Past Picks
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.
Bay City are not a good team. Let me be very clear as I take their ML here. They have just five wins over their 17 matches, and have only scored 18 goals over those match, while conceding 24. The thing is, I don't care about them, I'm always going to fade Chicago Stars. Chicago are the worst attacking team in this league and it's not close. They only have 9 goals scored this season, while conceding a massive 33 goals. Chicago will continue to be the punching bag of NWSL, so hop on the fade train early!
I know -158 is a gross number, however, in this tool I don't have the option to add BTTS, so I'm telling y'all, add BTTS and get this bad boy down to even money. Portland are a good team playing very hot or cold football at the moment. they were just throttled 5-1 by Utah Royals, but before that fought Gotham to a 2-2 draw. While this team is struggling for consistency, their games aren't lacking goals. Boston are in good form right now with only one loss in their last five and will keep this very competitive.
Boston apparently is playing a few home games this season in Rhode Island, including today's matchup on CBS Sports Network. The Thorns are higher in the table but traveling cross country and apparently without their co-second-leading scorers in Olivia Moultrie and Reilyn Turner. They each have five goals. Moultrie is second with five assists. Portland, winless in its past four overall, is undefeated at home but has lost six games on the road. A total of 14 of Boston’s 20 points on the year have been earned at home.
Boston Legacy moved up to 12th in the NWSL table after taking 10 points from their last five games. The expansion franchise made a slow start to the season, but it's building momentum, and the Legacy now has a realistic chance of qualifying for the playoffs. The players need to maintain that momentum when they take on Portland Thorns in Pawtucket this weekend. The Thorns struggle on the road - they've lost their last five away games - and they may be lacking in confidence after losing 5-1 to the Utah Royals last weekend. Boston should get a result in this game.
I know a lot of people might be new to betting on NWSL. It is similar to MLS in the sense you're going to see very aggressive numbers in favor of the home-team regardless of the matchup. Home-field advantage means a ton in this league, which is why we're seeing lines like this. Utah is the better side, and Cloe Lacasse and Mina Tanaka in their form they're in, I expect them to break through a Denver side who has just one win in their last five, even with home-field advantage.
There's a lot of people who enjoy watching NWSL due to their pretty consistent high-scoring matches. This is a league that is loaded with World Class attacking talent and some defenses that can be streaky. Washington is one of the exceptions to this. They have only conceded 13 goals this season and are one of the two teams averaging less than one goal conceded per game alongside Gotham. Four of their last five matches have ended 1-0. This is a team that plays good defense, and doesn't run up the score often. I like the under at almost even money.
Orlando sits 10th in the NWSL with a minus-1 goal differential and Racing Louisville second-to-last with only four wins -- zero away -- and a minus-13 goal differential that is also second-worst. The Pride eye payback for a 3-2 loss in Kentucky in April. They have won four of five at home and are among six teams in the NWSL with more than 15 points on home turf. Anna Moorhouse has set the Orlando single-season record for saves. But I'm burying the lede: The Pride's Barbra Banda leads the league with 12 goals but is away from the club for the Women’s African Cup of Nations. Since the beginning of July, the Pride have scored four goals -- tied for fewest in the NWSL.
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.