Philly Sports Network’s 2024 Union and MLS Predictions

It’s that time of year again! The time when we on Philly Sports Network’s Union team come together to try to be clairvoyant. All six of the PSN Union team have put in their predictions for the 2024 season! They look at the Philadelphia Union’s season in-depth and predict the final standings of the Eastern and Western Conference! Cue the “Always Sunny” music!

2024 Predictions

Philadelphia Union’s MLS Campaign

A gauntlet to start the season

The beginning of the Union’s MLS season is one filled with away matches, and Western Conference opponents. six of the first 10 matches are away; Philly also plays all of their Western Conference opponents inside the first 10 games of the season.

While this is a gauntlet to start the year, our team sees general success. All six of us see Philly gaining at least 15 points, and only losing one-to-three times in the first 10 matches. This would be a huge success, while the Union also tries to navigate ConcaChampions play.

10 games in eight weeks

Philly moves into the next portion of their season and it doesn’t get any easier. Their MLS season has them playing 10 games in eight weeks through the spring and early summer months. All of the matches are against Eastern Conference opponents. The opportunity to get, or stay, near the top of the east could be determined here.

Yet again our team sees this stretch as an opportunity to pick up much-needed points, but the range of points is widened a bit. Steve is the outlier here seeing Philly only get 11 points from 10 matches. The rest of the team sees this as a chance to pick up 15-18 points. This would bring point totals after 20 games to between 26-37; quite a big jump in the standings either way.

The dog days of summer; the beginning of the fall

The season moves into an interesting point in the dog days of summer. Philly will play five matches against Eastern Conference opponents before the season breaks for the Leagues Cup tournament. After a month-long tournament, Philly comes back to play through East opponents at home and on the road.

This might be the toughest stretch of the season, but our team still feels confident predicting the Union will pick up 14-17 points. At this point, the Union will have played 30 of 34 matches; our team sees their point total sitting between 43-51 points. That could be the difference between a top-four finish, and a lower-seeded playoff place.

The final stretch and a playoff run?

The final four matches of the season come at the end of September and early October; two matches at home, and two on the road. All are against teams that made the playoffs last year. how will Philly end the season? From these four matches, our Union team sees the pickup of 2-6 points. It’s a tough stretch but one that readies Philly for the playoffs.

Our team thinks the Union would finish the season between the 48 and 54-point mark. Everyone on our team predicts Philly to make the playoffs, finishing either fourth or fifth in the east. Each of us sees Philly making out of the first-round three-game series of the playoffs. Then, results differ in the conference semifinals.

All of us see Philly taking on a team from Ohio. Jimmy, Steve, and Regina see Philly falling to Cincinnati, and Paul and Eric see Philly losing at reigning MLS champ Columbus. Only Tim sees a way to the Eastern Conference Final with the Union beating Cincinnati but then falling to NYCFC. Our team sees no return to the MLS Cup this year, but it looks to be another successful playoff run season in an MLS landscape that is always changing.

MLS’s Eastern Conference

The Eastern Conference was probably the hardest of the two conferences to predict this year. teams 1-10 seem to all have a shot at claiming a top-four playoff spot this year. Which is probably why each member of our team sees a different top four in the east this year.

From spots five to 11, our team has different teams as well. It’s a mishmash of teams that are good enough to make the playoffs but might fall off due to the competitiveness of the conference. In truth, the only thing our team sees eye-to-eye on is that DC, Charlotte, Montreal, and Toronto will finish somewhere in the bottom four of the east.

Will we see any of our team’s standings in the East come true? we’ll have to wait and see, but if that happens for someone, then they better play the lottery that day, because their luck will be on the next level!

MLS’s Western Conference

MLS’s Western Conference is just as crazy as the East, but with some more sure things. A clear top two teams are coming in LAFC and Seattle, even if our team doesn’t have them in first or second place. While MLS is unpredictable and our Union team doesn’t focus on the West all that much, it seems like we do have a consensus on who will see the biggest rise and fall.

On average our team sees Portland as the team out West to make the biggest rise, and St. Louis to have the biggest fall. Along with that, our team sees Austin, San Jose, and Minnesota to finish at or near the bottom of the west in 2024. This conference could hold the Supporters Shield winner as some on our team think as they will not have to deal with the competitiveness that the East has this season.

I said that if one of our team members gets the east predicted right they should play the letter for a better chance at winning big, but if one of us gets the west right that would make the odds of luck even better. honestly, MLS is a crapshoot, we may see many different teams rise and fall this year, but that’s what makes MLS so enthralling!

It’s time for the start of the season!

The MLS Season is upon us, for real this time. All 29 teams will be in action this weekend. We will see if our team’s predictions come true or are dead wrong. Either way, the excitement of the new season cannot be understated! Let’s get these games underway already!