2022 MLS Cup Odds, Season Preview & Week 1 Picks

• The Major League Soccer season kicks off on Saturday, February 26, 2022
• LAFC opens as early MLS Cup favorites, while the league welcomes Charlotte FC as the latest expansion side
• Read on for a look at the contenders to win the 2022 MLS Cup and the odds for every Week 1 match below

In what’s been one of the shortest offseasons in Major League Soccer history, MLS Week 1 kicks off on Saturday, February 26, just over two months after New York City FC defeated Portland in the final on December 11.

Odds to Win 2022 MLS Cup

Odds as of Feb 25 at DraftKings

However, it’s not either of these teams that top the odds board when it comes to MLS futures betting. Instead, it’s Los Angeles FC and new head coach Steve Cherundolo who lead the way at +650.

The league’s 28th team joins MLS with Charlotte FC (+4000 odds) now in the mix. However, fans in North Carolina may need to temper their expectations in Year 1. The team has not done a great job in building out their roster and missed out on a few key signings they were expecting to make. In fact, their own head coach gave a very honest quote this offseason saying, “We are screwed.”

But now, onto some teams, that shouldn’t be screwed.

2022 MLS Cup Contenders

LAFC lit the league on fire when they joined a few years ago but fell off the pace last season and finished out of the playoffs in ninth. With a healthy and hopefully motivated Carlos Vela and Brian Rodriguez, they have a lethal attack. Cristian Arango only played 17 games last season but he scored an incredible 14 goals in that short time. If he can replicate anything close to that over a full season, he could win the MLS Golden Boot.

LAFC have also added players like Ryan Hollingshead (def/mid), Kellyn Acosta (mid) and Maxime Crepeau (keeper) this offseason. A healthy Eddie Segura at center back will go a long way to shoring up their weak backline last season,

https://twitter.com/USsoccerinsight/status/1494751745142145031?s=20&t=-YfE2PCz8JzsXaMQxUjdVw

New York returns much of their lineup, with Golden Boot winner Taty Castellanos still in the mix (for now), while Portland has re-signed Sebastian Blanco, but has bid farewell to club legend Diego Valeri. Valeri returned to his hometown club Atletico Lanus in Argentina. MLS Cup odds for NYCFC and Portland are currently +700 and +2500 respectively.

The defending champs were first in open play xG, as well as in open play shots and shots on per game last season. There’s no reason not to expect another strong season from the Pigeons.

Taty Castellanos rumors continue to swirl, James Sands is gone and Anton Tinnerholm is hurt. Ahead of their season opener at the #LAGalaxy, the question marks facing #NYCFC this season: https://t.co/lEBwG04gf0

— Jake Nisse (@jakenisse) February 25, 2022

Last year’s Supporters Shield winners the New England Revolution look to take the next step and win MLS Cup in 2022. If they do, they’ll have to do it without US national team keeper Matt Turner who is on his way to Arsenal in June. The Revs have also brought in another American, striker Jozy Altidore from Toronto. Canadian Tajon Buchanon who had eight goals last season is now in Belgium with Club Brugge.

The odds could be stacked against either New England or NYC though. No team has repeated as Cup champs since the LA Galaxy in 2012. As well, no team has repeated as Supporters’ Shield winners since the Galaxy in 2011. Only seven times has a team won both in the same season.

Official, confirmed. New England Revolution announce full agreement reached with Arsenal for USMNT goalkeeper Matt Turner, done deal. ⚪️🔴🇺🇸 #AFC

Turner will join Arsenal in July, ready for next season – he was dreaming of Premier League football. pic.twitter.com/HMwI9BdgP2

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) February 11, 2022

It was a rare final that didn’t see the rave green participating last season. But the Seattle Sounders were strong all year until they unraveled at the very end. The whole gang is back though and Jordan Morris and Nico Lodeiro look to be healthy from the start. They still have Raul Ruidiaz, Joao Paulo and Cristian Roldan and expecting anything less than a deep playoff run would be a huge letdown. Oh, and just for good measure, they’ve added Albert Rusnak to the fold too. Rusnak comes over from RSL, and during his time as a DP in Salt Lake, he amassed 41 goals and 39 assists in 140 regular season matches.

Despite the success of teams like Philadelphia and Colorado, I still believe it takes a team with legitimate stars to get over the hump and lift the cup. These teams are strong regular season teams, but I’m not sure they can win it all.

Colorado has lost Cole Bassett and Kelly Acosta, while Philadelphia has lost Pryzbylko. But if Julian Carranza (Miami) or Mikael Uhre (Brondby, Denmark) hit the ground running, they could be dangerous. Uhre was the Danish league Golden Boot winner last season.

