We got a much more predictable week of action in MLS, so there aren’t wild swings in the ratings this week. Nonetheless, there were some shifts around the league. For an explainer, hit up the first edition of the 2021 ratings, and if you have additional queries, don’t hesitate to drop me a line on social media. Without further ado:
Of note this week: own-goals are now included in the G Power calculations. That obviously turns Columbus into one of the luckier sides in the league at the drop of a hat.
- (↔︎) New York City FC (+1.31)
- (↔︎) Sporting Kansas City (+0.95)
- (↑1) DC United (+0.88)
- While DC’s blasting of Toronto FC drew headlines (and saw a coach’s head roll in a figurative sense), the final score was much more about United converting at an incredible rate, rather than any sort of whistle-to-whistle dominance. It was still very good. Just not 7-1 good.
- (↓1) Seattle Sounders (+0.77)
- (↔︎) Nashville SC (+0.65)
- Only a very slight uptick in Nashville’s rating after a fairly impressive win over Philadelphia Union. Though it was the third-best performance (adjusted for opponent) at Nissan Stadium this year, the fact that it represents just an eighth of NSC’s home slate so far means even very good results can only have so much impact on the overall numbers. Nashville’s xG score once again outstripped its G score, continuing the club’s run of bad luck.
- (↑6) Minnesota United (+0.26)
- You’ll note the huge cliff between No. 5 Nashville and No. 6 Minnesota. Also that this big jump comes on the heels of a draw against a wildly inconsistent San Jose team. However, MNUFC dominated in xG terms, and got bad luck finishing and defensively to drop the points.
- (↓1) LAFC (+0.21)
- (↓1) Philadelphia Union (+0.21)
- (↓1) New England Revolution (+0.08)
- (↑1) Portland Timbers (+0.05)
- (↓1) Atlanta United (-0.02)
- The 3-0 thrashing on the scoreboard by Chicago Fire belied a game that was still one-sided, but certainly less so than the final makes it appear. Poor luck makes Atlanta look worse than the reality may be… but neither situation is particularly pretty.
- (↑4) New York Red Bulls (-0.06)
- Red Bulls played Orlando City basically even on the road (which is good, given the disadvantage road teams typically have) and managed to sneak a winner. This is one of the luckier teams in the league, but the underlying numbers are trending upward for the most part.
- (↑1) Chicago Fire (-0.07)
- (↓5) Orlando City SC (-0.15)
- I would recommend against losing home games against anyone, but particularly against a Red Bulls team that has a years-long trend of being particularly bad on the road.
- (↑3) Colorado Rapids (-0.15)
- (↓1) Austin FC (-0.18)
- (↓4) San Jose Earthquakes (-0.29)
- (↑1) Columbus Crew (-0.32)
- (↑2) CF Montreal (-0.32)
- (↓3) Toronto FC (-0.34)
- I honestly couldn’t tell you if TFC has been “fire the coach” bad, but it was pretty clear that more than just results went into the decision to axe Chris Armas.
- (↓1) Inter Miami CF (-0.40)
- (↑2) Real Salt Lake (-0.44)
- Fairly dominant in a loss to LAFC, RSL’s gap between process and results closed just a bit… but this is still the luckiest team in the league by a fair margin.
- (↓1) Vancouver Whitecaps (-0.56)
- (↑2) FC Dallas (-0.57)
- (↔︎) LA Galaxy (-0.71)
- For at least one game, there’s an excuse – no Chicharito – but this is a team that’s been extremely bad but reasonably lucky… and if the results stop coming (as in the 2-0 loss to SKC this weekend), it could get dicey. If Chicharito is able to help the team overachieve its xG on a regular basis, of course, the bottom may never fall out.
- (↓3) FC Cincinnati (-0.74)
- (↔︎) Houston Dynamo (-0.88)
Club and Country 