With the addition of Lionel Messi to the team, Inter Miami has already gone from the biggest longshot in MLS to one of the top favorites to win the Eastern Conference at odds. Messi made his debut for Inter Miami in the team’s first game of the Leagues Cup tournament, which Inter Miami went on to win after entering in last place with the worst record in Major League Soccer.
Below, we’ll look at current MLS betting odds from top sports betting sites in the wake of Inter Miami’s Leagues Cup win.
Inter Miami odds
Before Messi joined the team, Inter Miami was one of the biggest underdogs in MLS with +20000 odds to win the MLS Cup. After news broke that Messi had signed with Inter Miami, the team’s odds immediately improved to +10000.
But now that Messi has made such a proven impact on the team by guiding Inter Miami to a victory in the Leagues Cup, those odds have dropped again. Inter Miami is now one of the top two favorites to win the MLS Eastern Conference at odds, and it is one of the top eight favorites to win the MLS Cup at .
Messi top goalscorer odds
Though Messi is joining Inter Miami midway through the current MLS campaign, he’s still among the favorites to finish with the most goals for the regular season. Messi finished the Leagues Cup with 10 goals in seven games, making him the tournament’s top scorer. Those goals do not count toward MLS league leader totals, however, as they came in a separate competition.
The current top goalscorer in MLS is Hany Mukhtar of Nashville SC, with 13 goals in 24 games. Unsurprisingly, Mukhtar is also the current top favorite to finish the season with the most goals, at odds. Also among the favorites at odds is Denis Bouanga of LAFC, who currently has 12 goals, as does Georgios Giakoumakis of Atlanta United at .
Messi will be starting at zero, with only half the season still to play. Nonetheless, after his performance in the Leagues Cup, he is among the favorites to win the top goalscorer title with odds.
How Inter Miami won the Leagues Cup
When Messi joined Inter Miami, it was the biggest signing in MLS history. Widely regarded as the world’s best player and one of the greatest to ever play the game of soccer, Messi’s move to MLS was a shock to the entire soccer world.
Inter Miami came into the Leagues Cup — a World Cup-style tournament featuring all teams from both Major League Soccer and Mexico’s Liga MX — as the last-place team in the Eastern Conference with the worst record in the league. But after Messi’s signing, the team became one of the favorites to win the Leagues Cup at +1200 odds.
Messi’s 10 goals in seven games, including the team’s lone goal in the tournament final, helped Inter Miami win the Leagues Cup trophy. The performance included three matches in which Messi scored multiple goals, and Inter Miami easily breezed into the finals after blowout victories in the quarterfinals and semifinals.
Messi also added four assists in those seven Leagues Cup matches, spreading out the scoring among his Inter Miami teammates.
