Soccer Betting Odds have the game as a pick’em and the over/under total at 2.5.

The Sounders are opening their third season in MLS and have had great success for an expansion team. And the fans have followed, with the Sounders leading the MLS in attendance in their first two seasons.

Seattle has also made the MLS playoffs both seasons, and has won the Lamar Hunt U.S Open Cup the past two seasons qualifying them for the CONCACAF Champions Cup where they play not only North American football clubs, but also teams from Central America and the Caribbean.

This season, the Sounders are aiming to not just make the MLS playoffs, but win the MLS cup.

Last year, the Sounders finished the season with 10 wins in their last 15 matches to make the MLS playoffs, but were knocked out in the conference semifinals by the Galaxy.

LA looks solid again this season, with one key departure and addition. Striker Edson Buddle is no longer with the team as he signed to play with FC Inglostadt 04 of the Second German League in January.  The Galaxy replaced him with former Aston Villa and New York Red Bull star striker Juan Pablo Angel in the offseason.

The Galaxy won the 2010 Supporters Shield as the top finisher in the MLS, return with other notable players such as Omar Gonzalez, David Beckham and Landon Donavan.

Houston and New York played earlier this season, on June 2nd. In that game, New York walked away victorious by a score of 2-1. However, past results are not indicative of the future, and Houston has the advantage of playing at home. In order to walk away with a win, Houston needs Pat Onstad, their goalkeeper, to have a great game. He currently has 32 saves on the season. They also need Brad Davis and Brian Ching, who each have 3 goals on the year, to have a big game.

New York, on the other hand, needs their goalkeeper, Bouna Coundoul, to keep playing like he has been. He has 50 saves on the year. They also need Juan Pablo Angel to keep doing what he does best, which is scoring goals. He already has 9 goals on the year.

If their last game, which ended up 2-1, is any indication, Saturday’s MLS match between Houston and New York will be exciting. Despite one team being higher in the standings than the other, all signs point to a close, hard-fought game. Tune in on Saturday night to see who walks away victorious.

New York welcomes Chicago for the Season Opener on Saturday, and it’s a game that’s lining up to be very intense as both teams fight for a good start. Last season, Chicago finished 2nd in the Eastern Conference, losing in the Eastern Conference Final to MLS Champions Real Salt Lake. New York struggled to finish with just 5 wins all season and held a firm grip to the bottom of the table.

Last season, the New York Red Bulls suffered two losses to the Chicago Fire, losing both games by a single point.

For Chicago, Juan Pablo Angel is back as well as other well-seasoned professionals like CJ Brown and Brian McBride, who could prove to make an early claim to help The Fire top the Eastern Conference.

For New York, they are currently an in-form side and are coming off of ten straight victories in their pre-season. If their form continues this weekend, it could be the start of a great new season for the Red Bulls.

They met in Washington and discussed different agreements but it is apparent that no deal has been made. This could lead to a possible soccer strike since the deadline is coming up quickly and the two parties did not meet this Tuesday. Here are few notes on the progress of the talks so far.

The first thing to note is that negotiations thrive on last minute pressure and small windows of opportunity. Many of these kinds of talks go down to the last minute where the differing parties start compromising. This does not mean that agreements always come before the deadline, so there is still a chance that a work stoppage could happen.

The facts are that the players union needs to either make a deal or get ready for a long strike. The pressure is on the union right now to be strong and resolved over the next two days. If they choose to make a deal they need to make the MLS give up some meaningful ground somewhere along the lines.

If no collective bargaining agreement can be reached then the union needs to be prepared to have a lengthy strike and not budge. They do this until MLS decides to finally give in somewhere. Anything less than this and the players union will be in trouble for future agreements and bargains that are to be reached.