Pre-season power rankings are usually a crapshoot compared to just about any other time of the year. Teams have lost players, gained players, fire and hired coaches, and traded players among themselves. Some teams are completely new to MLS, while some players are completely new to not only MLS but North American soccer. So we make predictions with what data we’re given and prepare to be get some right and be proven completely wrong by others. Anyway, here’s my MLS 2019 Pre-Season Power Rankings:

1. Atlanta United

The MLS Champions have lost Miguel Almiron to England, but they are still the reigning champions. They once again showed their talent with their comeback to advance in the CCL, and of course they still have a record-breaking Josef Martinez up top. Frank de Boer and Pity Martinez are exciting additions whom show that the front office in Atlanta is looking to keep the foot on the pedal.

2. New York Red Bulls

They lost an important player in Tyler Adams to Germany, but the team still looks like a perennial contender, and has advanced to the next round of the CCL after a 5-0 aggregate victory over Atleticó Pantoja. We can likely expect the Red Bulls to be in conversation come the end of the season.

3. LAFC

Right up there with Atlanta United in the race for most exciting team in the MLS. Last season showed a lot of promise and with a team that has only gotten stronger in the offseason, the consistency of the squad could yield results that push for the top spot in the MLS.

4. Sporting Kansas City

Another team that has produced good results in the early stages of the CCL, a 3-0 win at home and an impressive 2-0 away win in Mexico, Sporting Kansas City has an opening test of LAFC and will try to build upon last year’s first place finish in the Western Conference with a more significant playoff push.

5. DC United

“It was the best of time, it was the worst of times” – A Tale of Two Cities ‘Halves of the Season’.

DC United had an abysmal start to the season as the played nearly every game away, due to the delayed opening of their stadium, but in the second half of the season, once Audi Field opened and Wayne Rooney joined the team, they were the hottest team in the league if not the sport as a whole. Acosta is back after a rumored transfer to PSG, Argentinian right-back Leonardo Jara is the an exciting acquisition, and Rooney will continue to captain the squad.

6. Columbus Crew

#SaveTheCrew was a success and now with record-high season tickets sales, it’s time for the team to reward all that hard work. Caleb Porter is the new coach and with a team of USMNT players Columbus could take the off-field momentum into the season.

7.Portland Timbers

A low(ish) ranking for the 2018 MLS Runner-ups, but despite the impressive playoff run the Timbers have a couple of questions to answer if we’re to expect a similar performance in 2019. The team has a great core but without a quality striker, Valeri and Blanco will be faced with significant pressure to produce and create goals.

8. LA Galaxy

Any team with Zlatan Ibrahimovic has a chance at winning it all, and LA Galaxy has the talent on the team but are missing the consistency required to make the playoffs, let alone lift a trophy. If new head coach Guillermo Barros Schelotto can fix the leaky defense and keep his players focused, we’ll be glued to the television on August 25th for an el Tráfico that could have playoff implications.

9. Seattle Sounders

Jordan Morris is back, and Clint Dempsey is gone. Seattle had a rough loss in the playoffs to their bitter rivals, the Portland Timbers, but this team has the experience and the talent to once again put themselves near the top of the Western Conference and in the conversation for MLS Cup contenders.

10. Real Salt Lake

After surprisingly pushing LAFC out of the playoffs last year, we’re forced to look at Real Salt Lake as a team who could continue to make strides in 2019. A dark horse team to finish near the top of the conference, they will be tested early in the season with away games against D.C. United, LAFC, and the Sounders.

11. FC Dallas

A team that finished fourth in a strong Western conference, many people expect FC Dallas to take a step back in 2019 and it’s not a bad prediction, with them being a young team with a new coach, but they could also of course take the next step and continue to be one of the top teams in the West. The academy grows stronger in Dallas.

12. NYCFC

How does this team look without David Villa? Nobody really knows, but new signing Alexandru Mitrita holds a lot of promise and the outlook is good for a team that has been looking for the push over the hump in the East.

