MLS Looks Toward the Playoffs

The middle of the MLS season can be a little dull, but the middle of the MLS season is over. With just over a month to go, it’s now all about making the playoffs, and everyone wants to make the playoffs.

For the uninitiated, there are 16 teams in Major League Soccer this season, divided into two conferences – East and West. The top two teams in each conference make the playoffs, and then the next best four teams (regardless of conference) join them as wildcards. Here’s a quick rundown of which teams have made it, which teams can still make it, and the big games over the next month that will make the difference.

Here’s how MLS looks right now as a single table:

So far only LA Galaxy is 100% in the playoffs, but Landon Donovan, David Beckham and co will want to finish top of the combined table and claim the Supporters Shield, as well as finish ahead of Western rivals Real Salt Lake and take home field advantage should they meet in the Western Conference final (which is basically the MLS Cup semi-final). Similar story for Eastern Conference rivals Columbus Crew and New York Red Bulls. Finishing top would be nice, but finishing ahead of each other offers home field advantage come Conference final time.

Speaking of the Eastern Conference, those boys need to up their game. Right now all four wild card posts (positions 5 through 8 in the combined table) are held by Western Conference teams. Toronto FC are technically closest to breaking into that top eight right now, but take a look at games played and you’ll see that both Kansas City Wizards and Chicago Fire have played two games less. So get ready for a scramble.

Big games coming up as Major League Soccer’s regular season begins its endgame (all times eastern):

Seattle Sounders vs. Toronto FC – Saturday, October 2nd, 3:30pm
Toronto can narrow that gap with an away win, Seattle can extend the gap with a home win. A tied game means everyone around them benefits.

Chivas USA vs. LA Galaxy – Sunday, October 3rd, 8pm
Still MLS’ only intracity derby. Beckham’s getting closer to something resembling fitness, and it’s approaching do or die time for Chivas playoff-wise, so this should be an even tougher fight that usual.

New York Red Bulls vs. Real Salt Lake – Saturday, October 9th, 4:30pm
The three-DP Red Bulls host the current MLS champs. Both currently sit second in their respective conferences, so both will need points to try and catch their rivals.

Kansas City Wizards vs Seattle Sounders – Saturday, October 9th, 8:30pm
Similar to the Seattle vs. Toronto game, this will be KC’s chance to catch up with the Sounders.

- Find MLS jerseys in our store and support your team by wearing their colors (spelled American-style, so now I’m multi-lingual). Even better, buy MLS tickets in our store and go see the games live.

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Category: MLS, World Football