Fire, Dynamo square off at Toyota Park

Soccer Betting Lines

04/23/2010 - Bridgeview, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Fire host the Houston Dynamo in a Major League Soccer interconference matchup on Saturday night.

The Fire (1-2-1) are coming off their first win of the season - 2-0 at D.C. United - and will be gunning for more of the same at Toyota Park this weekend.

The Fire debuted a new formation vs. D.C. - a 4-5-1 - and hope it's as successful this week as it was last weekend. They key will be the play outside attackers Justin Mapp and Patrick Nyarko, who did the job last week. Their possession on the wings led to chances inside for forwards Collins John and his eventual substitute, Brian McBride.

The Fire's success will also come down to their ability to defend set pieces against the Dynamo, who excel at them.

"We definitely need to do a better job marking on set pieces. We have to make sure that we stay tight with their players because they're a team that's good in the air," Fire technical director Frank Klopas told mlssoccer.com. "They look for set pieces, they're dangerous and we can't fall asleep in situations like that."

The Dynamo (2-1-1) are coming off a dominating 3-0 win over Chivas USA last weekend, and even though they will still be without forward Brian Ching because of a hamstring injury, pack plenty of punch, as they showed vs. the Goats.

"Guys were [ticked] off about [the April 10] loss [vs. Los Angeles], especially at home, and the team was fired up," Dynamo midfielder Geoff Cameron told his club's website. "We came off of a loss, and we all know we didn't play that great, but we rebounded this week, and we were fired up from the beginning."

Forward Cam Weaver is expected to miss Saturday's game for the Dynamo, while defensive midfielder Richard Mulrooney is doubtful, both with injuries.

"None of the injured guys will be joining us [in Chicago]," Houston coach Dominic Kinnear told his club's website. "Brian Ching's jogging. Cam Weaver's not improving, which is unfortunate. Richard, we're sticking to the timetable we set before - 2-4 weeks."

The Fire will be without forward Calen Carr, defender Steven Kinney and midfielder John Thorrington because of injuries, while defender Krzysztof Krol and midfielders Mapp, Julio Martinez, Logan Pause and Marco Pappa are questionable.

Trifectas Soccer Betting News


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What are Sports Betting Point Spreads?

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How to Read Point Spreads

New England Patriots -7 vs. Philadelphia Eagles

The better team, called the Favorite, is expected to win the game and must “give” or “lay” points to the weaker team. The favorite is listed with a minus sign and the number of points they are favored by (e.g., New England -7)

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