MLS Season Projection Week 20

After a weekend full of upsets we have quite a shake-up in the season projection.  Here are the projected standings based on results through week 20:



East
Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Philadelphia	34	13	16	5	42	29	13	55
2	Columbus	34	12	14	8	37	29	8	50
3	New York	34	11	16	7	54	42	12	49
4	D.C. United	34	10	16	8	46	49	-3	46
5	Kansas City	34	8	19	7	45	41	4	43
6	Houston	34	9	13	12	39	40	-1	40
7	Chicago	34	3	20	11	35	44	-9	29
8	New England	34	4	15	15	30	45	-15	27
9	Toronto FC	34	3	13	18	30	60	-30	22
West
Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Los Angeles	34	18	14	2	47	25	22	68
2	Real Salt Lake	34	16	14	4	45	25	20	62
3	FC Dallas	34	16	12	6	43	30	13	60
4	Seattle	34	14	15	5	47	37	10	57
5	Colorado	34	10	17	7	46	42	4	47
6	Chivas USA	34	9	16	9	42	38	4	43
7	San Jose	34	6	15	13	38	47	-9	33
8	Portland	34	9	6	19	39	58	-19	33
9	Vancouver	34	3	13	18	32	52	-20	22

Los Angeles moves ahead of RSL for the Western Conference title and best record in the league.  In the East, Columbus is now projected to finish 2nd with D.C. United moving up to 4th and Kansas City dropping out of the top three into 5th.  I'm now projecting United to make the playoffs as a wild card along with KC.  The MLS Cup final will be Los Angeles vs Philadelphia.  Since it will be played at the Home Depot Center, it will effectively be a home game for the Galaxy so I project them to win the Cup.

MLS Season Projection

We are now halfway through the 2011 MLS season.  Here is my latest projection of the final standings based on results through week 17:



East
Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Philadelphia	34	15	12	7	40	27	13	57
2	New York	34	13	17	4	56	38	18	56
3	Columbus	34	14	10	10	39	33	6	52
4	Kansas City	34	9	18	7	40	37	3	45
5	D.C. United	34	7	17	10	49	57	-8	38
6	Houston	34	6	19	9	38	38	0	37
7	Chicago	34	5	22	7	39	42	-3	37
8	New England	34	3	15	16	29	45	-16	24
9	Toronto FC	34	3	12	19	27	59	-32	21
West
Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Los Angeles	34	16	16	2	43	26	17	64
2	Real Salt Lake	34	16	15	3	45	23	22	63
3	Seattle	34	14	16	4	44	31	13	58
4	FC Dallas	34	14	12	8	43	34	9	54
5	Colorado	34	7	20	7	36	39	-3	41
6	Chivas USA	34	7	18	9	43	42	1	39
7	San Jose	34	7	17	10	44	42	2	38
8	Portland	34	8	7	19	39	65	-26	31
9	Vancouver	34	3	15	16	32	48	-16	24

Now projecting Los Angeles and Philadelphia as the conference champs.  RSL dropped two points because they have the toughest remaining schedule.  It includes two matches against New York, Los Angeles on the road and Philadelphia at home.  New York's loss to D.C. United over the weekend cost them some points,  allowing Philadelphia to move ahead of them.  For the MLS Cup I'm now projecting Los Angeles to defeat Philadelphia.