MLS Cup Longshots

The Vancouver Whitecaps are way down the oddsboard, currently priced at 50-1 odds. It will be hard to head coach Vanni Sartini to replicate the enthusiasm he brought to the club last season. So too will it be tough to replicate a streak that saw them go 10-10-2 from July to November, before bowing out in the playoffs to Sporting KC. They’ll also need young keeper Thomas Hasal to step up and replace Crepeau, one of the league’s top keepers, who’s departed for LAFC.

Meanwhile, the aforementioned SKC were three points out from the top spot in the West. They’ll surely be in the mix again but will be without DP Alan Pulido all season with a knee injury which will be a massive blow.

Lost Alan Pulido to injury but acquired young depth to go with Daniel Salloi & Johnny Russell.

Is this enough for Peter Vermes' squad to make a deep postseason run? #MLSisBack

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) February 25, 2022

Portland should still contend for the playoffs. But Valeri is gone, Andy Polo was released amid legal issues and Diego Chara is another year older. They also had one of the worst defenses of any playoff team last year. Blanco is back, but if he goes down with any prolonged injury, they’re likely in trouble.

Key MLS Offseason Moves

One of the teams who have become known for making moves in MLS over the last number of years did so again this offseason in Toronto. The biggest offseason move for the team and league overall comes in the form of Lorenzo Insigne. Insigne becomes the highest-paid player in MLS history when he joins TFC this summer from Napoli. He’ll make $13 million per year for four years. The Italian international is currently Napoli’s captain in Serie A and recently won the Euros with Italy last summer.

They’ll now be another Bradley on the team, as captain Michael Bradley’s father, Bob Bradley, comes over from LAFC. His experience will be counted on to get a young TFC club back to the level of years past, and not that of last season, where they finished 13th in the East.

Lorenzo Insigne passes Diego Maradona's total of 115 goals to become Napoli's third-highest goalscorer of all time 💙 pic.twitter.com/4hjYerJJif

— GOAL (@goal) February 12, 2022

One of the team’s icons from past seasons, Jozy Altidore is now in New England. Other changes see Yeferson Soteldo sent to Tigres in Liga MX, while defender Carlos Salcedo, also from Tigres, and a Mexican international, has joined the backline. Newcomer Jesús Jiménez should become one of TFC’s top strike options. The Spanish forward joins from the Polish Ekstraklasa and has already shown flashes in pre-season.

Look it’s unlikely TFC gets back to MLS Cup 2022 this year, but if they stay above water and add Insigne and maybe another star this summer, their +1600 odds could be a bargain and worth a flier. But be sure to shop around, because +2500 odds on TFC are out there.

Another big name to join MLS this offseason is Xherdan Shaqiri who joins the Chicago Fire midfield as a Designated Player. Shaqiri is a Swiss international and will look to provide veteran leadership to a young Fire team. Shaqiri comes over from Lyon in France, and previously from Liverpool in the EPL. Chicago also adds a new striker in Kacper Przybylko from the Philadelphia Union.

▪️ 205 goals for club & country
▪️ 3x Bundesliga Championships
▪️ 2x UEFA Champions League titles
▪️ 1x Premier League Championship
▪️ 3x World Cup appearances with Switzerland

Sneak peak of what to expect from @XS_11official. https://t.co/8gbOefrZRY

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) February 9, 2022

Costa, Almada, Velasco Next Wave of MLS Newcomers

Douglas Costa comes to the LA Galaxy as part of a long list of world-renowned stars to play for the Galaxy. Costa is more a set-up man and has had some injury concerns over the years, but brings experience with some of the biggest clubs, such as Bayern Munich and Juventus.

USMNT striker Ricardo Pepi is now playing for Augsburg in the Bundesliga. But with the $20 million FC Dallas received for that sale, they made a splash signing Alan Velasco, a winger from Independiente in Argentina. That’s more than double the transfer fee that FCD has paid for anyone in club history.

Over in Atlanta, it was another offseason spent splashing the cash. The $16 million they spent on attacker Thiago Almada broke the league record for incoming transfers. The Five Stripes will be hoping for more than they got from past big-time signings, Pity Martinez and Ezequiel Barco, neither of which are still in the ATL.

