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The Seattle Sounders have opened up an early lead as online betting favorites to win the 2021 MLS Cup, with the franchise targeting its fifth final appearance in six seasons.
Head coach Brian Schmetzer has been effective in transforming Seattle’s fortunes since arriving in Washington five years ago, with the Sounders back on track for another title challenge come December.
No team can match their +450 odds to win the MLS Cup after opening up a four-point lead atop the Western Conference, with Los Angeles FC their nearest division rivals at almost twice those odds (+800).
The competition is considerably closer in the Eastern Conference, where the New England Revolution (+500), Orlando City (+550) and Columbus Crew (+600) are separated by just +100 with the bookmakers.
Orlando are benefiting from the return of United States international Daryl Dike, who scored in his MLS comeback appearance following a loan spell at Championship club Barnsley last year:
https://twitter.com/MLS/status/1407497464433713155
Columbus Crew are the defending champions among the North American elite after beating Seattle to end their 12-year title drought last term.
The usual suspects appear prominently in the odds almost irrespective of how they’ve started this campaign. LAFC, for example, are well-backed at +800 despite the fact they’ve won only two of their first eight games, with the bookmakers clearly backing the west-coast giants to make up for lost time between now and the end of the regular season, reported Illinois Gambler betting portal.
One team that isn’t as assured of a resurgence is David Beckham’s Inter Miami, who are playing just their second season in Major League Soccer following their debut campaign in 2020.
Former England and Manchester United defender Phil Neville is off to a rocky start as manager and won just two of his first nine games in charge, though the team still sits just three points off the play-off places as things stand.
The Herons are huge +4000 underdogs to challenge for their maiden MLS Cup, though it’s not for a lack of investment in the team.
Coed.com covered Gonzalo Higuain’s move to become the best-paid player in the United States when he joined the club last year, and he’s not the only major signing to arrive in Miami.
Beckham’s club were fined $2 million and had other sanctions imposed upon them for their capture of former Juventus star Blaise Matuidi last year, per NBC.
The prospects of a title challenge this season look similarly bleak for the Canadian contingent in MLS, with the Montreal Impact and Toronto FC each at long odds of +3300 to lift the crown in 2021.
Toronto were champions as recently as 2017, but one win from their first eight outings this year sees the club stranded in Chris Armas’ first season in charge.
There’s a lot of football to be played between now and November, however, when the regular season rounds to a close, with MLS as open as most major league considering four different champions have been crowned in the past four seasons.
2021 MLS Cup Outright Odds
| Team | Odds |
| Seattle Sounders | +450 |
| New England Revolution | +500 |
| Orlando City | +550 |
| Columbus Crew | +600 |
| Los Angeles FC | +800 |
| Colorado Rapids | +1000 |
| LA Galaxy | +1400 |
| Atlanta United | +1600 |
| New York City FC | +1600 |
| Portland Timbers | +1800 |
