The MLS is back for another season starting on Saturday, February 22. The LA Galaxy are the defending champions from last season as they beat the New York Red Bulls in the MLS Cup Final, but neither of those teams finished at the top of their respective conferences during the regular season. Once the league gets to the playoffs it becomes anyone’s game, but the regular season is a completely different animal and not all teams are equipped to stay atop the table for the distance. Inter Miami finished at the top of the Eastern Conference last season and now that the start of the new MLS season is right around the corner, it is time to see who has the best chance of topping the Eastern Conference for the 2025 season.

Inter Miami +125: Inter Miami is coming into this season as the team with the best chance at finishing 1st in the Eastern Conference according to the oddsmakers. Inter Miami finished last season in 1st place of the Eastern Conference with 74 points from a 22-8-4 record. They had an 8 point lead over the 2nd place team and even won the Supporters’ Shield for having the best record in the entire MLS. They did lose some key pieces from last season like Diego Gomez and Matias Rojas, but they also have a lot of depth to fill those holes and they are always going to be competitive as long as Messi is still on the team. Lionel Messi is still searching for his 1st MLS Cup since coming to the league, but he got his 1st Supporters’ Shield last season as the team proved that the regular season matters to them. Inter Miami also set the all-time MLS points record for the regular season with their performance last season, but Messi did not come to the league to be a bystander so they are going to continue to push hard this season and try to break the record they set just last year. They also have the luxury of playing in the Eastern Conference which was by far the weaker conference last season, and the competition in the East has not improved that much for this season either. Inter Miami is by far the most talented team in the Eastern Conference still and they will be pushing to perform even better than last season. There is some good value in Inter Miami to finish 1st place in the Eastern Conference at this price. 

Columbus Crew +600: Columbus is coming into this season as the team with the next best chance at finishing 1st place in the Eastern Conference according to the oddsmakers. They finished last season in 2nd place of the Eastern Conference and the overall MLS table with 66 points from a 19-9-6 record. They had the best goal differential at +32, scoring 72 goals and allowing 40 goals in their 34 matches. They also had the 2nd strongest attack in the league with those 72 goals scored, but they did lose a key piece to their attack so it is going to look different for them this season. They lost Cucho Hernandez who led the team with 19 goals last season and they did not pick up a suitable replacement either. They still have a quality centre-forward in Jacen Russell-Rowe who did score 5 goals last season, but those are still going to be some very big shoes to fill in this attack for a 22 year old. Columbus still has a lot of the pieces on defense and in their midfield which has made this team so good over the last few seasons, but their attack is not going to be as strong this year with a key piece now gone from the team and no comparable replacement. They also lack a lot of depth with their forwards and that will cause problems for them trying to keep up with Miami who was the only team to finish higher last season but had 8 more points as well as 7 more goals scored. Columbus still has a very good squad that is going to be a threat in the league to win the MLS Cup this season, but they are not equipped to keep up with a team as deep as Miami in the East throughout the thick of the season. There is no real value in Columbus to finish 1st place in the Eastern Conference at this price. 

FC Cincinnati +900: Cincinnati is coming into this season as the team with the next best chance at finishing 1st place in the Eastern Conference according to the oddsmakers. Cincinnati finished last season in 3rd place of the Eastern Conference with 59 points from an 18-5-11 record. They only had a +10 goal differential as they scored 58 goals in 34 matches, but also allowed 48 goals. They won the Supporters’ Shield back in 2023 and a big part of that was their outstanding defense, but they really fell off defensively last season. They lost their leading goalscorer from last season, Luciano Acosta who had 14 goals scored and 17 assists, but they did a good job at replacing him. They brought in some forwards from some smaller clubs to bolster their attack, and they also brought in Evander who had a great season on the Portland Timbers last year. He was 2nd on the team for goals scored and also led Portland in assists so he is going to take over that role for Cincinnati and they will be a lot more organized in the midfield with him on the pitch. This will help them defensively as well, but they did not make any groundbreaking moves on the defensive side to improve. Cincinnati is still going to be a dangerous team this season, but they do not have the squad to lead the conference and stay in this race for the whole season. They also won the Supporters’ Shield just 2 years ago and did not win the MLS Cup that season so their focus is still going to be on winning the MLS Cup this season. There is not a lot of value in Cincinnati to finish 1st place in the Eastern Conference at this price. 

New York Red Bulls +1000: The New York Red Bulls are coming into this season as the team with the next best chance at finishing 1st place in the Eastern Conference according to the oddsmakers. The Red Bulls went to the MLS Cup Final last season and lost to the LA Galaxy, but they only finished in 7th place of the Eastern Conference with 47 points from an 11-14-9 record. They got hot once they were in the playoffs and played great defensively on that run, but they were a struggling team for a lot of the season. They only had a +4 goal differential with 55 goals scored and 50 goals allowed. They also led the MLS overall in draws with 14, the next closest in the East being 10. Those draws took a lot of points off the board for them and that will hurt them throughout the season as those dropped points tend to add up. They did make plenty of moves on defense to add a lot of depth, and they also boosted their attack by adding a veteran presence in Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting who has shown over the last few years that he still has some left in the tank when he has gotten his opportunities. The Red Bulls really underperformed during the season last year, but their run to the MLS Cup Final was a wake-up call for them to get in motion this season as they do have plenty of key pieces to be competitive in this league. They have the pieces to be a bit of a dark horse in the Eastern Conference this season, but they will need to clean up their play defensively which will be tough as their manager has also been holding them back a bit. There is not a lot of value in the New York Red Bulls to finish 1st place in the Eastern Conference at this price. 

Winning the regular season in the MLS is a very different animal than winning the MLS Cup as leading the table requires a lot of consistency for a long period of time. Many teams have the talent to win the MLS Cup by making a run in the playoffs once they are in, but only few teams in the league have the potential to top their conference for the season and take a shot at the Supporters’ Shield. The Eastern Conference is not a very strong conference either as the talent in the conference is very top heavy with the few elite teams while the rest of the Eastern Conference has a lot of parity in mediocrity. The run that the New York Red Bulls made in the playoffs last season could be the kick they needed to take the regular season more seriously as they did make a lot of moves to improve once they got a taste of that success so they do have a bit of value as a dark horse at +1000, but the Eastern Conference is pretty much a 2 horse race between the 2 strongest teams and the gap is quite wide for the rest of the conference. Inter Miami has taken over the MLS as a power since Messi got there and they are always going to be at the top of the league with him on the team. Inter Miami at +125 is the best option for a team to finish 1st place in the Eastern Conference for the regular season of the MLS.