Atlanta United has regained the top spot in the latest SBI MLS Power Rankings, but a new West Coast contender is looking primed to jump top the top.
Los Angeles FC moved into the top three for the first time this season, with Saturday’s 4-1 win against Orlando City pushing the expansion team’s unbeaten streak to five in a row. With Adama Diomande scoring at an incredible rate, Carlos Vela back from the World Cup, and Andre Horta closing in on his LAFC debut, Bob Bradley’s team is looking like a good candidate to eventually challenge for the top spot in the rankings.
One of the teams LAFC will need to leapfrog to get to the top is New York City FC, which jumped four places after a week that saw Domenec Torrent’s squad ended the unbeaten streaks of the New York Red Bulls and Montreal Impact.
Real Salt Lake was the biggest mover this week after consecutive victories against Sporting Kansas City and FC Dallas. Mike Petke’s squad is 5-2-1 in its past eight and quietly climbing the Western Conference standings.
At the bottom end of the rankings, D.C. United climbed out of the basement on the strength of its road draw against the LA Galaxy, while the San Jose Earthquakes returned to the basement after seeing their winless streak extended to nine matches, a drought that has reached two months.
Here are the SBI MLS Power Rankings for Week 20:
SBI MLS POWER RANKINGS
1. (Last Week- 2) ATLANTA UNITED (12-4-4)
————————
2. (6) NEW YORK CITY FC (11-4-4)
————————
3. (4) LOS ANGELES FC (10-4-4)
————————
4. (1) NEW YORK RED BULLS (10-5-2)
————————
5. (7) PORTLAND TIMBERS (8-3-5)
————————
6. (3) FC DALLAS (10-3-5)
————————
7. (5) SPORTING KANSAS CITY (9-4-6)
————————
8. (14) REAL SALT LAKE (9-8-2)
————————
9. (8) NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION (7-4-7)
————————
10. (10) LA GALAXY (7-7-4)
————————
11. (9) COLUMBUS CREW (8-6-6)
————————
12. (13) HOUSTON DYNAMO (7-6-4)
————————
13. (15) VANCOUVER WHITECAPS (7-7-5)
————————
14. (12) MONTREAL IMPACT (8-12)
————————
15. (16) PHILADELPHIA UNION (7-8-3)
————————
16. (17) TORONTO FC (4-10-4)
————————
17. (11) CHICAGO FIRE (6-9-5)
————————
18. (20) SEATTLE SOUNDERS (4-9-4)
————————
19. (21) MINNESOTA UNITED (6-11-1)
————————
20. (18) ORLANDO CITY (6-11-1)
————————
21. (19) COLORADO RAPIDS (4-11-3)
————————
22. (23) D.C. UNITED (2-7-5)
————————
23. (22) SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES (2-10-6)
lafc #3, nice.