Earlier this month, MLS and Liga MX exposed the group phase tasks for the 2024 Leagues Cup. Just like last year, 47 groups from both Major League Soccer and Liga MX will contend in the 2nd edition of the competition, which will start on July 26 with the group phase.
Club América, by virtue of being the leading Liga MX group by aggregate points, and the Columbus Crew, the 2023 MLS Cup champ, both made a bye through the group phase, leaving the other 45 groups split into 15 groups, 7 in the East and 8 in the West.
So, with the groups set, which MLS groups have the finest course to emerging from the group and into the Round of 32? Sounder At Heart’s Jeremiah Oshan broke down the groups from a rankings pointofview, seeing how the numbers stack up:
Because I’m a geek, I ranked the Leagues Cup groups in terms of problem. I took each club’s Leagues Cup’s ranking and Concacaf Club ranking, then balanced those. By that formula, West 3 is the softest and East 3 is the hardest. Sounders have second softest. pic.twitter.com/KmpIBqvUQB
— Jeremiah Oshan (@JeremiahOshan) January 31, 2024
It veryfirst assists to comprehend how the pots were drawn. The groups were divided into 3 pots, with a group taken from each to kind the groups.
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Next, you use Oshan’s rankings list with the numerous groups.
I stoppedworking to do East 7, however they came in as the 3rd simplest group.
— Jeremiah Oshan (@JeremiahOshan) February 1, 2024
In the West 3 group, FC Dallas and St. Louis City both have a fantastic opportunity of getting out of the group versus FC Juarez, one of the mostaffordable ranked groups. St. Louis City is allset to run it back after last year’s effective launching that saw them surface as the leading group in the Western Conference, while FC Dallas needto be able to choice off points from Juarez and get to the Round of 32.
LAFC is restoring with some brand-new stars in the mix, however the club hasactually constructed its lineup for success in significant competitions. They needto be the favorites in West 7 when they face the Vancouver Whitecaps and Club Tijuana, with brand-new goalkeeper Hugo Lloris as the anchor and specifically if they can discover a method to keep Denis Bouanga delighted in black.
Atlanta United is set up