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It’s been one day since Atlanta United clinched a trip to the MLS Cup Final and already the odds makers are coming out with predictions. According to Five Thirty Eight, the Five Stripes are 77% favorites to win the match. Those are outlandish odds and the seem unbelievable, but they answer a question that Portland’s biggest fan was asking earlier in the day.
Next Saturday won’t be easy. Great team and tough venue. Cant wait to hear from pundits what our “odds” are this time...
— Merritt Paulson (@MerrittPaulson) November 30, 2018
But Dallas away knockout wasnt easy
Seattle wasnt easy
KC wasnt easy
There’s one place zero doubt exists: in our locker room. #rctid
I tried to look, but couldn’t find out how heavily 538 weighed “locker room doubt fist emoji, fist emoji, fist emoji” as a value in their models.
If you remember the website gave Atlanta United fans bad news back in October as it predicted that the team would lose the Supporters’ Shield after falling to Toronto FC. Luckily, the final is a game that has a real winner and not a situation with an unsatisfying draw as a result.
Despite the good odds for Atlanta, MLS Cup finals are... weird. In 2016 Seattle went to Toronto and beat the Reds in penalties in a completely turgid and nearly unwatchable game. The season before that, of course, a comedy backpass by Wil Trapp and a questionable referee decision saw Michael Parkhurst’s Columbus Crew fall to this same Portland Timbers team in Ohio.