MLS Anytime Goal Scoring Picks, Odds, Predictions for Saturday, May 2, 2026
May is here, and there are only a few weeks before MLS teams take an unusual two-month summer break for the 2026 World Cup. Given that pause in the proceedings, players are going to want to put their teams in good positions when the second half of the season resumes in late July – knowing that only a few matches remain. Considering that, here are three players to keep an eye on heading into Saturday’s matches.
Saturday’s Best Anytime Goalscorers
- Paul Rothrock, Seattle Sounders FC
- Preston Judd, San Jose Earthquakes
- Zavier Gozo, Real Salt Lake
Paul Rothrock, Seattle Sounders FC
The Sounders’ homegrown, working class hero of a forward has been relatively quiet on the stat sheet in the last few weeks, but he’s key to a 6-1-1 start in which he’s scored three of his team’s 12 goals. The real key to the season has been on defense — which only four goals allowed in those first eight matches — but if there’s a 1-0 win in the making, Rothrock’s due for being the difference maker.
Of course, Seattle is playing Sporting Kansas City, set for a historically bereft campaign en route the fan-created Wooden Spoon “trophy” awarded to the worst team in MLS. Given that, and the Sounders’ amassed talent, more than one goal is likely, and look for Rothrock to be a beneficiary of being matched against an inferior opponent.
Preston Judd, San Jose Earthquakes
Timo Werner was MLS’ April Player of the Month scored four goals and three assists to lead the Quakes to a fabulous run in MLS. The Quakes have won nine of their first ten matches – remarkable for a team that was cruelly shut out of the playoffs last season and remade its entire front line. But he’s out, which bodes well for Preston Judd, who actually leads the Quakes in goals with six at this stage, and has also helped spear a defensive resurgence shifting from last year’s “just outscore your opponent” approach. Last season, the Quakes gave up 63 goals; this season, they’re on pace to let in just 20.
Toronto FC, the Quakes’ opponents on Saturday, are on pace to give up 64 goals, having swapped out former U.S. international goalkeeper Sean Johnson for Luka Gavran. Gavran did do something recently that only two other MLS goalkeepers have done — scored a goal in a match — but that’s a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence. Judd scoring is more likely, especially against a ‘keeper that’s prone to let goals in.
Zavier Gozo, Real Salt Lake
It’s perhaps a long shot, but the 19-year-old right winger has been playing so dynamically for a pleasantly surprising Real Salt Lake team that he could represent the U.S. in the World Cup as a teenager. The numbers he’s accumulated so far on the season — two goals and three assists — are solid for a teenager, but don’t necessarily reflect his talent. He’s got a chance to correct for that on Saturday against a Portland team that’s struggled so far this season.
The Timbers have lost four of their first five matches on the road, and that’s contributed to their being below the playoff line. They let in nearly two goals a game, and going to Sandy, Utah, isn’t like any other road trip — it’s at altitude, in a stadium where RSL has won four of its first five matches. While one other USMNT hopeful for the hosts is more likely to score — midfielder Diego Luna — his position on the team is also more secure, though not guaranteed, than Gozo’s.
Photo Credit: AP/Lindsey Wasson
