3 days Ago By Ben Wright
Here at GIVEMESPORT , we're ranking the entire league ahead of the next full weekend of action. This week, the LA Galaxy received a bump after their dramatic derby win and Houston, Minnesota, and Colorado are moving up in the world. Meanwhile, Portland, NYCFC, New England and St.
Louis City took a hit. The final ranking reflects the average position of each team across the submissions from the editorial staffers who cover MLS. Let's dive in! Lionel Messi leads the way for MLS players in EA FC 25 ratings.
Who makes the top 25? 1 Inter Miami CF Last Week's Ranking: 1st (unchanged) Last Match: 3-1 win vs. Philadelphia (Sept. 14) Next Match: at Atlanta United (Sept.
18) Supporters' Shield Ranking: 1st Lionel Messi played his first match for Inter Miami in 105 days. He scored twice and grabbed an assist and Miami won. It's so expected that it almost feels routine, and yet the level of consistency he displays whenever he steps on the field may never be repeated.
Enjoy this next month. 2 Columbus Crew Last Week's Ranking: 2nd (unchanged) Last Match: 0-0 draw at FC Cincinnati (Sept. 14) Next Match: at Toronto FC (Sept.
18) Supporters' Shield Ranking: 4th Wilfried Nancy's side played well enough to win their Hell Is Real match against Cincinnati, but a combination of missed chances and good defending from the Garys forced them to settle for a point on the road. The Supporters' Shield is all but officially out of reach (12 points out with seven games to play), but they're still one of the biggest MLS Cup favorites. 3 LA Galaxy Last Week's Ranking: 5th (up two spots) Last Match: 4-2 win vs LAFC (Sept.
14) Next Match: at Portland Timbers (Sept. 18) Supporters' Shield Ranking: 2nd The LA Galaxy made a statement with a 4-2 comeback win over LAFC, with Riqui Puig (photo above) quieting any critics he may have had left with a goal and two assists, running the show against one of the best sides in MLS. They're in form, deep, and are fully committed to attacking at all times.
4 LAFC Last Week's Ranking: 3rd (down one spot) Last Match: 4-2 loss at LA Galaxy (Sept. 14) Next Match: vs. Austin FC (Sept.
18) Supporters' Shield Ranking: 5th Look, LAFC are one of the best teams in MLS and have been an absolute buzzsaw in the open field for most of the season, but not enough people are talking about how quiet they've been recently. With just one win in their last six MLS matches, they've started to cool off at the worst possible time. With several teams pushing for top four positions, they can't afford to keep dropping points.
Carlos Vela has agreed to a return to LAFC, sources tell GIVEMESPORT. 5 FC Cincinnati Last Week's Ranking: 4th (down one spot) Last Match: 0-0 draw vs. Columbus Crew (Sept.
14) Next Match: at Minnesota United (Sept. 18) Supporters' Shield Ranking: 3rd It took a monumental defensive effort for FC Cincinnati to keep Columbus off the scoreboard, and their backline deserves a ton of credit for quieting one of the most difficult opponents in the league, and doing it without the suspended Miles Robinson . Lucho Acosta hasn't scored an MLS goal since July 13, though, and they'll need their talisman to be in form heading down the stretch.
6 Colorado Rapids Last Week's Ranking: 8th (up two spots) Last Match: 2-1 win vs. Portland Timbers (Sept. 14) Next Match: at Sporting KC (Sept.
18) Supporters' Shield Ranking: 6th The Colorado Rapids were opportunistic against Portland, capitalizing on their chances while their opponents did not. I don't think many people had them pegged as one of the best teams in MLS at the start of the season, but here we are. 7 Houston Dynamo Last Week's Ranking: 11th (up four spots) Last Match: 4-1 win vs Real Salt Lake (Sept.
14) Next Match: vs. Vancouver Whitecaps (Sept. 18) Supporters' Shield Ranking: 10th The Houston Dynamo are basically that Grim Reaper meme, going door to door in the Western Conference and taking teams down.
They've beaten LAFC, Colorado, Vancouver and Portland already this season, and just laid an absolute walloping on RSL this weekend. Héctor Herrera's injury would change their outlook, though, if he misses more than a week or two. 8 Real Salt Lake Last Week's Ranking: 6th (down two spots) Last Match: 4-1 loss at Houston Dynamo (Sept.
14) Next Match: vs. FC Dallas (Sept. 18) Supporters' Shield Ranking: 7th In retrospect, Real Salt Lake losing Andrés Gómez in the summer was a much bigger blow than most people acknowledged.
He was having a Best XI caliber season and his presence meant that the weight of running the attack didn't fall solely on Chicho Arango. Now that he's gone and Arango has hit a goal drought, RSL are worryingly toothless, with just six goals in their last six league matches. They need answers, and quickly.
9 Seattle Sounders Last Week's Ranking: 9th (unchanged) Last Match: 2-0 win vs. Sporting KC (Sept. 15) Next Match: vs.
San Jose Earthquakes (Sept. 18) Supporters' Shield Ranking: 8th The Seattle Sounders handled their business without fuss against Sporting KC and have a mouthwatering matchup at home against San Jose in midweek. After that, though, they have a brutal schedule to close the season, playing teams in or fighting for the top 4 spots in the West in their final four matches.
