The Top 4 Contenders for the 2023 MLS Cup

The 2023 Major League Soccer (MLS) season is up and running. The march to the postseason playoffs has already begun, with several teams in contention for this year’s MLS Cup. If the early season futures odds are anything to go by, this promises to be one of the most competitive MLS campaigns yet. Below, we assess the chances of the four most fancied sides based on the latest sportsbook odds.

Los Angeles FC are the reigning MLS Cup champions and have also landed their second Supporters’ Shield. This explains why LA FC is the outright favorite with DraftKings Sportsbook to make it back-to-back MLS Cups. They are priced at +400 with the operator that expanded into conventional sports betting in 2018 after establishing itself as a pioneer of daily fantasy sports.

With millions of active users in the US now, it’s no surprise the DraftKings Sportsbook promo code is one of the most competitive in the American sports betting scene. It contains a mixture of free bets and matched deposit promotions that can be used on Steve Cherundolo’s troops or on any of the other contenders listed in this article.

The Union were one of the pre-season favorites with the sportsbooks before a ball had even been kicked in the 2023 MLS regular season. They backed up that favoritism with a thumping 4-1 win over Columbus Crew on the opening day. However, a loss on the road to the improving Inter Miami suggests there’s still work to be done.

Union head coach Jim Curtin has retained much of his roster for the 2023 season, with all of his regular starters from 2022 still featuring, alongside new offseason recruits such as Andrés Perea, Joaquín Torres, and Argentine forward Julián Carranza, for a fraction of his market value according to Transfermarkt.

The Seattle Sounders look like they mean business this season. Back-to-back clean sheets and two victories against Colorado and Real Salt Lake has seen the Sounders move to the top of the Western Conference. Seattle needed to buck their ideas up in the close season. They missed out on the postseason playoffs in 2022 for the first time in the franchise’s 14-year history in the MLS. Seattle have a great chance to stamp their mark on this season’s competition. Head coach, Brian Schmetzer, appears to have his team playing a fluid brand of football. The lack of CONCACAF Champions League football could play into the Sounders’ hands this term, keeping them fit and fresh for a bold 2023 MLS Cup bid.

Nashville SC also has a sound chance of pushing for the postseason playoffs and MLS Cup glory in 2023. They started the new season with a solid 2-0 home victory over New York City and followed it up with a gritty goalless draw at the New York Red Bulls.

Nashville SC have been perennial playoff contender since joining the MLS in 2020, but have yet to go all the way. The presence of US men’s national team center half Walker Zimmerman and the Landon Donovan MLS MVP Hany Mukhtar, gives Nashville the “X Factor” that could tip the scales in their favor this campaign.