St Louis City vs New York City Prediction: Team News and Lineups Preview

We are once again blessed with a full slate of MLS matches this weekend, and Matthew O’Regan is on hand to cover the best matches, and in particular provide his St Louis City vs New York City prediction, team news, lineups and fixtures preview.

It is set to be an intriguing battle in Missouri, with last year’s Western Conference champions St Louis looking to build momentum as they look towards securing their first ever MLS Cup.

Our St Louis City vs New York City prediction is for St Louis to win the match 2-1.

St Louis City vs New York City Prediction, Team News, Lineups and Fixtures Preview

1. St Louis City vs New York City Tip 1: St Louis City to Win
2. St Louis City vs New York City Tip 2: Over 2.5 Goals
3. St Louis City vs New York City Tip 3: Tomas Totland Over 0.5 Shots

In this article:

• St Louis City vs New York City Team News and Possible Lineups
• St Louis City vs New York City Match Stats
• St Louis City Fixtures
• New York City Fixtures
• Safer Gambling

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St Louis City vs New York City Tip 1: Favour Home Sides in MLS

America, MLS, Sunday March 3rd, 01:30 (UK)

St Louis City shocked the nation last campaign by finishing atop of the Western Conference in their first-ever season as a franchise. Bradley Carnell’s side became hugely popular with neutrals, as they played entertaining, successful football despite not having any ‘superstar’ names amongst their ranks.

Finishing on 56 points from 34 games, SLC won the Western Conference by three points over teams such as Seattle Sounders and LAFC. Unfortunately, Bradley Carnell’s side succumbed to an aggregate loss to Sporting Kansas City in the playoffs, but to win their conference so comfortably in their first season set the foundations for the future.

St Louis’ home form at City Park was a contributing factor, accumulating 35 points from 17 games. Their opening day saw them gain a commendable point at home to Real Salt Lake.

They host a New York City side who opened the season with a 1-0 loss away at Charlotte, with Kerwin Vargas missing a penalty to make it 2-0 for the hosts. Nick Cushing’s side endured a tough season in 2023, finishing 11th- two places outside the playoffs. A major struggle for City was their away form, with only CF Montreal and Toronto FC – two Canadian teams, having a worse point tally than New York’s 11.

City only managed one away win all season – a 1-0 victory over Montreal. However, they are not alone when it comes to struggling on the road, as it is a common theme in the MLS. On the opening weekend, just one away team won, with long journeys being cited as a major reason for this.

The weekend’s match should be no different for New York City, who face a three-hour flight to face a strong St Louis side.

With the MLS heavily favoured towards home sides coupled with either side’s respective home/away records, St Louis looks good value to grab their first win of the season.

• St Louis vs New York City Tip 1: St Louis to Win
• Best Odds: 2.30
• Bookmaker: bet365
• Stake: 10/10

St Louis City vs New York City Tip 2: Raining goals in Missouri

As mentioned in Tip 1, St Louis liked to entertain the crowd. Bradley Carnell’s side were the Conference top scorers with 62 in 34 games, conceding 45 in the same period, with their games averaging 3.14 goals.

Games at CityPark were even more high scoring, with SLC scoring 41 in their 17 league games, conceding 17. This meant their home games averaged a staggering 3.41 goals. 12/17 home games saw over 2.5 goals.

New York City games were more cagey than those that St Louis played in, with their games only averaging 2.17 goals.

However, City were very active in the transfer market, signing an abundance of young talent to augment their attack. Agustin Ojeda from Racing and Jovan Mijatovic from Red Star Belgrade are particularly stand out, with the latter already boasting Champions League experience.

With these talented additions and St Louis’ attacking mentality, I can see it raining goals in Missouri.

• St Louis City vs New York City Tip 2: Over 2.5 Goals
• Best Odds: 1.825
• Bookmaker: bet365
• Stake: 8/10

St Louis City vs New York City Tip 3: Tot-ing up the shots

The signing of Norwegian Tomas Totland in pre-season is a testament to St Louis City’s shrewd recruitment.

The 24-year-old shone at Swedish side Häcken and was touted for a move to a ‘bigger’ European move. However, he ended up at St Louis and showed why he was so highly rated, putting in an excellent display in the season opener against Real Salt Lake.

Totland is a marauding right back, as shown by his two shots on debut. St Louis put a real emphasis on set pieces, and Totland was placed on the edge of the box for corners, meaning any loose balls were his to strike. Both his shots came on the edge of the area.

St Louis is expected to attack from the first whistle, so don’t be surprised to see Totland arrive in attacking areas and take a shot from outside the area.

• St Louis City vs New York City Tip 3: Tomas Totland Over 0.5 Shots
• Best Odds: 1.72
• Bookmaker: bet365
• Stake: 10/10

St Louis City vs New York City Prediction odds via bet365 as at 09:00, February 28, 2024. Odds may now differ.

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St Louis City vs New York City Team News and Possible Lineups: Club Legend still missing for visitors

St Louis is near full-strength for this one, with only full-back Kyle Hiebert (knee) and midfielder Rasmus Alm (hip) expected to miss out, barring any last-minute injuries suffered in the CONCACAF Champions Cup bout with Houston Dynamo. However, doubts remain over veteran centre-back Tim Parker, who came off injured after 35 minutes on opening weekend.

With so much young, exciting talent at his disposal, Nick Cushing has a selection dilemma on his hands. Santiago Rodriguez, Julian Fernandez, Monsef Bakrar and Talles Magnon now have new signings Hannes Wolf, Jovan Mijatovic and Agustin Ojeda to compete with in attacking areas.

One player who won’t be fit is 37-year-old club legend Maxi Moralez, who injured his cruciate ligament in September. The Argentine is expected back in late May.

St Louis City possible starting lineup:
Búrki; Totland, Nilsson, Yaro, Markanich; Blom, Löwen, Vassilev; Pompeu, Klauss, Adeniran

New York City possible starting lineup:
Freese; Ilenic, Martins, Risa, O’Toole; Parks, Sands; Rodriguez, Wolf; Bakrar, Mijatovic.

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Match Stats: Strong St Louis

• St Louis were the top scorers in the Western Conference – only Columbus and Atlanta have scored more (Eastern).
• Only two players made more key passes than Löwen in GW1.
• The two sides have never met in a competitive fixture.
• Both sides were in the top seven for fouls committed in GW1: SLC – 15 and NYCFC – 17.

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St Louis Fixtures: St Louis wanting strong start

• Vs NYCFC (H)
• Vs Austin Fc (A)
• Vs La Galaxy (A)
• Vs Dc United (H)
• Vs Salt Lake (A)

NYCFC Fixtures: Trio Of Tough Away Games

• Vs St Louis Fc (A)
• Vs Portland Timbers (H)
• Vs Toronto (H)
• Vs Cincinnati (A)
• Vs Inter Miami (A)

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SAFER GAMBLING

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