Seattle vs. Inter Miami Odds
| Seattle Odds | -175 |
| Inter Miami Odds | +450 |
| Draw | +300 |
| Over/Under | 2.5 (-135 / -105) |
| Day | Time | Saturday | 10 p.m. ET |
| How To Watch | FS1 |
| Odds updated via BetMGM. Get up-to-the-minute soccer odds here. | |
Seattle looks to avoid a potential trap game when it hosts Inter Miami on Saturday in the teams' first-ever Major League Soccer meeting.
The Sounders will be only three days removed from arguably their biggest result in club history. On Wednesday, Seattle preserved a 1-1 draw away to New York City FC to win its CONCACAF Champions League semifinal series via a 4-2 aggregate score line and advance to its first title match.
Inter Miami arrives in the Pacific Northwest on the back of its first win that came in a 3-2 home triumph over the New England Revolution last time out.
With primary striker Gonzalo Higuain out with a reported knee injury, 21-year-old Ecuadorian standout Leonardo Campana scored his first pro hat trick.
Seattle Coming Off Historic CCL Victory
Manager Brian Schmetzer has been adamant that continental play shouldn't be an excuse for lesser performances in the league. And that might be especially true facing the visiting Eastern Conference side.
Yes, the Sounders have a short turnaround following their midweek endeavors, but last week's clash was rescheduled for later this year to allow for a full week of preparation between the two legs of their CCL semifinal series.
Additionally, the injury list is as short as it has been all season, giving Schmetzer rotation options nearly all of his MLS peers would envy.
However, the CCL does appear to have limited the Sounders to an extent so far. There won't be much panic about their 11th-place Western Conference standing entering this week since Seattle has played two fewer games than some division foes. Yet, even their victories haven't exactly been convincing.
In a 3-2 home win over the Los Angeles Galaxy, the Sounders scored once from the spot and twice more from set pieces. In a 2-1 away win at Minnesota United, it was an own-goal that stood up as the match winner.
The Sounders have taken four points from nine in games played on the weekend directly following a CCL contest. That includes their only home defeat, a 1-0 loss to Nashville to open the league campaign.
Questions Surrounding Higuain, Inter Miami
Just maybe Miami is better without its highest paid player.
After manager Phil Neville said he needed better play from the ex-Real Madrid and Juventus star, Higuain turned up off the game-day roster last weekend.
Neville attributed a knee injury, but the timing was still curious. So was the outcome, a 3-2 Miami win over a New England side that earned the best 2021 regular-season record. And so were the optics, with Higuain sitting in the stands expressionless as Camapana provided the home-team heroics.
However, it wasn't exactly a first-choice New England squad it beat. Strikers Gustavo Bou and Adam Buksa were out. Goalkeeper Matt Turner continues to miss time with a foot injury.
And the expected-goals count was virtually even — 1.4-1.3 in favor of the home side. That's in line with Miami's previous home efforts, aside from a 2-0 loss to Los Angeles Football Club in which it was reduced to 10 men at halftime.
Miami has only played twice away from home this season. The club lost both games by a combined 8-2 margin, and while the xG totals were closer, they were still definitively against the Herons.
Betting Analysis & Pick
One thing lost in the Sounders' early inconsistency is the quality of foes they've faced: Four of their five opponents so far sit above the Western Conference playoff line entering this week's action.
Inter Miami represents a considerable step down in class, even if there is less toxicity with Higuain still out injured, and even if this is a Seattle team on short rest. The Herons' schedule hasn't been nearly as difficult and still they sit where they are in the table.
With a fully fit roster that's the deepest in MLS, Seattle should handle this one comfortably. And the club will want to put it away early so it can make Miami do most of the late pressing rather than expend more of its own energy.
That said, I'm backing the Seattle on both ends of the Halftime/Fulltime wager at +140 odds. That implies a 41.7% probability Seattle is leading at the end of both halves.
Between these teams, it's a wager that would've hit six of 11 times so far.
Pick: Seattle/Seattle — Halftime/Fulltime (+140)
