Austin FC vs St. Louis City SC Expert Prediction and Picks | MLS Betting Preview Feb 25
Austin FC vs St. Louis City SC Betting Preview
Austin City FC fell short in last year’s MLS Western Conference final taking on expansion St. Louis City SC to open up their 2023 MLS season with Sportsmemo soccer handicapper Nick Borrman breaking down this Austin FC vs St. Louis City SC match before start time at 8:30pm ET from Q2 Stadium in Austin, TX.
Get A $1 Premium Expert Picks Package
First time at WagerTalk? Get your first daily picks package for ONLY $1 using coupon code NEWS1 when checking out! Click here to select your picks and then apply the best bargain of 2023 with coupon code NEWS1.
Have you downloaded the new WagerTalk TV app? If not, what are you waiting for?! Watch all of our programming – Puck Time, WagerTalk Today, Bet On It and more – on all streaming platforms. Download today on Apple, Android, Amazon and Roku.
Austin FC vs St. Louis City SC Betting Odds
| Saturday, February 25 | MLS Betting Notes |
|---|---|
| Austin FC: | -190 |
| St. Louis City SC: | +525 |
| Draw: | +340 |
| Total: | 2.75 Goals (Odds Above Courtesy of DraftKings) |
| Game Time: | 8:30pm ET / 5:30pm PT |
Austin FC vs St. Louis City SC Betting Analysis
Welcome to the MLS, St Louis! The newest expansion team is set to make their debut on Saturday as they travel to face Austin FC who begin their third season in the league having only joined the MLS themselves in 2021.
As with any expansion team in any sport, it’s usually rough going the for a while. This Austin team is a great example of that as they finished 9-4-21 with a -21 goal differential in their first season in the league.
However, in just one season, they went from not making the playoffs to finishing the regular season as the #2 seed in the West with a 16-8-10 record and +16 goal differential.
What a difference a year makes. They backed that up in the playoffs making it to the Western Conference Finals where they lost to eventual MLS Cup Champions, LAFC.
Austin FC Goes Through Big Changes
Austin has star striker Sebastian Driussi who joined the team in their expansion year from Russian side Zenit St Petersburg.
He featured in 17 matches in that first season and scored five goals but exploded last year scoring 25 goals including the playoffs and fell just one goal short of Golden Boot winner Hany Mukhtar.
They have brought on veteran Gyasi Zardes from Columbus who has scored 97 goals in 267 career MLS matches, including as many as 19 for the Crew in 2018.
They did lose a key defender in Ruben Gabrielsen who was great for the team in central defense but replaced him with a solid option in Leo Vaisanen from Elfsborg in Sweden’s top flight.
He has big shoes to fill but obviously Austin is keen on him. Otherwise, this team has maintained the rest of the roster from last season and many pundits have Austin as a true challenger to LAFC in the West.
Austin FC vs St. Louis City SC Expert Prediction
Obviously, there are a lot of unknowns with this St Louis side but their roster, on paper at least, will be lacking talent compared to basically every team they face this season.
Doesn’t mean it will play out like that of course, but expectations are very low for this side. History is not on the side of the expansion team either.
It hasn’t been since 2018 when LAFC joined the league that an expansion team has won their first MLS match. Each of the last five have lost that first game:
2022 Charlotte 0-3
2021 Austin 0-2
2020 Nashville 1-2
2020 Miami 0-1
2019 Cincinnati 1-4
Don’t go crazy on this one as there are some unknowns but expect St. Louis to continue the streak of expansion teams losing their first match.
Prediction: Austin FC -1.0
Soccer Betting Tips
New to betting on soccer? Not familiar with all the wagering options, such as three-way betting and the Asian handicap? What stats should a novice soccer bettor focus on? What are some basic soccer betting tips and strategies? Carmine Bianco and Nick Borrman joined Kelly Stewart to share some tips to novice soccer bettors.
Get A $1 Premium Expert Picks Package
First time at WagerTalk? Get your first daily picks package for ONLY $1 using coupon code NEWS1 when checking out! Click here to select your picks and then apply the best bargain of 2023 with coupon code NEWS1.
**************************************************
About The Author
Nick Borrman fell in love with professional ‘football’ (as anyone outside of the United States would refer to it) the first time he attended an MLS game seven years ago.
Now, he uses statistical analysis as well as current trends to successfully find value on soccer matches across the globe.
Borrman focuses much of his attention on the Premier League, La Liga, Ligue 1, Bundesliga and Serie A, as well as the most prestigious tournament of them all, the Champions League.
Of course, you can’t forget the fast-growing MLS which finishes the year-round soccer schedule through the summer months in North America.
Borrman derives many of his plays from his model forecasts and releases plays several days ahead of time to consistently beat line moves.
Looking for more free sports picks and sports betting tips?
- Latest Betting Odds and Public Action: Vegas lines updated in real time, including who the public is betting on.
- Last Minute Handicapping Advice: Check out our extensive library of handicapping tips and advice from professional Vegas handicappers (we also recommend taking the time to look over our sports betting tips video library)
- Want an expert opinion? Check out the latest Free Sports Picks and Best Bets from our team of expert sports handicappers.
Make sure to bookmark all the above!
