MLS East vs West: which conference is the stronger in 2023?

After eight months of regular season action the MLS Cup playoffs begin on Wednesday with the newly-introduced Wild Card fixtures.

After those one-off games we will be left with eight teams from each conference, each fighting to make it to the MLS Cup final. The Eastern Conference Champion will take on the Western Conference Champion to be crowned MLS Cup winner.

Over the past ten years the two conferences have been fairly evenly matched, with five winners from each. However this time around there is reason to believe that the balance of power is leaning towards the Atlantic, rather than the Pacific.

We take a look at the state of play ahead of the 2023 MLS Cup playoffs...

Rising power in the East

The pre-tournament favourites are FC Cincinnati, the Supporters’ Shield winners and the team of Luciano Acosta, the expected MVP.

Cincinnati topped a strong Eastern Conference, finishing ahead of the impressive Orlando City; free-scoring Columbus Crew; and last year’s MLS Cup finalists Philadelphia Union. In fact, many predictions suggest that the teams from the East who look best-placed to clinch the MLS Cup this season.

MLS.com has released the final set of Power Rankings for the 2023 season, in which 15 analysts rank the 29 teams from the strongest to the weakest. At the end of the regular season the top three sides in the Power Rankings are all from the East: Cincinnati, Orlando and Cincinnati.

Add in the fact that Inter Miami, who failed to make the playoffs in the East, won the Leagues Cup and made it to the final of the US Open Cup, and it’s clear to see that this is shaping up to be a good season for the Eastern teams.

The best from the West

Last year LAFC dominated MLS, winning the Supporters Shield and going on the lift the MLS Cup with an extraordinary victory over Philadelphia. The Western Conference champions were tipped for more swash-buckling success in 2023 but Steve Cherundolo’s team have stagnated, as have a number of teams in the Western Conference.

The Western Conference was won, fairly comfortably, by expansion side St. Louis City SC, who became the first team to top their conference in their debut season.

Behind St. Louis in second place were Seattle Sounders, who ended the season on just 53 points at an average of 1.56 points-per-game. In the East, fifth-placed New England Revolution finished with more points.

But the Western teams should not be ignored in the MLS Cup conversation. St. Louis put down a marker with their emphatic 5-1 victory over Cincinnati earlier this year. LAFC and Seattle have crucial experience in their squads and both retain a number of players who won the MLS Cup with the teamin recent years.