I’m backing the home team here. When you look at the advanced analytics, these teams are pretty even across the board, but Denver gets the edge playing at home. Their opponent has scored just seven goals on the road all season, which is hard to ignore. Denver has also won the xG battle in four straight matches. The results haven’t followed yet, but if they keep creating better chances than their opponents, a breakthrough feels like it’s coming. This sets up as a good spot for that to happen.
As of today, we have MLS and NWSL picks, which is fantastic. Tonight's North Carolina at Denver NWSL game is on CBS Sports Network and it's the first-ever meeting between the franchises. Denver is unbeaten in three straight at home (two draws) and keeper Abby Smith has the fourth-most goals prevented (6.1) in the league (min. 5 games). North Carolina is 1-3 in its past four and we need star and leading scorer Ashley Sanchez (10 goals) to NOT find the net. NC is unbeaten in eight games when she does score but has a single win in eight when not. Thank goodness for the folks in CBS Sports research or it would have taken me hours to find even this little info.
