Past Picks
CBS Sports Network game at 1 ET and while Orlando is the better overall club, it is without the NWSL's second-leading scorer in Barbara Banda with 17 goals -- no one else on the Pride has more than six. Apparently it's because Banda played for Zambia recently and there's some Ebola scare and restrictions on returning to the USA. Yikes. Orlando has a minus-4 goal differential away this year with four wins in 13 matches. Houston's Kat Rader is one goal shy of matching the league’s single-season rookie scoring record of 11.
Here we go again with wildly different NWSL prices (high as -280 on others). Clearly I am still a newbie for this league, but the -200 number seems pretty fair -- on DNB, not as a pure moneyline to win. Portland is battling for a top-four finish, while Boston is near bottom table and 17 points worse. Might get relegated!? Wish we did have that in the USA but what team would the NWSL call-up? Boise? The Thorns won 4-3 in Beantown on Aug. 9 and the visitors have some player availability issues. I will no longer say availability because it takes me like five times to spell it right. So injured/etc. list.
I actually came here looking to play DNB because once again one of our books had a massively better number than the rest, but now I'm going to pass on that and do the total. Utah is without two suspended starters in captain Paige Cronin (2G, 1A and defender Ana Tejada (2A) after both got red cards last time out. The Royals haven't played four straight matches without more than three total goals scored. The Courage also have some player availability issues and have lost two in a row with both games landing right at three goals scored. This is our only book at 3.5, the rest at 2.5.
I've worked at sportsbooks previously so I am aware how different numbers can be from one to another, but the NWSL takes the cake. Just incredible differences via the books -- for instance, DraftKings has this at -220 for Draw No Bet. Wouldn't do that but am certainly fine with -165, and it's there at Caesars. I try to make the DNB soccer cutoff at -200 unless part of a parlay and this is solo. Washington is third in the table, seven points better than Angel City. Spirit star Trinity Rodman left the last game injured but she is not listed on the report for tonight or else this was a pass.
It's weird how much I have missed soccer on its international break. This isn't that obviously, but I am starting to get it. I simply like day matches/early tennis, I think, but whatever. Seems a pretty fair DNB price here at least the few months I've started following this league. Usually, the DNB is outrageous and some of our books have this -250ish. Seattle is 11 points better in the table so yeah I'm loving this insurance. Look, I am no Hemingway but sometimes these random game notes amuse me: "The Reign have truly made Lumen Field a fortress since returning from the summer break, going unbeaten in all six home matches dating back to July." I would say unbeaten in six straight at home.
Good NWSL matchup tonight with Utah fourth in the table in points and third in goal differential (+11). Angel City is tied first in GD (+12) but eighth in points. The Royals have been able to prepare for this since Sept. 12, while Angel City played just Wednesday. Utah won the first meeting on May 2, 1-0, thanks to a 33rd minute goal from Cloé Lacasse. She enters today as the Royals’ second-leading scorer with seven goals and is first on the club with 10 helpers. Maybe don't expect a draw as Utah is the only club in the league without one at home (7W, 4L).
NWSL lines can vary widely as one of our books has this nearly -200, so you want to shop around if tailing. Hey, it's not MLB so I might actually win. The Summit have fared quite well as an expansion team with 31 points and a plus-7 goal differential. They are unbeaten in three and have totaled a whopping 12 goals. Denver also is unbeaten in three straight at home. Bay City is 15th in the table and 1-7-1 in its past nine. The squad has held a lead in just two of those nine and for a total of less than nine game minutes. It did win the season opener, 2-1, over Denver, but the Summit were down to 10 at the 27-minute mark.