We'll find out a lot about Brian Schmetzer's team in the next month. 10 Portland Timbers Last Week's Ranking: 7th (down three spots) Last Match: 2-1 loss at Colorado Rapids (Sept. 14) Next Match: vs.
LA Galaxy (Sept. 18) Supporters' Shield Ranking: 12th It's been the same story all year for the Portland Timbers : create a ton of chances, give up a ton of chances. They're loads of fun to watch and can hang with the best in the league in a shootout, but they're so vulnerable at the back that they don't have a super high ceiling.
11 Orlando City Last Week's Ranking: 14th (up three spots) Last Match: 3-0 win vs. New England Revolution (Sept. 14) Next Match: vs.
Charlotte FC (Sept. 18) Supporters' Shield Ranking: 13th Look, Orlando City SC are on a superb run of form with six wins in their last eight league matches. But their last eight opponents? New England (win), Nashville (win), Sporting KC (loss), Montreal (win), NYCFC (draw), Nashville (win), New England (win), D.
C. United (win), and Toronto (win). Not exactly a murderers' row of elite teams.
I don't think anyone really knows how they'll actually stack up against, you know, good teams. 12 Vancouver Whitecaps Last Week's Ranking: 15th (up three spots) Last Match: 2-0 win vs. San Jose Earthquakes (Sept.
14) Next Match: at Houston Dynamo (Sept. 18) Supporters' Shield Ranking: 9th Ryan Gauld notched a pair of assists, new signing Stuart Armstrong (photo above) grabbed his first goal, and the Vancouver Whitecaps absolutely rolled over San Jose in a match that wasn't nearly as close as the scoreline looked. The Whitecaps are a sneaky good side who are often overlooked, but look capable of some real damage in the postseason.
13 New York Red Bulls Last Week's Ranking: 12th (down one spot) Last Match: 2-1 loss at Chicago Fire (Sept. 14) Next Match: vs. Atlanta United (Sept.
21) Supporters' Shield Ranking: 11th Look, it's tough to be a good team when you can't consistently score goals. Since Emil Forsberg got hurt in early June, the NY Red Bulls won just two matches and have missed enough chances to haunt their supporters' dreams for years to come. Not signing a DP striker in the summer is looking like a worse move with every match they play.
14 New York City FC Last Week's Ranking: 10th (down four spots) Last Match: 1-1 draw at D.C. United (Sept.
14) Next Match: vs. Philadelphia Union (Sept. 18) Supporters' Shield Ranking: 14th Like a lot of teams here, New York City FC are suffering from their inability to consistently score goals.
They haven't scored more than twice in a single match since June. Coincidentally, their last win was the first weekend of July. They're slipping.
15 Philadelphia Union Last Week's Ranking: 13th (down two spots) Last Match: 3-1 loss at Inter Miami CF (Sept. 14) Next Match: at New York City FC (Sept. 18) Supporters' Shield Ranking: 22nd The Philadelphia Union scored in the first minute against Miami and created a decent swath of chances, but then they got Messi'd.
It happens to the best of them. They've been a much better side since the summer and should make the playoffs, but still don't have a particularly high ceiling. 16 Minnesota United Last Week's Ranking: 19th (up three spots) Last Match: 3-1 win at St.
Louis City FC (Sept. 14) Next Match: vs. FC Cincinnati (Sept.
18) Supporters' Shield Ranking: 15th With three wins from their last four, the Loons have been revitalized by a shrewd summer transfer window, and have a five-point margin for the final playoff spot in the West. With teams stagnating ahead of them, don't be surprised if they keep climbing the table. 17 Charlotte FC Last Week's Ranking: 16th (down one spot) Last Match: 2-1 loss at CF Montréal (Sept.
14) Next Match: at Orlando City (Sept. 18) Supporters' Shield Ranking: 16th For the longest time, Charlotte FC made up for the fact that they couldn't score by being really, really good at defending. Recently, they've been fairly bad at defending and still can't score.
It's not a good combo. 18 Atlanta United Last Week's Ranking: 17th (down one spot) Last Match: 2-0 loss vs. Nashville SC (Sept.
14) Next Match: vs. Inter Miami CF (Sept. 18) Supporters' Shield Ranking: 21st It's been a rough year for Atlanta United , but they still have a lot to play for in 2024.
You couldn't tell that by watching them against Nashville, losing 2-0 in an incredibly flat and lifeless performance. They have a brutal stretch to close the season, with five of their last six coming against teams above them in the table. It starts on Wednesday with Miami coming to town.
19 D.C. United Last Week's Ranking: 20th (up one spot) Last Match: 1-1 draw vs.
New York City FC (Sept. 14) Next Match: at Philadelphia Union (Sept. 18) Supporters' Shield Ranking: 20th As long as Christian Benteke (photo above) is in the lineup, he'll score goals and give DC United a chance.
They aren't a super multi-dimensional team, but they've figured out how to consistently get Benteke service in the box, and it generally pays off for them. 20 Toronto FC Last Week's Ranking: 21st (up one spot) Last Match: 2-1 win vs. Austin FC (Sept.
14) Next Match: vs. Columbus Crew (Sept. 18) Supporters' Shield Ranking: 17th Toronto FC won a game they had to have at home against a team on their level.
By doing so, they bought themselves a five-point cushion for their wild-card spot. That cushion will come in handy with a match against Columbus and then a road trip to visit red-hot Colorado..
