Opening 2021 MLS Cup Odds Favor LAFC at +400; Columbus & Seattle Listed at +500

• Despite just one playoff win in team history, Los Angeles FC is the +400 to win the 2021 MLS Cup
• Defending champion Columbus Crew and beaten finalist Seattle Sounders the joint second favorites at +500
• Read on for a look at the MLS Cup contenders, full odds and a best bet for the 2021 MLS season

The 2021 Major League  Soccer season kicks off on April 17 – the latest start in league history – and brings with it renewed hope that this will be the year for Los Angeles FC. Though Bob Bradley’s team is entering only its fourth season of existence, the seemingly perennial MLS Cup odds favorites are right up there on top of the leaderboard once more, above both of last season’s MLS Cup finalists, the champion Columbus Crew and runner-up Seattle Sounders.

Of course, winning the MLS Cup requires a team to win four playoff games in a single postseason as of 2020’s playoff rejig, an undertaking that a team with just one playoff win in its franchise history is falling well short of. But LAFC aren’t the only team with a legitimate shot of landing that coveted MLS Cup. Defending champions Columbus are returning an almost unchanged roster, while Seattle is coming off a fourth title game appearance in five seasons.

2021 MLS Cup Odds

All odds taken March 15th at DraftKings

Can LAFC Bring CONCACAF Form Home?

The Black and Gold may have suffered through another first-round playoff exit, but their season still bore fruit, fruit that should ripen even more in 2021.

First and foremost, LAFC reached the final of the CONCACAF Champions League, becoming the first team to eliminate three Mexican teams on the road to the final. Though they narrowly lost to a fourth, Tigres UANL, in that game, just reaching the last two in the continental showpiece was a major breakthrough for a team that has underwhelmed both in MLS playoffs and at the MLS Is Back tournament last July.

Vela, Rossi Ready to Roll

Looking to 2021, LAFC will be bringing back the previous two MLS scoring leaders with Carlos Vela and Diego Rossi, with the duo starting just four games together last season after Vela sat out the MLS Is Back tournament before tearing knee ligaments shortly afterward.

Diego Rossi, @LAFC forward, had another incredible season for the club in 2020, winning the @MLS Golden Boot with 14 goals⚽️We can’t wait to celebrate Diego’s great season at this year’s #LASportsAwards #GreatestMoment pic.twitter.com/HaYoK8lQ7M

— Los Angeles Sports Council (@lasportscouncil) March 11, 2021

And there are justifiable reasons for excitement on the defensive side of the ball, too. With the club conceding a franchise-worst 1.77 goals per game last year, LAFC have added South Korean international right-back Kim Moon-hwan and left back Marco Farfan was brought over from Portland in a trade.

Columbus Cruise

While LAFC look to be the preseason class of the Western Conference, it’s tough to overlook the defending champions in the East. The Crew enjoyed a powerhouse 2020, finishing with the fourth-best points-per-game percentage in the entire league, getting surprisingly knocked out of the MLS Is Back tournament on penalties despite not losing a game, and then capping it all with the franchise’s second MLS Cup.

Kevin Molino leads Minnesota United to the Western Conference Final!

This goal was special 😍 #MLSCupPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/vIRd7RrU1f

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) December 4, 2020

To that Cup-winning core, general manager Tim Bezbatchenko has added winger Kevin Molino, who led all playoff scorers with four goals for Minnesota last year, veteran defender Perry Kitchen, Romanian playmaker Alexandru Matan and Bradley Wright-Phillips, the sixth all-time leading scorer in MLS history.

Zelarayan Set to Soar

In his first season in MLS, Argentine playmaker Lucas Zelarayan was named the league’s newcomer of the year following eight goals in 21 appearances. Most notably, he seemed a man for the big occasion, scoring the first two goals and assisting on the third as the Crew overpowered the Sounders 3-0 in MLS Cup, with Zelarayan named the MVP of the match.

The youngster was injury-hit through much of his first season in North America, too, with three separate injury spells that cost him seven regular-season games. With better attacking talent around him in the shape of Molina, Matan and Wright-Phillips, just staying healthy should see an uptick in production from one of the 2021 MLS MVP favorites.

And that should ultimately help Columbus towards a second straight MLS Cup.

Pick: Columbus Crew (+500)