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SBI MLS Power Rankings: Week 18

RSL (Getty)

After briefly falling on hard times, Real Salt Lake is back in familiar territory.

Dropped to a season-low position of No. 6 in last week's SBI MLS Power Rankings because of a four-game winless drought, Salt Lake jumped back to third in the new poll thanks to a four-point week highlighted by Alvaro Saborio's hat trick in a 3-0 triumph over the Portland Timbers on Saturday.

Elsewhere in the rankings, the San Jose Earthquakes clung to the top spot despite a disappointing week, while the Colorado Rapids experienced the biggest change, dropping five slots to No. 15.

Here are this week's SBI MLS Power Rankings (as voted on by SBI staff):

SBI MLS POWER RANKINGS (WEEK 18)

1. (Last week — 1) SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES (11-4-4, 37 points)

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Last week: Lost to Portland 2-1 on Tuesday; tied Dallas 0-0 on Saturday

This week: Saturday vs. Salt Lake, 10:30 p.m.

Outlook: It was a rough week for the Earthquakes, who took on two of the weakest teams in MLS and emerged with just a single point. Saturday's showdown against RSL will be crucial to the race for not only the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference but for the Supporters' Shield as well.

2. (2) D.C. UNITED (10-5-3, 33 points)

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Last week: Idle

This week: Sunday at Houston, 9 p.m.

Outlook: United had a fruitful bye week, enjoying some rest while their foes at the top of the Eastern Conference wilted in the summer heat, burning their games in hand without surpassing D.C. But now it's back to the road for United, who don't play a single league match at RFK Stadium this month.

3. (6) REAL SALT LAKE (11-6-3, 36 points)

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Last week: Tied Seattle 0-0 on Wednesday; beat Portland 3-0 on Saturday

This week: Saturday at San Jose, 10:30 p.m.

Outlook: After a midweek draw against Seattle, RSL capped its week in stellar fashion, riding a second-half hat trick from Alvaro Saborio to a thrashing of Portland. Holding down the fort centrally, Kyle Beckerman continues to be in fine form for Jason Kreis' side.

4. (5) SPORTING KANSAS CITY (10-5-3, 33 points)

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Last week: Beat Montreal 3-1 on Wednesday; tied Houston 0-0 on Saturday

This week: Saturday at Columbus, 7:30 p.m.

Outlook: Kansas City looked to be headed toward another disappointing result midweek before two controversial penalty kicks and a deflected clincher gave the club a fortunate road win over Montreal. On Sunday, Jimmy Nielsen, Aurelien Collin and Graham Zusi all earned their first All-Star nods.

5. (7) VANCOUVER WHITECAPS (8-4-6, 30 points)

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Last week: Beat Colorado 1-0 on Wednesday; tied Chivas 0-0 on Saturday

This week: Wednesday at Toronto, 7 p.m.; Saturday at Chicago, 8:30 p.m.

Outlook: Jay DeMerit and Co. just keep on shutting things down in the back while Vancouver's talented attacking corps struggle to find a rhythm. At least Darren Mattocks is showing the potential to be that consistent goal-scoring threat this club needs.

6. (3) NEW YORK RED BULLS (9-5-4, 31 points)

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Last week: Lost to New England 2-0 on Sunday

This week: Sunday vs. Seattle, 4 p.m.

Outlook: Missing Thierry Henry, Rafa Marquez and Heath Pearce, among others, New York was always going to have a tough time ending its decade-long drought in New England. After a hot start, Kenny Cooper hasn't found the back of the net since May.

7. (4) CHICAGO FIRE (8-6-4, 28 points)

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Last week: Tied Houston 0-0 on Tuesday; lost to Los Angeles 2-0 on Sunday

This week: Saturday vs. Vancouver, 8:30 p.m.

Outlook: After surging toward the top of the Eastern Conference, Chicago settled for a midweek draw against Houston before suffering a shutout loss at home to the defensively challenged Galaxy. Sean Johnson remains a wild card in goal, equally capable of making brilliant saves and unfortunate mishaps.

8. (11) LOS ANGELES GALAXY (7-10-2, 23 points)

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Last week: Lost to Philadelphia 2-1 on Wednesday, beat Chicago 2-0 on Sunday

This week: Saturday at Portland, 11 p.m.

