I have played out the end of the season on paper and this is what I came up with, Only the playoff possible teams are still listed in the standings: East: 1. New York 59 2. KC 56 3. New England 51 4. Houston 51 5. Chicago 49 6. Montreal 48 7. Philadelphia 48 8. Columbus 41 West: 1. Portland 59 2. Salt Lake City 55 3. Seattle 55 4. San Jose 53 5. LA 52 6. Colorado 51 7. Vancouver 48 1st Round: Houston over Chicago San Jose over LA Quarterfinal: New England over KC New York over Houston Portland over San Jose Seattle over RSL Semi Finals New York over New England Portland over Seattle Final: Portland over New York
Bold predictions, NY and Portland win out, NY takes the SS but Portland goes to NY in the MLS Cup Final and snatches victory. LA gets only one point over the next two matches. San Jose gets payback on LA (beating Colorado for the last spot too!). And Portland beats Seattle in a very highly anticipated conference final. Otherwise I feel little need to do my own glass ball predictions. But I see RSL over Seattle if they meet.
Completely unscientific predictions (this is MLS here) East 1. Kansas City - 58 points 2. New York - 55 points 3. Houston - 52 points 4. Chicago - 50 points 5. New England - 49 points --------------------------- 6. Montreal - 48 points 7. Philadelphia - 47 points 8. Columbus - 42 points 9. Toronto - 27 points 10. DC United - 16 points West 1. Portland - 59 points - SS Winner 2. Salt Lake - 55 points 3. Seattle - 55 points 4. San Jose - 53 points 5. Los Angeles - 52 points --------------------------- 6. Vancouver - 49 points 7. Colorado - 49 points 8. FC Dallas - 41 points 9. Chivas - 26 points Playoffs East Chicago knocks out New England - 2-0 Kansas City advances over Chicago - (1-1) (3-1) New York advances over Houston - (0-0) (2-2) 5-4 PKs Kansas City advances over New York - (0-1) (2-0) West Los Angeles knocks out San Jose - 1-2 Los Angeles advances over Portland - (1-1) (2-0) Salt Lake advances over Seattle - (2-0) (2-3) Salt Lake advances over Los Angeles - (0-0) (1-1) 3-1 PKs Final Kansas City Claims its Second MLS Cup at Livestrong Park defeating Salt Lake 3-1
EAST Kansas City - 55 points New York - 55 points Houston - 52 points Chicago - 50 points Philadelphia - 50 points ------------------------ New England - 48 points Montreal - 47 points Columbus - 44 points Toronto - 29 points DC - 16 points WEST Portland - 59 points (SS) RSL - 55 points Seattle - 52 points LA - 52 points Colorado - 51 points ------------------------ San Jose - 51 points Vancouver - 48 points Dallas - 44 points Chivas USA - 26 points
I'm kind of shocked at all the predictions that LA won't get more then 1 point in the next two games. Home against San Jose and away against a Seattle team in a tailspin looks like 3-4 points to me. Arena suggested last night that Donovan and Omar would be fit for Sunday as well.
3 points maybe. 4 or 6 points seems quite unlikely to me. LA is off form right now. San Jose always plays you tough, and they've been excellent over the last half of the season. I think a draw is reasonable prediction there. Seattle was utter crap for two games - this is true. But they played fairly well against Portland, will have a relatively easy game against Dallas to get their mojo back, are playing at home, and should have a full compliment of players for that final game. Anything more than a draw in that game is wishful thinking.
Hey everyone count the Rapids out. I dare you! No wait....I double dare you. Oscar and his boys have continued to pass test after test this season regardless of what players were or were not available. We have to play Vancouver home and away to close out the season. This "series" - if you will - pits two teams neck and neck for a playoff spot. It will be a massive test for the Rapids. Massive. It's going to be a war and I see the Rapids putting everything on the line and prevailing. Six points from these two matches is crucial. Four points might not cut it.
Assuming the most recent corresponding (home/road) scores between the teams do repeat themselves in the upcoming games, the following will be the outcome: (in the absence of the most recent corresponding games this season, the most recent scores regardless of home/road would apply) Wednesday 23 October Chivas USA at Salt Lake: 0-1 (as with the most recent corresponding game on Apr-20, 2013) Saturday 26 October Kansas City at Philadelphia: 3-1 (as with Mar-2) Montreal at Toronto: 3-3 (July-3) Dallas at San Jose: 2-2 (Aug-24, no previous home game for S.J. vs Dallas in 2013) Portland at Chivas USA: 1-1 (Sep-14) Sunday 27 October Houston at DC United: 4-0 (May-8) New England at Columbus: 2-0 (July-20) Chicago at New York: 3-1 (Apr-7, no previous home game for N.Y. vs Chicago in 2013) Colorado at Vancouver: 3-2 (Oct-19, no previous home game for Van. vs Colo. in 2013) Los Angeles at Seattle: 1-1 (Sep-21, no previous home game for S.J. vs Dallas in 2013) Projected Final Standings 2013 East 1. Kansas City - 58 points - SS Winners 2. New York - 56 points 3. Chicago - 52 points 4. New England - 51 points 5. Houston - 51 points --------------------------- 6. Montreal - 50 points 7. Philadelphia - 46 points 8. Columbus - 41 points 9. Toronto - 27 points - Wooden Spoon Runners-up 10. DC United - 16 points - Wooden Spoon Winners West 1. Salt Lake - 56 points - SS Runners-up 2. Portland - 55 points 3. Colorado - 54 points 4. Los Angeles - 53 points 5. Seattle - 52 points --------------------------- 6. San Jose - 49 points 7. Vancouver - 45 points 8. FC Dallas - 45 points 9. Chivas - 27 points K.C. to capture their 2nd SS in franchise history...