even while the rest of the team has been struggling, and on its home patch, it should be able to keep out Charlotte’s attacking threat. This will be a tight game between two teams that are struggling, but I think New York can find a winner to edge to victory.
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