Outlook: A home loss to Philadelphia showed the Galaxy side that struggled throughout the season's opening months, but a road win at Chicago gave us the Los Angeles squad that has rebounded of late. Omar Gonzalez's swift recovery from a torn ACL is a massive boost.

9. (9) HOUSTON DYNAMO (6-5-7, 25 points)

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Last week: Tied Chicago 0-0 on Tuesday; tied Kansas City 0-0 on Saturday

This week: Sunday vs. D.C. United, 9 p.m.

Outlook: Houston fixed its leaky defense, recording back-to-back shutouts despite missing U.S. national team defender Geoff Cameron, who could very well be departing for Stoke City. But now the Dynamo need to get their offense going, considering they had to settle for a pair of scoreless draws.

10. (12) SEATTLE SOUNDERS (8-5-6, 30 points)

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Last week: Tied Salt Lake 0-0 on Wednesday; beat Colorado 2-1 on Saturday

This week: Sunday at New York, 4 p.m.

Outlook: After gutting out a draw at Rio Tinto Stadium in mid-week action, Seattle snapped a nine-game winless drought with a 2-1 triumph over Colorado. With Eddie Johnson finding the back of the net with regularity and Steve Zakuani finally back in action, things are looking up again for the Sounders.

11. (13) NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION (6-7-4, 22 points)

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Last week: Beat New York 2-0 on Sunday

This week: Saturday vs. Toronto, 7:30 p.m.

Outlook: Jerry Bengtson didn't disappoint in his debut, bagging a goal as New England continued it's long unbeaten run at home against the Red Bulls. The Revolution continue to stay right on the fringe of the playoff picture, and a home game against Toronto this weekend provides a great opportunity for points.

12. (8) COLUMBUS CREW (6-6-4, 22 points)

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Last week: Lost to Montreal 2-1 on Sunday

This week: Saturday vs. Kansas City, 7:30 p.m.

Outlook: What seemed like a golden chance for three points on the road turned into a loss against Montreal thanks to some clumsy defending down the stretch. But the return of Chad Marshall was a positive development.

13. (17) PHILADELPHIA UNION (5-9-2, 17 points)

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Last week: Beat Los Angeles 2-1 on Wednesday; beat Toronto 3-0 on Sunday

This week: Saturday vs. Montreal, 7 p.m.

Outlook: With three goals and two assists in his past three appearances, Jack McInerney is finally cashing in on his high potential. With 10 goals in their past four games, the Union have already scored more under John Hackworth than they did in 12 games under Peter Nowak this season.

14. (14) CHIVAS USA (5-7-5, 20 points)

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Last week: Tied Vancouver 0-0 on Saturday

This week: Idle

Outlook: Chivas settled for a point at home as another stellar performance defensively from Dan Kennedy and Co. went unrewarded. With a paltry 11 goals scored in 17 games, Chivas' attack is by far the worst in MLS.

15. (10) COLORADO RAPIDS (7-10-1, 22 points)

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Last week: Lost to Vancouver 1-0 on Wednesday; lost to Seattle 2-1 on Saturday

This week: Saturday vs. Dallas, 9 p.m.

Outlook: Back-to-back losses, including a defeat at home Wednesday, are tough to swallow for a Colorado team trying to keep up in the Western Conference playoff chase. But it is good for the Rapids to see Omar Cummings and Conor Casey once again sharing the field together.

16. (15) MONTREAL IMPACT (6-11-3, 21 points)

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Last week: Lost to Kansas City 3-1 on Wednesday; beat Columbus 2-1 on Sunday

This week: Saturday at Philadelphia, 7 p.m.

Outlook: After collapsing in the second half of a mid-week 3-1 loss to Kansas City, Montreal bounced back nicely with a come-from-behind win over Columbus. Alessandro Nesta's debut can't come soon enough for the beleaguered Impact back line that has been decimated by injuries.

17. (16) PORTLAND TIMBERS (5-8-4, 19 points)

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Last week: Beat San Jose 2-1 on Tuesday; lost to Salt Lake 3-0 on Saturday

This week: Saturday vs. Los Angeles, 11 p.m.

Outlook: Building an expansion team into a winner is no easy task, but coach John Spencer got the ax after a season and a half just the same. And the firing came less than a week after Portland notched a 2-1 triumph over league-leading San Jose. Now the pressure is all on general manager-interim coach Gavin Wilkinson.

