MLS vs. Liga MX: Will Leagues Cup capture the imagination? - ESPN

The entirety of the soccer world has Friday circled on their calendars. Lionel Messi is slated to make his heralded debut with Inter Miami CF.

For many fans in the U.S. and Mexico, though, the date was circled long before Argentina's captain agreed to come to MLS. Friday's match between Miami and Cruz Azul marks the start of the brand-new Leagues Cup: a monthlong, World Cup-style tournament that pits MLS clubs against their counterparts from Liga MX.

Cesar Hernandez and Megan Swanick break down the tournament, from both sides of the MLS-Liga MX divide, and look ahead to what's about to unfold in Leagues Cup.

For an MLS team to contend in Leagues Cup, a few factors will be key. That includes form, depth, the ability to make use of potential homefield advantage and a club culture with proven success approaching knockout tournaments in Concacaf. The luck of the draw in group opponents and knockout foes does help.

With that in mind, a few MLS clubs may prove successful in terms of making a deep run. St. Louis City SC or FC Cincinnati could turn their runaway league form into equally impactful campaigns in Leagues Cup. The Seattle Sounders have the depth, talent and long-held culture of grasping these milestones first and early. LAFC could seek revenge for a Champions League final loss by making a deep run on rest, as they enter Leagues Cup after a bye in the group stage.

— Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.)

The team looking most favorably upon each factor, though, appears to be Jim Curtin's Philadelphia Union. The Union have done well in recent years to make deep runs in Champions League, will have the advantage of Subaru Park, where the side is reliably dangerous, are led by a pragmatic practitioner who