The 2022 Major League Soccer season opened with two distinct trends.
Home teams earned seven victories and played to five draws. Seattle and San Jose were the only home sides not to earn points.
Seattle also falls into the second trend of teams involved in the Concacaf Champions League unable to pick up results.
Seattle, CF Montreal, New York City FC and the New England Revolution should have their attention on the CCL quarterfinal first legs that take place on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Three of those four teams sit in vulnerable spots, either on the road, or at home against tough opposition, and that is my primary focus of Week 2 MLS betting.
Week 2 MLS Picks
Overall Record: 3-0
Vancouver Whitecaps (+265) vs. New York City FC (Saturday, 6 p.m. ET)
Vancouver landed a spot in the 2021 MLS Cup Playoffs because of its home form at BC Place.
The Whitecaps went 7-1-1 at home from August on last season.
Vancouver sits in a good position to keep that form up on Saturday against New York City FC, who should be focused on the CCL first leg at home against Comunicaciones.
NYCFC should not risk its top talents with an important and winnable match on the horizon, and its lineup decisions may be affected by the turf inside BC Place.
NYCFC's attack managed a single shot on target in its season-opening loss to LA Galaxy and that part of the field could be limited by the potential rotation and not wanting to put a ton of minutes on turf on the legs on some players ahead of a long trip back to the east coast ahead of the CCL match on Wednesday.
3-Team Parlay
Philadelphia, Vancouver, Real Salt Lake ML (+3075)
I need to begin this section by saying you should only put a small unit on this parlay.
It is worth a small play because Philadelphia, Vancouver and Real Salt Lake all face opponents that play in the CCL midweek.
The Union take on a CF Montreal side that will be without Romell Quioto due to a red-card suspension and they should get stronger with the expected debut of Mikael Uhre.
Vancouver has turf and NYCFC's looming cross-continent trip back at home playing in its favor.
Real Salt Lake takes on a Seattle side that lost its season opener at home to Nashville and has an important match ahead against Club Leon on Wednesday.
Colorado Rapids vs. Atlanta United (Saturday, 6 p.m. ET, ESPN+)
Josef Martinez to Score (+200)
Two factors are in play with the Josef Martinez pick.
Colorado's defense was torched by Carlos Vela in Week 1. The Mexican star picked up a hat-trick for LAFC.
Atlanta United comes to Dick's Sporting Goods Park without Luiz Araujo, which leaves more opportunities for Martinez to find the back of the net.
Martinez will be the Five Stripes' primary threat up top and he could work into the same gaps that Vela found one week ago.
This is also one of the few times this season you can bet on Martinez to score at +200 or above. If he scores at his regular rate, that number will drop significantly.
LAFC vs. Portland Timbers (Sunday, 10 p.m. ET, FS1)
Carlos Vela to Score (+105)
Speaking of Carlos Vela.
LAFC's star forward is still listed below even money to score and he is worth taking here based on his Week 1 performance.
Vela is out of contract in the middle of the season and he is playing for as much money as LAFC, or another club in the world, will pay him. That makes him an even more dangerous striker than he already is.