18. (18) TORONTO FC (2-11-4, 10 points)

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Last week: Tied Dallas 1-1 on Wednesday; lost to Philadelphia 3-0 on Sunday

This week: Wednesday vs. Vancouver, 7 p.m.; Saturday at New England, 7:30 p.m.

Outlook: After earning a point at Dallas on Wednesday, Toronto fell back into its Aron Winter-era funk during a listless 3-0 loss at the Union over the weekend. This week will be another busy one for the Reds, who are dealing with some serious fixture congestion at the moment.

19. (19) FC DALLAS (3-9-7, 16 points)

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Last week: Tied Toronto 1-1 on Wednesday; tied San Jose 0-0 on Saturday

This week: Saturday at Colorado, 9 p.m.

Outlook: A pair of draws weren't enough to get Dallas out of the bottom slot, even though David Ferreira's return to the field provides reason for optimism. Dallas still hasn't won a game in any competition since mid-April.

Comments

  1. I say that but re Philly specifically the table position is not there but with two straight Ws they must have pushed the right button when they ejector seated Nowak. Mind you TFC is TFC and LA not its usual self but results are results.

    Reply
  2. Portland has a pretty good home record actually but is just Jekyll and Hyde, home and road. The net result in the table is not pretty but the idea they’re as bad as TFC or Dallas (or Philly for that matter) would be flattering to those teams.

    Put differently, Portland gets 4 points from their games in hand on LA and they tie for the last playoff spot. Mind you, LA’s on a roll, but Portland could recover and make the playoffs still. Likely? I dunno. But acting like they’re equivalent of, say, TFC, that is so poor it could win its next five or six straight and might not catch up to 10th, ain’t quite fair.

    Reply
  3. John Spencer “got the ax” from the Timbers? Ha! At least they don’t send Timber Joey after the ex-coaches…wait, I’m probably giving their FO ideas….

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  4. Give it a rest.
    For a long time they had the best ” last 34 games ” in MLS. Probably lost that during this dismal 10 games, but people do have the right to have an opinion, that they are good.

    Of course guys like you have the right to be jerks too I guess.

    Win tonight Se444444ttle !!!!

    Reply
  5. That is a lot of optimism about LA.

    I wonder if Beckham is back from Wimbledon yet ? Someone besides me has to think he was trying to get the red card/suspension…..

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  6. For those dismayed by the Seattle Sounder’s power ranking, during the last TEN games the Sounders have accumulated a grand total of NINE points including 1 win. During this same stretch, the Portland Timbers have accumulated a total of TWELVE points, including 3 wins. It should also be noted that just 4 games ago, the Timbers defeated the Sounders 2-1. Since we all agree that the Timbers are woeful, what term should be applied to the Sounders?

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  7. Fun how you can spin stats anyway you want them =D

    Not winning in 9 games didn’t hurt them too bad. Still 3rd in the west (4th in west for ppg)

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  8. Dallas shuts out the #1 Team and is only the second team to do so, and is still last place in the power rankings… The Hoops should at least be ahead of Toronto.

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  9. This is pretty solid. You’ve got the top four that you could argue one or two spots here and there. There’s really no argument that they aren’t the top four though. Then the next seven that can be argued one or two spots moving up or down a spot. And then the rest of the league. The only one way out of whack is probably Galaxy.

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  10. The Sounders don’t really strike fear in anyone from New England on up on this list. Now perhaps they will improve in the second half of the season but right now they look like a strong team that got off to a great start. They nearly blew the Rapids match in the final minutes. They have a way to go before they are on par with the top five.

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  11. On behalf of the Galaxy, thank you for the inflated sense of self worth. Don’t know how one win and two losses in the last three games warrants a #8, but I like your optimism.

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  12. Wow, 10th for the Sounders…. what kind of delusional alternative reality do you exist in? Look, I get basing these things on the recent run of play, but nothing about the Sounders speaks to a 10th place team, particularly now that the half of the starting line-up that has been out all season is finally back together.

    Reply
  13. Seems about right to me. Not sure if you think they should be lower or higher. I have a feeling we are going to see the Revs continue to climb. I don’t have the same faith in the Galaxy.

    Reply

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