With every passing week, the Deportivo Cali crisis grows ever deeper. Twenty million dollars in debt and hovering dangerously close to the drop, Cali are in an administrative and sporting mess.

This week their manager Jorge Luis Pinto broke into tears when he was asked about the scale of the problem. “Never in my life have I experienced something like this – never!” blubbed the 70-year-old coach, who began his managerial career at Millonarios in 1984, before going on to beg fans not to violently attack his players.

Police were again called to training this week and amid fighting back the tears, Pinto assured barra groups that he was doing his best to turn the situation around. So bad is the situation at Cali that the club president has admitted Deportivo Cali, considered Colombia’s oldest club by some, may even cease to exist.

On the pitch, things aren’t much better. Cali are bottom of the table as well as being the lowest scorers in the league so far. It seems all doom and gloom, but at least here they face the team placed just one position above them and who are also struggling badly for goals this season.

Having sold leading scorer Pablo Sabbag to Alianza Lima at the end of last year, replacement Jorge Ramos has failed miserably to fill his boots. Dropped but now recalled because Equidad don’t really have anyone else, Ramos has only scored one non-penalty goal in ten games.

That lack of edge up front again cost Equidad last week when they failed to register a single shot on target in their drab 0-0 home game against Nacional. With both clubs finding the going tough this season, the obvious option is to take up unders at 1.65.

Sportivo Luqueño’s unbeaten home record will be put to the test against a Guaireña side who recently sacked coach Roberto Torres and have brought in Luciano Theiler who briefly managed General Caballero.

Gustavo Florentín’s side have won their last two home matches to nil, having drawn the opening two, and although it is early days are making the case for a return to the Copa Sudamericana. Marcelo Pérez continues to lead the scoring charts but it was another youngster, 19 year old Sebastián Ruiz Díaz, who has scored first in the previous two games. Julio Báez has also been an important figure in terms of creativity in midfield while the experienced partnership of Rojas and Mendoza has brought stability to the side.

Thieler’s first test with the Albiceleste is a tough one, they have kept just one clean sheet this season despite the good performances of Paulo Lima in central defence. He has a decision to make between the sticks, Aldo Pérez returned from international duty to find himself on the bench last week in the 3-1 defeat to Resistencia. Up front Torres started 40-year-old Carlos Duarte in the last two games mainly out of desperation with injuries to Marin and Viera leaving them toothless. The trio of Otazú, Maciel and José Ariel Núñez could all find themselves back in contention with the new coach.

Luqueño’s home form and their stability compared to their opponent’s turbulence makes it surprising that they aren’t odds on favourites to take the win. Although Guaireña won the last meeting at the Feliciano Cáceres, a 1-0 win in 2021, both sides are unrecognizable since.

One of the more appealing matches in round seven of the MLS 2023 season is the one which sees the top two from the Western Conference last season meeting as Los Angeles FC host Austin FC in a repeat of the Western Conference final of 2022.

Los Angeles FC came out on top that day to book their spot at the MLS Cup Final and the champions will be looking to repeat that success. That agonising loss so late in the season should inspire Austin to come up with a performance here.

A week or so ago I would have been looking at getting Austin onside in some fashion here because the match falls in between two Champions League legs for Los Angeles FC but LAFC won 3-0 in Vancouver in the first leg and should be able to go through the motions in the second leg on Tuesday.

I’ve mentioned all season that Austin have big problems defensively, particularly at the centre of defence where a lopsided roster means they are having to play a midfielder there. They haven’t always faced teams who have been able to take advantage of that but they run into one here.

LAFC are perfect at home this season and have scored at least twice in all three of their encounters in front of their own fans. They put three past Portland Timbers, four past New England Revolution and a couple past FC Dallas in the international week.

I expect the champions to go with something close to their best side for this match and I just don’t see an Austin defence, which in their three away matches this season have conceded three times to a team from Haiti in the Champions League, once to a poor Real Salt Lake side and two to Houston who are hardly free scoring, containing the hosts.

It will be a huge effort for Austin to keep LAFC below two goals here and I don’t see it happening.

The team who were second in the Eastern Conference standings a year ago are in action on Sunday too when CF Montreal head to the New England Revolution, a team who are beginning to look more like the 2021 Supporters’ Shield winning version than the struggling 2022 outfit.

The Revs suffered a number of big name departures after winning the Shield in 2021 and it took them the majority of last season to rebuild and reshape the squad to be fit for purpose, but the evidence so far this season is that they have done a good job in that regard.

