16 of 18 sites published this week, and once again NBC Sports published after I did last week; the Reddit user who had been submitting privately can no longer continue, but in his place the website Four Four Two has started doing Power Rankings. Previous weekly averages have been adjusted accordingly.

I’m also continuing the very brief survey asking opinions on how MLS compares to other leagues on a 1-10 scale (1 easy, 10 hard). Thank you if you can participate!

Now on to the rankings. As always, if you come across a site that I’ve not included please send me their link!

"If two teams played tomorrow, given their current injury concerns, form, and other considerations, who is likely to win on a neutral field? All things being equal, who is the best team going forward, based on what we know now?"

-Richard Farley, NBC Sports ProSoccerTalk. 3/11/14

Sites Used

Who Scored (whoscored.com)

Jeff Sagarin’s MLS Rankings (sagarin.com/sports/soccer)

In On It (inonit.com/mls-playoffs-odds/power-rankings)

Five Thirty Eight (projects.fivethirtyeight.com/soccer-predictions/mls)

Sports Illustrated (SI.com/planet-futbol)

ESPN (ESPNFC.com/major-league-soccer/19/index)

Soccer America (socceramerica.com)

MLS Soccer (mlssoccer.com/series/power-rankings)

MLS Multiplex (mlsmultiplex.com) *No Rank wk 6

Soccer By Ives (sbisoccer.com)

Four Four Two (fourfourtwo.com/us/mls)

Reddit MLS (reddit/r/MLS)

MLS Fantasy Boss (mlsfantasyboss.com)

The Score (thescore.com/mls/news)

Once A Metro (onceametro.com)

Goal (goal.com/en-us)

NBC Sports (soccer.nbcsports.com/tag/major-league-soccer) *No Rank wk 6

MLS Aces (mlsaces.sportsblog.com)

You may notice the list includes several ‘analytic’ sites; the analytic sites function as a counterbalance to the rest which are based more on personal opinions. All the averages use the Olympic method of dropping the highest and lowest scores, and then averaging the rest to remove potential bias.

2020 MLS Power Ranking Averages Wk 9 Wk 8 Team Wk 9 Avg Wk 8 Avg St. Dev Best Worst 2020 Wk 9 Wk 8 Team Wk 9 Avg Wk 8 Avg St. Dev Best Worst 2020 21 17 Atlanta United FC 20.86 15.91 2.18 18 25 11.56 24 25 Chicago Fire 22.86 23.73 2.19 18 25 21.16 17 22 Colorado Rapids 17 21.91 3.94 8 20 16.36 2 1 Columbus Crew SC 2.29 2.45 2.06 1 7 5.43 23 20 D.C. United 22.71 20.36 2.12 19 26 18.96 25 26 FC Cincinnati 25 23.91 0.87 24 26 22.88 10 13 FC Dallas 9.71 12.91 3.74 7 18 12.86 12 10 Houston Dynamo 11.43 9.73 3.28 6 17 18.1 20 23 Inter Miami CF 19.71 22.55 3.4 14 24 21.65 7 7 Los Angeles FC 7.43 7.55 4.5 2 15 4.05 4 3 Los Angeles Galaxy 5.57 4.18 2.4 1 10 13.85 8 9 Minnesota United FC 8.86 9.18 3.69 4 14 5.56 14 14 Montreal Impact 13 13.18 3.67 8 18 14.96 19 21 Nashville SC 17.43 21.45 2.65 13 22 22.52 15 15 New England Revolution 15.57 14 2.07 12 19 14.09 10 11 New York City FC 9.71 9.82 4.03 2 16 11.31 17 19 New York RB 17 20.27 3 13 21 14.22 4 8 Orlando City SC 5.57 7.91 3.87 3 15 12.59 1 2 Philadelphia Union 2 2.73 1.58 1 6 6.34 13 6 Portland Timbers 12 7.09 6.41 2 23 10.13 16 16 Real Salt Lake 16.43 15.45 3.38 10 21 14.12 22 18 San Jose Earthquakes 21.86 18.64 2.29 19 26 16.58 3 4 Seattle Sounders FC 4.14 5.36 3.43 1 10 4.97 9 12 Sporting Kansas City 9.43 10.36 2.01 7 13 7.61 6 5 Toronto FC 6.29 7 3.59 4 14 5.11 26 24 Vancouver Whitecaps FC 25.29 22.64 1.32 22 26 22.8

