Major League Soccer doesn't quite play by the same rules as the rest of the world. They have conferences, playoffs and a salary cap system but from a betting perspective there's one thing that tends to stand out in all of this:
Star Power
From what we're seeing in OddsRun's internal MLS data
MLS matches are consistently scoring well – but betting odds tend to get a whole lot more volatile when the big name players are involved.
Inter Miami CF fixtures have a pretty unique betting pattern going on, and it's all down to two guys:
This isn't as common in European football, where having a few strong players spreads out the impact of one star player. In MLS though, one guy can totally change what people expect and how much they're willing to bet.
You see a similar effect with a few other top players:
It's worth keeping in mind that when one of these stars is out or late to be confirmed in the lineup – their absence can cause betting odds to shift around a lot quicker than we see in most top European leagues.
MLS combines:
When it comes to analysing MLS matches for OddsRun users, knowing who's in and who's out of the lineup is just as important as looking at historical stats.
In Major League Soccer, betting isn't just about which team is strongest – it's also heavily influenced by whether your top player is actually going to take the field.