Washington sits second in the NWSL table in points and leads in goal differential (+13) while expansion Boston is third-to-last in the standings and second-to-bottom in GD (minus-12). The Spirit are led by star Trinity Rodman (10 goals) and her boyfriend if you didn't know is Ben Shelton, who is in the U.S. Open men's final. Hopefully both have a ton of success -- as far as I know Rodman is playing. Today may be the Spirit debut of new signing Clara Luvanga. She earned the Saudi Women’s Premier League Golden Boot award this past season as the league’s top scorer with 24 goals while playing with Al-Nassr FC. Washington won the first meeting 2-1 away. Rodman had one of the goals.
I don't generally take a team lower in any table to beat one higher up but Washington has several players listed out led by Leicy Santos (five goals), Claudia Martinez (three goals) and Kate Wisener (two assists). The Spirit have a single win in their past five and lost at home to the Thorns in the season opener. They enter on a five-match unbeaten streak. Portland's Sophia Wilson is third in the NWSL with 11 goals. Doesn't appear the hosts are missing any key players.
Not like I'm a NWSL expert -- getting there! -- but this price seems quite cheap considering that Utah is third in the overall standings, outscoring foes by 11, and expansion Boston is second-to-last and has been outscored by 13. The Royals have two of the league's Top 11 goalscorers in Mina Tanaka (eight) and Cloe Lacasse (seven) -- Lacasse also leads the NWSL with 10 goals. That is tied for the league's all-time single-season mark. Boston is winless in its past five (one draw) and lost at home to Utah in March, 2-1. The Legacy last won on the road in mid-July and that was over a not-great Orlando side.
Bay FC is one of the worst clubs in the NWSL with 22 points and a minus-6 goal differential and had to travel across country for a 9:30 a.m. Pacific time kick today. It's Hello Kitty Day (not even kidding) at Audi Field, so come on the home team can't lose now. Since late March, Washington has allowed more than one goal in a match only three times and has collected eight clean sheets. The Spirit, led by Trinity Rodman's 10 goals, won the earlier meeting in San Jose, 2-0, and are 6-0 all-time in the series -- taking them by a combined score of 14-4.
These NWSL lines go just totally bonkers sometimes. This is active but another site has nearly -270 San Diego ML so I have no idea. Small leagues like this, one bet over $100 and it swings the whole pendulum. But I do like San Diego. Racing Louisville is one of the worst teams in the league. The Wave just trounced visiting Utah last time out.
CBS Sports Network game Wednesday. North Carolina sits sixth in the NWSL standings and has two of the league's leading scorers in Ashley Sanchez (13G) and Evelyn Ijeh (10G). They are three goals shy of the league record for single-season goals from a pair of teammates. Sanchez is one shy of the single-season team mark. Angel City's two leading scorers in Maiara Niehues and Sveindís Jónsdóttir (6G each) both have missed multiple games in a row injured. North Carolina prevailed 2-1 in Los Angeles on May 31. Niehues had the lone Angel City goal. This marks Angel City's first time in the Eastern Time Zone in months.
CBS Sports Network game at 8 ET from Houston. I have no idea how many NWSL teams make the playoffs -- dang it, I hate not knowing things so had to look (8) -- and neither of these clubs likely get there. The Stars, who recently made a coaching change, are the league's worst club with just 13 points through 19 matches and astonishingly only nine goals scored. And leading scorer Jordyn Huitema (4G) is done for the season. Top assister Ryan Connaughton (2A) will miss a second straight game. Houston sits 11th in the table, so the playoffs aren't impossible, and no key players are out. The Dash can spread the scoring wealth and have had six different players score game-winners so far.
Gotham FC is atop the NWSL table and tied for best goal differential at plus-12. The reigning league champion is unbeaten in seven straight and has kept a league-high 12 clean sheets. Kansas City has managed only six points in its past six games and each opponent in that run has scored. Current (as in the K.C. nickname) leading scorer Temwa Chawinga (9G, 2A) is away on international duty for Malawi, and third-leading scorer and No. 2 assister Michelle Cooper (4G, 3A) is questionable with an injury. When the teams last met in late June, Gotham FC won 2-0 at a neutral site in Columbus as part of the NWSL Challenge Cup.