New England have started out with a 4-1-1 record this term with the defeat a battering at Los Angeles FC on a night where they ran into the champions at the wrong time. With Carles Gil back fit and Gustavo Bou coming to the boil, Revolution can continue their form here.

CF Montreal are where New England were a year ago. They have lost big players after a big season and are in the rebuild stage of their roster and it is showing.

Had it not been for an incredible late turnaround when they scored twice in injury time to beat Philadelphia Union they would be without a point from five matches.

Montreal have played four matches on their travels this season and have lost the lot without scoring, the latest being a 5-0 battering in Vancouver. New England might not run up the score to that extent but I fully expect a home win here.

Both teams are in rather poor form at the moment. Real have one win, three draws and one defeat in their last five, while Blooming have one win, two draws and two defeats to their name. The win was an impressive 6-0 mauling of Palmaflor in their Sudamericana debut, and it was in that competition that they performed remarkably well on Tuesday evening, only going down to Brazilian giants Santos thanks to a last-gasp goal in the 98th minute.

These teams met twice during 2022 with Blooming winning both games, they have also won four of the last five head to heads. Blooming lead the historical data 38-21 too, with both being founding members of the league in 1977.

However, despite Blooming’s good performance on Tuesday which showed potential they have been plagued by changes, off the field distractions and their financial plight. They have been fighting against relegation the last couple of seasons despite being one of the country’s biggest sides while Real have shown themselves to be consistent and unfazed enough to do what they have to do.

Both teams in in rather poor form at the current time. Real have one win, three draws and one defeat in their last five, while Blooming have one win, two draws and two defeats to their name. The win was an impressive 6-0 mauling of Palmaflor in their Sudamericana debut, and it was in that competition that they performed remarkably well on Tuesday evening, going down to Brazilian giants Santos thanks to a goal on 98 minutes.

These teams met twice during 2022 with Blooming winning both games, they have also won four of the last five head to heads. Blooming lead the historical data 38-21 too, with both being founding members of the league in 1977.

However, despite Blooming’s good performance on Tuesday which showed potential they have been too plagued by changes and off the field distractions and their financial plight, fighting against relegation the last couple of seasons despite being one of the country’s biggest sides while Real have just shown themselves to be consistent and unfazed enough to do what they have to do.

Any NFL fans out there will know that sporting teams from Chicago and Minnesota do not like each other so we could be set for quite a feisty clash when the Chicago Fire host Minnesota United at Soldier Field in the early hours of Sunday morning.

It is a big match for the Fire, who have come out of the blocks in acceptable if uninspiring fashion. They have a win, a loss and three draws on their record but you sense they are still trying to work out their best combinations and how to get the best output out of Xherdan Shaqiri and to an extent Kei Kamara.

Minnesota United certainly don’t have that issue. They are unbeaten after six matches and put an end to the St Louis City SC unbeaten start last week. I think there are huge grounds for claiming this isn’t as exciting a Minnesota side as we’ve seen in the past but they have settled into a shape and style which is working.

That is very much to the credit of head coach Adrian Heath who has had to deal with the problem of star man Emanuel Reynoso not returning for this season. Without him, Minnesota have gone into a very low block and looked to hit teams on the break and from set plays.

It is a style which is working with three wins and two draws on the year but it has made their matches extremely tough watches and I don’t see any different in that regard here.

Minnesota are 1-4 in over 2.5 goals this season and while Chicago are 2-3 the two which covered turned incredibly bonkers late in the games. I don’t see Minnesota letting this one open up so I’m happy to play the under.

The pick of the matches in week seven of the MLS campaign is the one at Lumen Field where the Seattle Sounders will look to show they are MLS Cup contenders when they host a St Louis City SC side who will be out to bounce back from their first loss as an MLS franchise.

That St Louis loss was against Minnesota who basically shut them down with their parking the bus style but I would be surprised if Seattle Sounders go down that route, particularly given the amount of goals they are scoring.

I’ve said already this season that I think Seattle are going to take some stopping and they might even be stronger than first expected with Jordan Morris showing he can do the business as a number nine when Raul Ruidiaz and Heber are injured, as well as from out wide.

This match actually pits the two leaders in the race for the Golden Boot against each other as Morris takes on Joao Klauss and I expect goals to come from this one as a result.

St Louis City suffered their first shutout as an MLS franchise last week but I think they will look to play in the Seattle half. That will leave them exposed at the back but they seem perfectly content to accept that risk in the hunt for goals.

This just looks a great game. Seattle have the top scorer in the league in their side and the leading assister and have 12 goals in their six matches. Five of the St Louis City games have gone over 2.5 and I expect a sixth to come here.