The Philadelphia Union and Los Angeles FC will both be playing in their first MLS Cup Final this Saturday, November 5th at LAFC’s home ground, the Banc of California Stadium.
Los Angeles FC booked their ticket to the final with a convincing 3-0 home victory over Austin FC in last weekend’s Western Conference Final while the Philadelphia Union downed last year’s MLS Cup champion, New York City FC 3-1 in the Eastern Conference Final.
Both clubs had a bye in the first round of the postseason as the Union topped the Eastern Conference during the regular season and LAFC finished first in the West. Philadelphia then edged FC Cincinnati 1-0 at home in their opening playoff match while LAFC got past arch rivals the Los Angeles Galaxy 3-2 at home in their opener.
There wasn’t much separating the two MLS Cup finalists this year as both teams ended up with 67 points from their 34 games. LAFC won the Supporters’ Shield as the league’s top team however due to winning two more games than the Union.
LAFC earned their 67 points from 21 wins 4 draws and 9 losses while outscoring their opponents 66-38 while the Union posted 19 wins, 10 draws and 5 losses with a league-high 76 goals scored and a league-low 26 conceded.
At home, LAFC were ranked the second-best squad in the 28-team league with 12 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses for 41 points while outscoring their visitors 39-15. Philadelphia was the third-best road team in 2022 with 26 points from 7 victories, 5 draws and 5 defeats with 23 goals for and 17 against.
LAFC enter the game with 5 wins,1 draw and 5 losses in the last 11 MLS contests while Philadelphia has 8 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss in their past 10.
The sides met just once in the regular season and played to a 2-2 in Los Angeles in May. Overall, they have played each other just four times previously with LAFC winning the first meeting and the last three all ending in draws.
Daniel Gazdag let the Union in scoring this season with 22 goals while Cristian Arango topped the LAFC marksmen with 16. Goalkeeper Andre Blake of the Union led the league in clean sheets this year with 15 while Maxime Crepeau of LAFC was ranked fifth with nine. Blake also posted the best save percentage in the league at 79.4 per cent while Crepeau boasted a 67.9 save percentage.
Forward Carlos Vela of LAFC was named to the league’s 2022 Best 11 Team while midfielder Daniel Gazdag was named to the squad from the Union along with defenders Jakob Glesnes and Kai Wagner and goalkeeper Andre Blake.
In addition, Glesnes was named the MLS Defender of the Year, Blake was named Goalkeeper of the Year and Union head coach Jim Curtin was named Coach of the Year.
The oddsmakers at Bet365 have listed Los Angeles FC as the favorites to hoist the 2022 MLS Cup at -250 with the Philadelphia Union at +175.
Remember, you can also make several different types wagers on the game at Bet365, such as the number of corners, the goalscorers and the exact score etc as well as live betting.
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