Two sides battling hard to reach the playoffs in the Eastern Conference meet in Queen City when Charlotte FC host CF Montreal in the early hours of Sunday morning in what should be a very entertaining contest.

Charlotte are arguably the most entertaining team in MLS to watch this season with their 19 matches having contained a league second joint highest 62 goals, 16 of which have come in their last three outings. They failed to score in their opening two home games but have found the net in every game since and have only kept one clean sheet in their nine games in Carolina.

Montreal have only won one away game and only scored five goals in that time but a Charlotte defence which has shipped a league high 35 goals can’t be trusted. Both teams to score here can form the opening leg of the accumulator.

We are at that stage of the season where the international call ups are going to have a significant impact on a number of teams and one of them will be on show at Gillette Stadium when Toronto FC travel to take on the New England Revolution.

Toronto will now be without four players who are away at the Gold Cup and all four would have been starters. On top of that they have just been beaten in Cincinnati in midweek to extend their winless road record to nine matches this term. They are yet to win on the road.

They now go to a Revolution side who are unbeaten at home this term and who are looking really good with Carles Gil and Gustavo Bou back together pulling the strings. They get star stopper Djordje Petrovic back from international duty for this one as well so while Toronto are weakening, the Revs are getting stronger and had midweek off. The home win looks like a good second leg of the acca.

We head to California for our two late kick-offs on Sunday morning, beginning with the champions Los Angeles FC, who play host to the team they beat over two legs in the quarter final of the Champions League earlier in the campaign in Vancouver Whitecaps.

LAFC won 3-0 in both legs of that tie and have a significant advantage here in that Vancouver Whitecaps are without their most creative player in Julian Gressel who is away at the Gold Cup.
If that wasn’t bad enough for the Canadian outfit, they are also without defender Javain Brown against potentially the best front three in the league, one which gets Denis Bouanga back from international duty for this one.

There was a demise being spoken about regarding LAFC after they lost the Champions League final but two wins in the last week have silenced that talk and sent them to the top of the Western Conference. There is a gap in class between these two and I expect it to show here.

Los Angeles FC have replaced St Louis City SC at the head of the Western Conference table and the expansion team will look to respond to successive defeats when they head to PayPal Park to face San Jose Earthquakes.

To be fair, the Earthquakes have to respond to a bit of a beating they took at the hands of Houston Dynamo in midweek but I mentioned when flagging the Dynamo up for a leg of the midweek accumulator that San Jose are chalk and cheese at home and away. They are yet to lose at home and 21 of their 27 points this term have come on home soil.

St Louis City have been a breath of fresh air this term but they are just beginning to creak at the seams. They have avoided international call ups which is a positive but they are having to do it tough without their two designated players and it is showing. Bradley Carnell confessed that Edward Lowen and Joao Klauss will be out for at least another month which is a huge blow.

St Louis won their opening three away games but have lost four and drawn one of the five since and against a San Jose side who are top notch at home this looks a task beyond the new boys to me.

There are a lot of eyes on Inter Miami as we wait for Lionel Messi, and potentially Sergio Busquets should reports be believed, to arrive. Their latest assignment sees them embarking on a trip to the Philadelphia Union.

Union have been in great form since they were beaten in the Champions League, especially at Subaru Park where they have picked up 13 points from their last 15 available, but they are a completely different team without Andre Blake, potentially the best keeper in MLS, and he is away at the Gold Cup.

We saw Philly struggle defensively in midweek and that could very well happen here too with Miami players all likely to raise their game now to impress their impending arrival. Miami have had a fortnight off to come to terms with Messi fever and I expect their offense to improve but they are without key defenders Kamal Miller and DeAndre Yedlin now. Union are without defender Damion Lowe so with both teams impacted defensively I expect the goals to flow here.

We move to the Western Conference for the remainder of the accumulator beginning at Rio Tinto Stadium as Real Salt Lake host Minnesota United in a clash between teams who are going in opposite directions this term.

Real Salt Lake laboured out of the blocks but have caught fire in recent times with just one defeat in their last eight matches whereas Minnesota are beginning to struggle, particularly away from home where they have lost six of their last seven and even in the win in that time in Portland isn’t exactly massive on the form front.

Real Salt Lake have won their last two matches, both on the road, and both without some key attacking players who will return for this one whereas the Loons now miss goalkeeper Dayne St Clair and defender Kemar Lawrence, both at the Gold Cup.

Ordinarily I’d go with RSL to win this one given the form of the two but they haven’t been as strong as I’d like at home this term and they did play in midweek. With reinforcements back I still think they’ll win but I think the safe play is to get the draw out of the equation.