The Eastern Conference Race is well covered in a thread in another forum, but the Western Conference race is interesting all on its own.
At the top, you have a battle between 3 teams for the top 2 spots, Dallas, LA and Colorado. Dallas is 4 points clear of LA and 5 of Colorado. However, Colorado has 2 games in hand over the rest of the Top 6, so the question is whether the Rapids can close that gap with the extra contests. It helps that Colorado has a very favorable schedule, with 4 games against teams below the red line and only 2 games (home-away against Portland) against teams above it.
Real Salt Lake is sitting comfortably at 44 points. That's 8 points out of first place and 9 points above the red line. They seem unlikely to reach the Top 2, but unlikely to fall out of the playoffs.
The real action is at the red line. Portland sits at 41 points and Sporting KC at 40. That seems comfortably clear of Seattle at 35, BUT the Sounders have 2 games in hand over those teams. So, the question again is whether they can use those two games to close the gap. Seattle has been on good form since Lodiero was added, but it seems critical that they get Dempsey back and playing well. Seattle has tough games at Dallas and LA, but has 3 games against teams below the line as well before closing with RSL at home.
At the top, you have a battle between 3 teams for the top 2 spots, Dallas, LA and Colorado. Dallas is 4 points clear of LA and 5 of Colorado. However, Colorado has 2 games in hand over the rest of the Top 6, so the question is whether the Rapids can close that gap with the extra contests. It helps that Colorado has a very favorable schedule, with 4 games against teams below the red line and only 2 games (home-away against Portland) against teams above it.
Real Salt Lake is sitting comfortably at 44 points. That's 8 points out of first place and 9 points above the red line. They seem unlikely to reach the Top 2, but unlikely to fall out of the playoffs.
The real action is at the red line. Portland sits at 41 points and Sporting KC at 40. That seems comfortably clear of Seattle at 35, BUT the Sounders have 2 games in hand over those teams. So, the question again is whether they can use those two games to close the gap. Seattle has been on good form since Lodiero was added, but it seems critical that they get Dempsey back and playing well. Seattle has tough games at Dallas and LA, but has 3 games against teams below the line as well before closing with RSL at home.