Power Rankings, 1-30 | Matchday 27
The top & the bottom are relatively unchanged, but the middle's a mess
I’m jetting off to Spain this afternoon for about 10 days of R&R, so this is going to be a slapdash job. You’ve been warned.
• Vancouver's rebound, Austin's flashiness & more from Matchday 27
That’s my Sunday column, and you know the drill – please click. It got barely any time on the homepage because the entire website is now geared towards the Leagues Cup, which starts Tuesday.1 Part of the firehose of content is my annual Tiers piece, which I managed to chop down from 6000 words last year to a more sane 3000 this year.2
One thing I’ll be writing more about when I’m back (and hopefully recharged): this is shaping up to be the best Supporters’ Shield race at least since 2018, and maybe ever. What made 2018 stand out was that it featured two all-time elite teams going at it, hammer and tongs. Both that Atlanta United side (eventual MLS Cup champs) and RBNY (they won their third Shield in six seasons that year) really, really went after it, right to the bitter end. It felt like a race in a way that 2014 didn’t quite, and the teams involved were better, relatively speaking, than the ones who took it to the wire in 2015.
Well this year we’ve got seven teams in the mix – eight if LAFC can use their games in hand – and none of them are fraudulent.
It should be a pretty great sprint to the finish line.
Ok, enough of that. Here’s my vote for this week’s MLSsoccer.com Power Rankings:
Inter Miami: I like DPs who treat the regular season like a life and death proposition. Seen a lot who don’t. Good point without two pretty decent starters.
Philadelphia Union: Back on top, and a clear path to stay there. Circle those away dates at Cincy and Vancouver a month from now – Shield could be decided there.
FC Cincinnati: A road point is, by definition, a job well done. But it could’ve been more, couldn’t it?
Nashville SC: They were completely outclassed in a way we haven’t seen since that trip to Seattle back in April. Might be allergic to the West coast.
San Diego FC: Endlessly impressive debut season. Doing that against a team as good as Nashville with a backline whose combined age is 80? Mikey Varas is a warlock.
Columbus Crew: Just when it felt like things were coming together…3
Seattle Sounders: Their intensity level has dropped since the Club World Cup, though they’re still good enough to go six unbeaten. Kind of wonder if a trade could be in the works, though – there are a number of teams who could use Ryan Kent.
Vancouver Whitecaps: Just when it looked like the season was getting away from them, they’ve taken seven points from three games and are atop the West on PPG. And then there’s the Thomas Müller stuff, which… folks, I think it’s gonna happen.
Minnesota United: Four of the next six at home now. They’ve got a puncher’s chance of winning the West.
Orlando City: Please start Ramiro Enrique over Luis Muriel. I am begging you, Oscar.
LAFC: I don’t think they were expecting to take just one point from this little two-game homestand. Veteran CB Alexis Perez is on the way, and how quickly he adapts will go a long way towards determining how much use they make of their games in hand.4
Charlotte Evergrande: Four straight wins. The schedule toughens up now, but they did what they needed to in order to pull out of that nosedive.
Chicago Fire: The defense has come around, and in general I love the way they play. Need Jonathan Bamba to start finishing some chances, though.
NYCFC: Nicolás Fernández Mercau was excellent in his debut and Raul Gustavo is on his way, which should help at center back. Still a bit worried about this team, though, with two significant injuries (Keaton Parks and Thiago Martins).
Austin FC: This is their second 4-1-1 stretch of the season. The first time, they followed that up with one win in nine. The good news this time? The next six games are all VERY winnable.
Portland Timbers: Massive, potentially season-defining win at LAFC.
Real Salt Lake: 5-1-1 since the end of May. Reinforcements have arrived. xDAWG gonna hunt.
Colorado Rapids: One more tough one – at Minnesota on August 9 – before the schedule gets MUCH easier down the stretch.
San Jose Earthquakes: Winless in six, back under the red line, and dates against the two top teams in the conference coming up. Desperation time.
RBNY: Three of the next four at home, where they’ve been very good. Need to make the most of those or their 15-season playoff streak5 is probably cooked.
Houston Dynamo: Rain rain go away.
LA Galaxy: Come again another day.
FC Dallas: Gut-punch of a home loss. Could’ve made a plausible case for them making a playoff push if they’d taken all three points – they’d have been just two back of 9th-place Colorado with a game in hand. But… nope.
Toronto FC: Worth remembering they traded their 2026 first-round pick to the Rapids for an assistant coach and an analyst.
Montreal Impact: Played well, and have six very winnable games coming up (mostly at home). They’re not going to make a playoff push, but they can avoid the Wooden Spoon.
Atlanta United: Stunner from Aleksey Miranchuk, but man, I can’t get the image of Atlanta’s veteran CBs just ball-watching five minutes into stoppage and getting outfoxed by a guy who’s spent his career in the lower divisions. This team is rough.
Sporting KC: Been outperforming their underlyings. Schedule from here on out is BRUTAL.
St. Louis City: Showed some fight, but not enough quality.
New England Revolution: Nine winless. Just one win in 15. Nothing’s worked.
D.C. United: Taken one point from the last 24 on offer.
Coincidence that that’s when I’ve taken my vacation? Hmmmmmm ↩
Toilet reading either way. ↩
At least they got some good news this week with the addition of Palestine international attacker Wessam Abou Ali. I thought he was great at the Club World Cup. ↩
Leagues Cup is going to be great for LAFC since it’ll give them a chance to integrate Perez and, perhaps, a big new DP signing. Son Heung-min is the big rumor, and while he’s obviously excellent, the EPL/MLS experts I speak with don’t love the potential fit for him on that front line with Denis Bouanga. It’s the Mbappe/Vini thing on a smaller scale. ↩
Haven’t missed the postseason since the year before Red Bull Arena opened in 2010. ↩