Highest Standard Deviation: NER 4.22

Lowest Standard Deviation: FCD 0.83

2018 Power Ranking Site Bias Team / Site AVG Jeff Sagarin Five-Thirty-Eight Massey ESPN Soc. Amer MLS MLS Fant. Boss Reddit /r/mls Mane Land Philly Soc. Page MLS Multiplex Dallas News Pro Soc. USA Who Scored Couch Metrics AVG Team / Site Team / Site AVG Jeff Sagarin Five-Thirty-Eight Massey ESPN Soc. Amer MLS MLS Fant. Boss Reddit /r/mls Mane Land Philly Soc. Page MLS Multiplex Dallas News Pro Soc. USA Who Scored Couch Metrics AVG Team / Site Atlanta United 2.258 -0.108 -0.998 -0.078 -0.568 0.332 -0.318 -0.568 -0.198 2.072 -0.198 0.012 -0.158 -0.698 2.282 -1.218 2.258 Atlanta United Chicago Fire 17.654 -1.864 0.696 0.166 0.846 0.406 1.026 -0.484 0.586 -0.414 -0.074 0.176 0.046 1.586 0.556 0.606 17.654 Chicago Fire Colorado Rapids 20.757 -0.847 0.303 -0.317 0.713 -1.567 0.333 0.003 0.423 0.543 -0.047 -1.427 -1.257 -0.517 0.203 0.373 20.757 Colorado Rapids Columbus Crew 7.794 -0.294 0.206 0.676 -1.294 0.116 -0.504 -0.314 -1.234 -0.584 -0.184 0.006 1.936 0.166 5.456 1.466 7.794 Columbus Crew D.C. United 17.043 -2.663 0.667 -2.303 0.957 0.617 -0.193 1.547 0.247 0.317 -0.883 0.957 1.857 -0.643 0.497 1.437 17.043 D.C. United FC Dallas 7.068 0.522 -0.478 -0.778 1.342 -0.818 -0.098 -0.068 0.022 1.052 1.222 -0.168 0.402 -0.988 -1.608 -3.718 7.068 FC Dallas Houston Dynamo 12.253 -2.043 1.157 1.867 -0.533 -0.693 0.217 0.467 -0.253 -1.403 2.457 0.177 0.017 1.587 -2.253 1.047 12.253 Houston Dynamo Los Angeles FC 5.945 2.315 -0.125 -1.505 0.055 -0.285 0.235 -0.355 -0.155 0.815 -2.335 0.255 0.425 0.535 -2.085 -0.685 5.945 Los Angeles FC L.A. Galaxy 12.029 1.321 -0.819 -0.649 -0.029 -1.059 -0.789 4.381 -0.819 -0.849 4.551 0.471 -1.129 -0.269 -0.779 -1.419 12.029 L.A. Galaxy Minnesota United 18.385 1.525 1.145 0.465 -1.005 -0.545 0.325 1.615 -0.945 1.135 0.775 -0.785 -1.055 -0.425 1.475 -1.515 18.385 Minnesota United Montreal Impact 16.1 0.25 0.75 -0.45 0.18 0.06 -1.04 1.45 0.05 -1.58 0.51 0.93 -0.8 -1.78 -0.67 0.38 16.1 Montreal Impact N.E. Revolution 13.431 -1.431 0.629 -0.871 0.909 -1.741 1.159 -0.121 0.809 1.089 -0.491 -0.361 -0.831 0.529 -1.141 -0.521 13.431 N.E. Revolution New York FC 4.348 -1.138 -0.998 -0.228 0.492 0.372 1.182 -1.108 0.062 0.502 0.842 0.982 -0.578 1.452 0.192 0.002 4.348 New York FC New York RB 3.259 -0.639 -0.199 0.771 -0.449 1.051 -0.319 -0.599 -0.169 -0.259 -0.159 -0.229 -0.659 -0.379 -1.439 -0.169 3.259 New York RB Orlando SC 17.946 1.904 0.874 1.644 -0.816 -0.356 -0.296 2.504 -0.536 -0.526 0.444 -1.476 0.184 -1.666 0.014 -0.816 17.946 Orlando SC Philadelphia Union 13.69 1.16 -0.6 0.52 0.34 -0.16 -0.84 0.59 -0.75 0.4 -0.56 0.58 2.04 -0.05 0.24 0.57 13.69 Philadelphia Union Portland Timbers 9.195 -0.875 -1.845 -0.635 0.555 -0.505 0.065 -0.785 1.715 -0.135 -1.805 0.435 -1.865 0.925 -0.055 -2.715 9.195 Portland Timbers Real Salt Lake 13.448 3.112 -0.828 -1.038 0.022 -0.638 0.372 -0.068 0.142 3.002 -1.128 -0.518 1.722 0.152 -2.158 -1.798 13.448 Real Salt Lake San Jose Earthquakes 20.143 -0.553 2.147 0.507 -0.203 0.107 0.037 0.577 -0.583 -0.993 1.337 -0.173 0.887 0.817 -5.893 2.597 20.143 San Jose Earthquakes Seattle Sounders 12.061 -0.181 -1.971 -0.771 0.069 2.319 0.259 -4.371 1.349 -1.761 -2.771 2.139 -0.891 0.539 2.689 1.419 12.061 Seattle Sounders Sporting Kansas City 5.142 -0.382 -0.492 0.858 0.518 0.828 -0.262 0.648 -0.262 -0.472 2.018 -0.772 -0.112 -0.702 -3.782 0.338 5.142 Sporting Kansas City Toronto FC 12.716 -0.926 -0.536 2.524 -0.156 3.784 -1.566 -4.236 1.464 -1.836 -3.776 -0.286 -0.446 -0.356 3.494 4.984 12.716 Toronto FC Vancouver Whitecaps 13.016 2.134 1.924 -0.016 -1.546 -1.296 1.334 -0.426 -1.106 0.194 0.594 -0.816 0.584 0.464 4.914 -0.316 13.016 Vancouver Whitecaps Most Bias VS (+) 3.112 2.147 2.524 1.342 3.784 1.334 4.381 1.715 3.002 4.551 2.139 2.04 1.587 5.456 4.984 (+) Most Bias VS Most Bias FOR (-) -2.663 -1.971 -2.303 -1.546 -1.741 -1.566 -4.371 -1.234 -1.836 -3.776 -1.476 -1.865 -1.78 -5.893 -3.718 (-) Most Bias FOR

Site with highest season bias For: In On It with LAG ranked 8.32 better than avg.

Site with highest season bias Against: Who Scored with FCD 7.47 worse than average.

Site with least season bias For: Soccer By Ives with VAN 0.02 better than avg.

Site with least season bias Against: Soccer America with COL 0.04 worse than avg.