MLS Weekend Wrapup and SRS Rankings

I took a break last week to honeymoon with my beautiful wife so I have no predictions to recap for the weekend.  Here are some highlights from last weekend's MLS matches:

• Philadelphia scored 6(!) goals at Toronto.  The Union have been one of the top defensive teams in the league this season.  As you can see from the table below, they have the second best Defensive SRS in the league against the toughest offenses in the league.  However, their offense was one of the worst.  Prior to this match the Union had scored 8 goals in 10 matches overall and only 1 goal in 4 road matches.  We will have to see if this is a fluke or a sign that their offense has woken up.  If it has then matching that up with their stout defense would make this team a serious MLS Cup contender

Total Defensive SRS
Team	GA	SOS	SRS
Real Salt Lake	0.444	1.283	0.838
Philadelphia	0.818	1.313	0.495
Los Angeles	0.800	1.270	0.470
Seattle	0.929	1.296	0.367
New York	0.917	1.276	0.359

• Seattle snapped RSL's 29-game home unbeaten streak with a 2-1 victory at Rio Tinto.  RSL has really struggled since their loss in the CONCACAF Champions League final and the loss of Javier Morales hasn't helped.  I still think they are the best team in the league right now mainly due to their excellent defense.  But their loss to Seattle was the first time they had given up multiple goals in the league this season.  Their defense may be cracking under the strain of an anemic offense.  We will have to see if coach Jason Kreis can pull them out of this funk.
• The season is about one-third complete and we have seen our first coaching casualties.  Vancouver and Chicago both fired their coaches this week.  Each team has only one win this season with slim and fading hopes of making the playoffs.

Latest SRS rankings after the jump:

MLS Weekend Wrap Up and Midweek Predictions

To quote another famous writer, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times" for the MLS this weekend.  The best of times were on Saturday night which featured a showdown between two of the best teams in the league, Los Angeles and New York.  Each team is led by a superstar, Landon Donovan for LA and Thierry Henry for New York. Both Henry (video) and Donovan (video) scored in the match which ended up in a 1-1 draw. 

The worst of times featured a serious injury to Real Salt Lake midfielder Javier Morales.  Hopefully the casual fans who tuned in for the LA/New York match didn't also watch the three 0-0 draws that were played earlier in the day.

There are three midweek games on Wednesday.  Here are my predictions for the trio:

Philadelphia 1 Los Angeles 0
FC Dallas 3 Toronto FC 1
Vancouver 2 San Jose 2

After the jump I will review my predictions from last weekend.