Hello, MLS regular season. I’ve missed you.
Now that we’re back to game action, the MLS Power Rankings Roundup returns. This weekly breakdown of the soccer cognoscenti’s collective opinion on the league and, for our purposes, FC Dallas always entertains me. Why? Because the “rankings” vary wildly from “expert” to “expert”. You’ll see that in this week’s rankings.
After playing to a 1-1 draw in the MLS opener against Real Salt Lake, FC Dallas is off this weekend before hosting the defending Western Conference champion Seattle Sounders on Sunday March 18 (4PM on FCDallas.com, tape delay on TXA21).
Here’s how FC Dallas (0-0-1, 1 point) and the Sounders (0-1-0, 0 points) fared in the first installment of in the latest MLS power rankings.
MLS
1. NYCFC (+2)
2. Toronto FC (-1)
3. Columbus Crew (+8)
4. Seattle Sounders(no change) - Another game where CCL considerations contributed to the result. That, and the Sounders were monumentally unlucky not to score against LAFC, much less win. The expected goals numbers tell you pretty much everything for a hard-luck Week 1 in Seattle.
5. New York Red Bulls (+2)
18. FC Dallas (-5) - Was the draw against RSL a hangover from getting knocked out of the CCL earlier in the week, or part of the malaise that derailed their 2017 season? Oscar Pareja will get some time to regroup his team before they're back in action, and they could probably use the time.
ESPNFC
1. NYCFC (+3)
2. Columbus Crew (+4)
3. Houston Dynamno (+6)
4. Toronto FC (-3)
5. Atlanta United (-3)
6. Seattle Sounders (-3) - Seattle's focus on the Champions League tested the club's depth early. The result was a disappointing home loss to expansion side LAFC and some headaches over the attacking combinations.
18. FC Dallas (-4) - Oscar Pareja's side came up against a good goalkeeping performance and its own wastefulness in front of goal. The single point isn't good enough but FC Dallas will count itself lucky that a point was earned at all.
Soccer America
1. Columbus Crew (+8)
2. Houston Dynamo (+6)
3. NYCFC (+3)
4. New York Red Bulls (no change)
5. LAFC (+9)
16. Seattle (-13) - Sounders were maybe looking forward to CCL clash, still outshot LAFC, 22-5.
19. FC Dallas (+1) - Late own goal rescued a point after FCD reeled off a fair number of shots.
