Depleted Whitecaps will be keen to avoid defeat

Concacaf Champions League
quarter-final, 1am Thursday

Vancouver Whitecaps steamrolled their way through their Concacaf Champions League group stage with a 100 per cent record but the Canadian outfit are rated a 9-2 chance for their quarter-final first-leg trip to New York.

Vancouver are ranked number one overall seeds having twice defeated Sporting Kansas and Central FC, a side from Trinidad & Tobago, and could be a touch overpriced.

However, avoiding defeat looks Carl Robinson’s main priority and a number of key absentees may swing the pendulum in the Red Bulls’ favour.

Yordy Reyna, Nicolas Mezquida, and the influential Costa Rican Christian Bolanos will be three big blows to the Whitecaps midfield.

New boy Fredy Montero, signed for his goalscoring touch, is still short on fitness and is another confirmed to miss out on the long trip.

The Whitecaps are unbeaten in three visits to the Red Bull Arena, winning twice, but scoring on their travels is a glaring issue and backing under 2.5 total goals may be the safest approach.

The visitors have notched in just three of their last 11 away games and only two of the seven meetings between the sides have featured three or more goals.

Red Bulls qualified with two wins and two draws and conceded just once in their group, which consisted of Antigua and Alianza.

However, they found the net just five times and a low-scoring encounter looks most likely.

Recommendation
Under 2.5 goals
1pt 11-10 Betway