MLS Eastern Conference Futures (2024 Season)

The MLS is BACK for 2024 with the start of the season kicking off between Inter Miami and Real Salt Lake City on Wednesday, February 21, and the rest of the league kicking off matchday 1 between the following Saturday and Sunday. Columbus Crew are the defending champions of the MLS Cup from last season, but there is still an entire regular season to be played this year before playoffs are anywhere near so it is time to see who has the best chance of taking home the number 1 seed in the Eastern Conference this season. 

Inter Miami CF +137: Inter Miami is coming into the 2024 season as the team with the best chance at winning the Eastern Conference this year, according to the oddsmakers. Inter Miami finished last season with 34 points from a 9-7-18 record which landed them in 14th place of the Eastern Conference and 27th place overall in the MLS. Despite the poor performance in the regular season, last year was huge for Inter Miami as a club since they acquired Lionel Messi midway through the season and he began transforming this team on the pitch. By the time Messi had gotten to the team, they were already one of the worst clubs in the MLS so they were unable to really make a push for the playoffs and do damage there, but they showed their talent as they did go on to win the Leagues Cup and even made a very deep run in the US Open Cup. Lionel Messi was not the only player they acquired though as the club went out to sign a few other players that Messi is familiar playing with, and now they have also added Luis Suarez to the team who has a very long history playing with Messi at an elite level in Europe. This Inter Miami team is only going to get stronger this season now that they have had a few months playing with Messi last season and now he will be with the team from the beginning of the season as well so they have the opportunity to dominate the league this year. Inter Miami is going to be the best team in the Eastern Conference this season and will also be one of the best teams in the MLS during the regular season so all the value is with them to win the Eastern Conference this season. 

Columbus Crew +600: Columbus is coming into the 2024 season as the next team on the list with the best chance at winning the Eastern Conference this year, according to the oddsmakers. Columbus finished last season with 57 points from a 16-9-9 record which landed them in 3rd place of the Eastern Conference and 3rd place overall in the MLS. Columbus was not able to stay in the Eastern Conference race with Cincinnati running away with it for most of the season, but Columbus did their damage in the playoffs as they are the defending MLS Cup champions. One thing that helped Columbus a lot last season was that they had the strongest attack in the Eastern Conference, scoring 67 goals in their 34 matches of the regular season. They also made a lot of good moves in the summer transfer window by bringing in 2 center-backs to stabilize their defense and the addition of Diego Rossi to their attack was a good move as well. Columbus has lost some depth from last season, but overall, they are returning a lot of players from this starting lineup last year and they are going to be a dangerous team in the MLS once again. They are not the best choice to win the Eastern Conference this season but they do have some value as a potential dark horse if they can keep up with Miami in this Eastern Conference Title race and they have the best chance to beat out Miami.

FC Cincinnati +700: Cincinnati is coming into the 2024 season as the next team on the list with the best chance at winning the Eastern Conference this year, according to the oddsmakers. Cincinnati finished last season with 69 points from a 20-9-5 record which landed them in 1st place of the Eastern Conference and 1st place overall in the MLS. Cincinnati was a well balanced team last season between their defense and attack, but that is not going to be the case this season. They were able to retain a lot of their attacking players but they did lose some key pieces in the midfield and on defense as well. They were a very active team in the winter transfer window as they brought in some replacements for those players lost, but they are still going to need some time at the beginning of the season to get into rhythm with their newly acquired players, especially since they lost key pieces in the starting XI. Yerson Mosquera was not only a key piece in this defense, but he was also one of the best defenders on Cincinnati last season so that is going to be a huge loss which could set them back in the Eastern Conference Title race. They also lost some key starters in the midfield and on the attack with Junior Moreno and Brandon Vasquez leaving the club so they are going to struggle in their transition trying to create scoring chances. Cincinnati has been building a very good team over the last few years now and they are still going to be a threat in the MLS this season, but they are definitely going to take a step back this year from their dominance last season and a slower start could affect their ability to stay in the Eastern Conference race. There is not a lot of value in Cincinnati to win the Eastern Conference this season at this price. 

Philadelphia Union +800: Philadelphia is coming into the 2024 season as the next team on the list with the best chance at winning the Eastern Conference this year, according to the oddsmakers. Philadelphia finished last season with 55 points from a 15-10-9 record which landed them in 4th place of the Eastern Conference and 5th place overall in the MLS. They have been a very active team in the winter transfer window as they have added a lot of depth on defense and in their midfield, but they are also returning their entire starting XI from last season as well. Philadelphia has been a dominant team in the MLS over the last few years now and they even won the Eastern Conference back in 2022 as they were tied for the best record in the MLS with LA FC. Philadelphia still has a very good team with a lot of talent and they continue to add more depth which will be important, but they have not been the same dominant team they were 2 years ago and a lot of that has to do with their defense. They had the best defense in the MLS in the 2022 season, allowing just 26 goals in their 34 regular season matches, but that drastically changed last season as they allowed 41 goals in their 34 regular season matches, allowing 15 goals more than the previous year. The squad has not changed much at key positions since then either so a lot of that has just been aging and fatigue in the squad. Philadelphia is still going to have a very good team in the Eastern Conference this season but until they make some real changes at key positions that is going to improve performance in that area of the field, this team will be no different than they were last season as they continue to gradually decline. Philadelphia also has the playoff pedigree as well so winning the Eastern Conference is not as big of a deal to them if they fall behind more later in the season as long as they get into the playoffs. Philadelphia does not have a lot of value at this price to win the Eastern Conference with their current squad. 

The MLS has been improving a lot and there are many teams this season that can be a threat to the MLS Cup with the playoff system used in the league. The regular season is a completely different animal though that highlights the consistency and the elite talent of certain teams that can keep up that kind of performance for an entire season. Any team can get hot for a few weeks once in the playoffs, but it takes a truly talented team from top to bottom to win the respective conferences in the MLS regular season. Columbus at +600 does have some value as a dark horse here considering that they are the MLS Cup defending champions and were so strong during the regular season last year as well, but this race for the Eastern Conference this season has had it’s fate sealed ever since Messi came into the league last year and with the way the team has transformed around him, the era of Inter Miami and Lionel Messi dominance in the MLS has arrived. Inter Miami at +137 to win the Eastern Conference regular season is the best option here.