Las mejores contrataciones del 2022 en la MLS 🇺🇸:

🇮🇹 Lorenzo Insigne (Toronto FC)
🇧🇷 Douglas Costa (LA Galaxy)
🇨🇭 Xherdan Shaqiri (Chicago Fire)
🇦🇷 Thiago Almada (Atlanta United)
🇺🇾 Facundo Torres (Orlando City)
🇦🇷 Alan Velasco (FC Dallas)

Top. 👏🏼 pic.twitter.com/Lm70i5MLNP

— Ataque Futbolero (@AtaqueFutbolero) February 22, 2022

MLS Cup Best Bet

With everything said above let’s zero in on some 2022 MLS Cup best bets.

Nashville should be in the conversation. But they drew 18 times last season. That’s more than half of their league games. Surely they’ll turn a few of those draws into three-point wins. But surely some will result in defeat as well in 2022. They’ll be in a new conference (West) this season and the new surroundings could take some time to adjust to. They also start the season with eight games on the road while their new stadium is being built. In Hany Mukhtar, they do have a legitimate Golden Boot contender to match an incredible defense.

One of the top defenses in MLS combined with an MVP candidate in Hany Mukhtar.@NashvilleSC has big aspirations this season. #MLSisBack

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) February 23, 2022

Nashville could certainly be worth a +1200 odds. But I’m still going to side with some teams with a little more experience.

The Revs did it all last year besides winning the MLS Cup. Well actually, they came up short of even making the final, losing in the Conference Finals to NYCFC. It will be damn near impossible to duplicate their record-breaking regular season performance of 73 points, but perhaps the pressure of not winning another Supporters’ Shield will be best for them, With basically the whole roster back they are one of the deserving favorties. Losing Turner and also likely Adam Buksa could hurt though.

Which is why I’ll give another team with the bulk of their roster back a slight edge and pick the Sounders over the Revs in the final.

MLS Cup Best Bet: Seattle Sounders (+750)

MLS Week 1 Odds and Best Bets

Keep in mind that five teams have already seen their seasons get underway, playing in the Round of 16 of the CONCACAF Champions League. They include NYCFC, Montreal, Seattle, Colorado, and New England. However, the Revs were automatically qualified through the round due to the disqualification of Haitian side Cavaly.

With an even 28 teams now in the league most weeks should feature 14 matches. All 28 teams are in action this weekend and below are a few betting notes from MLS Week 1.

MLS Week 1 Odds

Inter Miami vs Chicago Fire: This is not a great game on paper. And it probably won’t be a great game to watch either. Chicago is historically an awful road team. However, Miami, now in year three, are somehow back into rebuild mode. Miami brings back just 37% of their starting minutes from last year. It’s basically DP Gonzalo Higuain and a bunch of kids. Chicago is the team a little more in order going into this one and I’ll bet them to at least not lose. Pick: Chicago Double Chance (-140)

Dallas vs Toronto: Both of these teams had horrible defenses in 2021, with Dallas conceding 56 times and Toronto 66. Dallas is always a tough out at home, while Bob Bradley will be looking to make a statement with his first game in charge of TFC. As bad as TFC was last year, they still have Alejandro Pozuelo, Ayo Akinola, Michael Bradley, and a host of promising youngsters. Both teams will be capable of finding the back of the net Saturday. Pick: Both Teams to Score (-165)

Josef Martinez scoring twice and bombing back to defend in the 89th minute has to be a welcome sight for Atlanta United fans.

He looks significantly healthier.

— MLS Buzz (@MLS_Buzz) February 20, 2022

Atlanta vs SKC: Josef Martinez is now two years removed from his ACL injury, and together with Thiago Almada, Marcelino Moreno and Luiz Araujo could form one of the top attacks in the league. SKC conceded in 13/17 road matches last season and Atlanta at home should be able to score a couple and come out with the win on opening day. Pick: Atlanta to Win (-125)

LA Galaxy vs NYCFC: There’s a lot of firepower out there between these two teams. It’s the home opener for the Galaxy and Chicharito should be looking to get off to a strong start. The Galaxy scored 50 goals while conceding 54 last year. They’ll be up against Golden Boot winner Castelennos and the MLS Cup champs who had a straightforward time of things in CCL against Santos de Guapiles. This one should see some goals. Pick: Both Teams to Score & Over 2.5 Goals (-105)

😎 @CH14_ said double or nothing

Check out Chicharito’s brace from yesterdays preseason match pic.twitter.com/HxZV0EVE3W

— LA Galaxy (@LAGalaxy) February 20, 2022

Seattle vs Nashville: Seattle very well could win another MLS Cup this year, but Nashville SC could also push them near the top of the West. The Sounders ended 2021 in poor form. They struggled in their first CCL match against Motagua, before blowing them away 5-0 at home in the second leg Thursday night. The Sounders could be forced to rotate a few players with the short turnaround and Nashville are the draw kings. Pick: Draw (+245)

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