In the middle of a playoff race in both conferences, Major League Soccer updates its Tie-Breaking procedures/rules. The full press release can be read here but the important points to take into account are as follows

When two or more teams are tied in the standings on points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss), the following tiebreakers will be used in the sequence below, until one team ranks ahead of the other(s): Goals For (GF) Goal Differential (GD) Fewest Disciplinary Points (Posted here) Road Goals Road Goal Differential Home Goals Home Goal Differential Coin Toss (2 teams) or Drawing of Lots (3 or more)

For the Montreal Impact, more of goal celebrations are needed to stay in the playoff race. With Di Vaio back from Italy and Nesta settling in, The back-end and the front-end of the team is covered for the Impact with the veterans but

Where do the Montreal Impact stand right after the jump

It is interesting to see that MLS is using ''Goals For'' as the first criteria and '' Goal Differential''. Knowing that most leagues (in the world) use ''Goal Differential'' as the first criteria, MLS is in a way forcing the hand of the teams to open it up and score goals.

Here is a look at where the Montreal Impact ranks in the Eastern Conference in each of the criteria. Standings are provided by the MLS and have been last updated on Tuesday, August 7, 2012 at 9:05pm.

Goals For (GF) Ranking

Actual Rank ''Goals For'' Rank Club GF 3 1 New York Red Bulls 38 1 2 Houston Dynamo 35 4 3 D.C. United 35 6 4 Montreal Impact 35 2 5 Sporting Kansas City 28 8 6 New England Revolution 26 5 7 Chicago Fire 25 10 8 Toronto FC 25 9 9 Philadelphia Union 22 7 10 Columbus Crew 20

The Montreal Impact are currently ranked 4th in the East, not bad for a team that did not have a real striker between Bernardo Corradi's injury and Marco Di Vaio's first game. Already offensively challenged on paper, resilience is key to the Montreal Impact relative success.

Goal Differential (GD) Ranking:

Swiss Cheese Effect

Actual Rank GD Rank Club GD 1 1 Houston Dynamo 10 4 2 D.C. United 8 2 3 Sporting Kansas City 7 3 4 New York Red Bulls 4 5 5 Chicago Fire 1 7 6 Columbus Crew -1 8 7 New England Revolution -2 9 8 Philadelphia Union -2 6 9 Montreal Impact -8 10 10 Toronto FC -15

Fewest Disciplinary Points: Toughest team in the East?

(For Disciplinary Points System, click here)

Being undisciplined is a sign of being tough but also running after the ball and not being able to get it cleanly. The team is an image of its head coach, Jesse Marsch: tough as nails.

Club Disciplinary Points Chicago Fire 322 Columbus Crew 317 D.C. United 292 Houston Dynamo 305 Montreal Impact 422 New England Revolution 275 New York Red Bulls 368 Philadelphia Union 382 Sporting Kansas City 370 Toronto FC 339

Road Goals Ranking : Road Trip Blues

Actual Rank RG Ranking Club RG 2 1 Sporting Kansas City 16 3 2 New York Red Bulls 16 1 3 Houston Dynamo 14 10 4 Toronto FC 14 4 5 D.C. United 11 5 6 Chicago Fire 10 8 7 New England Revolution 10 6 8 Montreal Impact 10 7 9 Columbus Crew 8 9 10 Philadelphia Union 6

Road Goal Differential: Bottom Of The Class

Actual Rank RGD Rank Club RGD 2 1 Sporting Kansas City 2 7 2 Columbus Crew -2 1 3 Houston Dynamo -4 5 4 Chicago Fire -4 4 5 D.C. United -7 3 6 New York Red Bulls -8 8 7 New England Revolution -8 9 8 Philadelphia Union -8 10 9 Toronto FC -8 6 10 Montreal Impact -16

Home Goals: Top of the class

Stade Saputo, The Fortress

Actual Rank HG Rank Club HG 6 1 Montreal Impact 25 4 2 D.C. United 24 3 3 New York Red Bulls 22 1 4 Houston Dynamo 21 8 5 New England Revolution 16 9 6 Philadelphia Union 16 5 7 Chicago Fire 15 2 8 Sporting Kansas City 12 7 9 Columbus Crew 12 10 10 Toronto FC 11

Home Goal Differential:

Montreal still gets scored on a bit at home.

Actual Rank HGD Rank Club HGD 4 1 D.C. United 15 1 2 Houston Dynamo 14 3 3 New York Red Bulls 12 6 4 Montreal Impact 8 8 5 New England Revolution 6 9 6 Philadelphia Union 6 2 7 Sporting Kansas City 5 5 8 Chicago Fire 5 7 9 Columbus Crew 1 10 10 Toronto FC -7

Coin Toss (2 teams) or Drawing of Lots (3 or more) :



Are we talking Loonie or US quarters?

This is the current image of the Montreal Impact as per the different Tie Breakers, as per MLS regulations. These tie-breakers might not mean anything if Montreal is unable to tie for a spot (5th realistically). The only number that counts for now is

3 for 3 points and the Win.