13. Philadelphia Union

They reached the U.S. Open Cup finals last year and snuck into the playoffs. Newest addition Marco Fabian is holding a lot of the expectations in Philly which is concerning since he spent the majority of last year injured. Otherwise the team looks largely the same and will likely find themselves once again hanging around the fringes of the playoffs.

14. Houston Dynamo

Houston Dynamo don’t have their minds focused on the MLS right now with a huge tie against LIGA MX leaders Tigres coming up over the next two weeks, but nonetheless the MLS season is upon us and the Dynamo are quietly being overlooked. They brought home the US Open Cup last year and could be a surprising middle of the pack team in the West.

15. Montreal Impact

Piatti’s last season in Montreal could be the spark Remi Garde has been looking for with his squad. They just missed the playoffs in 2018, caused by a lethargic start to the season, and also only scoring 47 goals which put them only above Colorado, Orlando, and Columbus in the MLS. Veteran striker Maxi Urruti will do his best to push on the attack and Montreal will likely be right in the mid-table mix for the final playoff spot come next October.

16. New England Revolution

Robert Kraft offseason antics aside, Charles Gil looks to be a solid pickup but alas that is the lonely bright spot for a team that has too often seemed overlooked by their Front Office. Brad Friedel will have another season to try to kickstart this squad and put his new signings to work.

17. Toronto FC

If last season wasn’t hard enough, Giovinco is gone and the 2019 CCL tie in Panama was disappointing to say the least. Vasquez is also out, and were not sure what this Toronto team will look like a couple of weeks into the season, but it does look likely that they will be watching the playoffs from home come the end of the season.

18. Colorado Rapids

After some big name signings in the offseason, and Tim Howard singing his swan song, Colorado could show a lot of improvement over last year’s abysmal record. Being the only team to score less than 40 goals in the season the front office brought in Kei Kamara and Diego Rubio to help put some more balls in the back of the net. The defensive line will be key for Colorado’s success or failure in 2019.

19. Minnesota United

Angelo Rodriguez will get his second chance with Minnesota United and hopefully will prove that his introduction to MLS was just a fluke. Minnesota made some quality signings in the offseason, Ike Opara and Osvaldo Alonso in defense, and hope to improve upon two dismal years of MLS with a push in 2019.

20. Chicago Fire

Bastian Schweinsteiger isn’t getting any younger, and the Fire cannot expect him to carry them against the talent in MLS for an entire season. Chicago has however made a couple high-profile signings this offseason with Frankowski, a promising winger, and Marcelo (from Sporting CP not Real Madrid). Rumor has it that they have Nico Gaitán coming in from China and Joakim Nilsson from Sweden, with those two additional signings Chicago may be a team to watch by July.

21. FC Cincinnati

It can be a pretty rough introduction to the MLS for expansion teams. With Atlanta being an outlier, many teams struggle in their inaugural season. FC Cincinnati looks to have done well with their signings this offseason to prepare for their first MLS season, but we will truly just have to sit back and see if they are more Atlanta or Minnesota in 2019.

22. Vancouver Whitecaps

Vancouver underwent an overhaul this offseason and will look at the 2019 season and the start of their new project. Playoffs are more than likely not in the cards for new coach Marc Dos Santos and his Alphonso Davies-less Whitecaps, but this will be a season of preparation and experimentation as the team looks to rebuild.

23. San Jose Earthquakes

The winners of the Wooden Spoon in 2018, San Jose has a new coach but hasn’t made any real changes within the team that see them any better than likely bottom feeders in the west for 2019.

24. Orlando City

Nani is one of the more exciting signings for MLS in years, and while he looks to have plenty in the tank for a season or two in Orlando, he won’t fix the horrendous defense that plagues the Lions in 2018. They will likely be an exciting team to watch, with Nani and Dom Dwyer spearheading the attack, but the holes in defense will prove to be too much for a second year in a row.