Goals, fireworks and dramatic finishes, that is what Major League Soccer brings for its players, coaches and fans. After three months off, MLS kicks off on Saturday. The season will move to Apple TV, where all fans can watch every game, no blackouts, for $14.99 a month.
Defending Supporters’ Shield recipient, and MLS cup champion, Los Angles Football Club will look to build on their best season in club history. They played the Eastern Conference Champions, the Philidelphia Union, in the MLS Cup. They were tied 3-3 after 120 minutes before going into penalty kicks where LAFC won 3-0.
LAFC will look to defend their crown in the 2023 season starting with their cross state rival LA Galaxy at Rose Bowl stadium on Saturday at 5:30. LAFC brings back a deadly attack of Carlos Vela, Denis Bounaga and young dynamic wing Kwadwo Opoku. The Galaxy brings big name Javier Hernandez, better known as Chicharito, to the table. His attack partner will be former Barcelona midfielder Riqui Puig.
Also opening the season with a rivalry game is the Philadelphia Union. They’ll be looking to start the 2023 season the way the 2022 season ended, with a win. They’ll take on their rival Columbus at 4:30 on Saturday.
Philadelphia finished top of the eastern conference with 67 points, hoisting a record of 19 wins, 10 draws and only five losses. Phili is led by 3-time goalkeeper of the year Andre Blake. Columbus is coming off an eighth-place finish in the Eastern Conference with 10 wins, 16 draws and eight losses. They also won the MLS Cup in 2020.
The Crew fired head coach Caleb Porter after a poor season and hired former Montreal head coach Wilfried Nancy during the off-season. Columbus is led by new forward Cucho Hernandez, who came midway through the MLS season last year and made a significant impact for the Columbus Crew.
The league has been famous for expansion teams with teams like LAFC, Austin, Nashville and last year, Charlotte. This year, a 28th team joins the MLS with St Louis FC having their debut game for their club on Saturday against Austin FC. Austin is coming off their second season in club history, posting the second-best record in the Western Conference and hosting their first ever playoff game. Austin, however, lost 3-0 to eventual champions LAFC in the Western Conference Finals.
Austin is loaded with talent as Sebastian Driussi and Diego Fagundez hope to lead their team to glory.
One of the most disappointing teams of the 2022 season was the Seattle Sounders. They finished second the year prior and reached the Western Conference Semifinals before losing to the Colorado Rapids. The Sounders finished in eleventh place with 12 wins, five draws and 17 losses, posting their worst season in club history.
The surprise of the offseason was an in-league transfer; longtime Atlanta United striker Josef Martinez, unhappy with how Atlanta’s project was going, asked for a transfer. Atlanta obliged and sent the Venezuelan native to Inter Miami. Martinez left Atlanta after six seasons, a championship in 2018 and a club record 98 goals.
Martinez will look to help Inter Miami, who finished sixth place and was one of the lower scoring teams in the league. Inter Miami will host Atlanta United on June 6, and Martinez will be looking to show Atlanta what he still has in the tank.
With all of the off-season moves and rivalry games to start the season, this will be a weekend that soccer fans won’t want to miss.
Jayden Barfuss can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @JaydenBarfuss10.