This was supposed to be a week of rest for MLS teams. The league gave teams this week off to accomodate the international break, but Hurricane Irene, Manchester City and Real Madrid went and spoiled that for a handful of teams. With two games already in the books, then, we are left with two games on Saturday, one of which is quite literally meaningless to the playoff race.
MLS Playoff Cheat Sheet, International Break Edition: Just One Game Matters
With just one meaningful game on the docket, we mainly look ahead to next week’s games.
Saturday's Seattle Sounders-Philadelphia Union match does have plenty of implications. The Supporters' Shield, the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference and the final playoff spot will all be affected by Saturday's result.
As always, here’s our snapshot at the races:
Supporters’ Shield
Playoff race
Here's how the MLS playoff race is shaking out:| Team | Pts | W | GD | GP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Galaxy | 64 | 18 | 22 | 32 |
| Real Salt Lake | 51 | 15 | 8 | 31 |
| Sounders | 57 | 16 | 18 | 31 |
| FC Dallas | 46 | 13 | 2 | 31 |
| Sporting KC | 45 | 11 | 7 | 32 |
| Rapids | 45 | 11 | 2 | 32 |
| Union | 44 | 10 | 7 | 31 |
| Crew | 44 | 12 | -3 | 32 |
| Dynamo | 43 | 10 | E | 32 |
| Red Bulls | 43 | 9 | 7 | 32 |
| Timbers | 40 | 11 | -6 | 31 |
| United | 38 | 9 | E | 30 |
| Fire | 37 | 7 | E | 31 |
LA Galaxy: We were really expecting this race to be locked up by now, but it could get very interesting after today. Due to the Galaxy’s loss on Tuesday to the Red Bulls, they could conceivably have their lead dwindled down to one point by the time they play another MLS game. For that to happen, though, the Sounders need to stay hot.
Sounders: It's still a very long shot, but a win on Saturday combined with a win next week at home against the lowly San Jose Earthquakes would pull the Sounders to within one point of the Galaxy. They'd still need the Galaxy to do no more than claim one point in their final two games, but as Jim Carey said in "Dumb and Dumber": "You're telling me there's a chance."
Top Spot in East
Sporting Kansas City: No game today, so they'll be watching the Sounders-Union game intensely. A Union loss would leave Sporting up a point while being even on points.
Union: A win on Saturday would leave them two points up on Sporting while being level on games played. Of course it’s still an open question of how big of an advantage having the top spot in the East is, as they would end up playing against the top remaining wild card.
Columbus Crew: Currently level on points with the Union, but they won't play until next Saturday against the dead-in-the-water Revolution.
Houston Dynamo: They return to action on Friday against the Portland Timbers in a huge game that could potentially vault them into the No. 1 spot in the East with a win or leave them on the outside of the playoffs with a loss.
Red Bulls: Winning on Tuesday was absolutely huge. They effectively have a four-point lead on the Timbers now, since they have the tiebreaker. Their next game is Saturday at Sporting KC that could vault them into the top spot in the East.
No. 10 playoff spot
Timbers: Still not out of it, but their window is quickly closing. Friday’s match against the Dynamo is huge.
DC United: You really can't count them out because they have more games to play than anyone else, but they are now five points behind the pace. They return to action on Wednesday at Vancouver before hosting the Fire on Saturday.
Chicago Fire: Tying the Dynamo last week basically erased their margin for error. Anything less than a win on Wednesday against FC Dallas and probably a win on Saturday against DC effectively eliminates them.
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