LAFC, Seattle Sounders and Atlanta United lead our MLS power rankings after last season’s silverware winners all won on the 2020 season’s opening weekend.
MLS returned for its 25th season this weekend with two expansion teams and a ton of great goals.
Early season estimations of teams are an odd mix of off-season narratives, preseason expectations, talent-level guessing, and minimal on-field results.
With that in mind, here’s where things stand in our first MLS power rankings of the season:
1. LAFC (1W-0L-0D)
Last year’s Supporters’ Shield winners start atop the rankings after Carlos Vela’s spectacular chip earned LAFC a 1-0 win over MLS newcomers Inter Miami. A beautiful goal from Vela and three points for LAFC, 2020 starting off much like 2019.
2. Seattle Sounders (1-0-0)
The team that lifted MLS Cup last year check in at No. 2 after a rousing comeback win over Chicago. Jordan Morris earned himself Player of the Week honors for his two goals.
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3. Atlanta United (1-0-0)
The Five Stripes won, but at what cost, as Josef Martinez went down with a torn ACL. Atlanta still have some of the most talented players in the league, but how will they be able to cope without their emotional leader and where will the goals come from?
4. Minnesota United (1-0-0)
The Loons’ playoff berth last year was built on the foundation of a much-improved defense, that included Defender of the Year Ike Opara. They opened the 2020 season with an offensive outburst, putting up three goals in Portland.
5. New York City FC (0-1-0)
A third-minute red card meant there was not much we learned from a NYCFC perspective in this one. Scrap it and see what we can learn next week about the team that finished top of the East last season.
6. FC Dallas (1-0-0)
The Dallas kids are alright, opening the season with a home win over Philly.
7. Toronto FC (1-0-0)
TFC created good chances and scored twice but giving up a stoppage-time equalizer isn’t a great start for last year’s MLS Cup runners-up.
8. LA Galaxy (0-0-1)
Cristian Pavon scored one of the goals of the weekend, but the Galaxy had to settle for a single point on the road and Chicharito wasn’t terribly involved. The defense is still a question, but there’s reason to believe this team will be near the top of the West and a point away from home is a decent start.
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9. New York Red Bulls (1-0-0)
Scoring three goals (even against Cincinnati) is a good start for the red side of New York as they start the post-BWP era. Letting FCC score two themselves is not such a great start.
10. Columbus Crew (1-0-0)
Lucas Zelarayan certainly looks like the real deal after the Crew’s new No. 10 scored a beautiful curler in his MLS debut. Still, it’s tough to say how much we really learned about Caleb Porter’s side since they were playing against 10 men for 87 of the 90 minutes.
11. Sporting KC (1-0-0)
SKC went on the road and beat Vancouver 3-1, including goals from newcomers Alan Pulido and Gadi Kinda. The extent to which they lost the xG battle is a little concerning, but Pulido was brought in to score goals and he’s off on the right foot.
12. Houston Dynamo (0-0-1)
The Dynamo went toe-to-toe with the Galaxy and earned a draw to start Tab Ramos’ time at the helm. It was an encouraging start for the new coach and a side that should be entertaining.
13. Montreal Impact (1-0-0)
I still have questions about Thierry Henry managerial ability and what he will do with this side, but so far this season – in CCL and now MLS – they have shown an ability to find results. Plus, it helps when Maxi Urutti does this:
https://twitter.com/FanSidedSoccer/status/1233872873590312961
14. Colorado Rapids (1-0-0)
The first match of the season wasn’t the prettiest affair, but the Rapids pulled out three points on the road with a stoppage-time equalizer.
15. New England Revolution (0-1-0)
The Revs had a winning goal disallowed by VAR and then conceded a stunner to drop all three points. The talent is still promising in New England, but this wasn’t the best start.
16. Philadelphia Union (0-1-0)
A 2-0 loss isn’t a great result to start the season, but Philly were in the match and just couldn’t finish any chances to swing things in their favor. It won get any easier with a trip to LAFC this weekend.
17. San Jose Earthquakes (0-0-1)
The Quakes were outplayed at home but fought back to earn a point thanks to Oswaldo Alanis’ free-kick golazo in the 95th minute. Matias Almeyda’s side sure seem like they’re going to keep being the scrappy, hard-working maniacs that their coach wants them to be. The Goonies mentality really never will die.
18. DC United (0-1-0)
There were some signs of what could be, especially from new signings Edison Flores and Julian Gressel, but otherwise it was pretty disjointed and conceding the late winner was the cherry on top.
19. Chicago Fire (0-1-0)
The Fire went into Seattle and almost got a result, but were left regretting their missed chances. After wholesale changes in Chicago this offseason, we’re still waiting to learn more about this side, but maybe this is a starting point.
20. Portland Timbers (0-1-0)
Giving up three goals at home isn’t a promising start for a Timbers side that needs to establish an identity.
21. Real Salt Lake (0-0-1)
RSL created next to nothing in this match. Credit to them for getting a point on the road, but there’s nowhere to go but up from this performance.
22. Orlando City SC (0-0-1)
Orlando City actually produced more chances than RSL in this dire goalless draw, but there are still bigger overall questions about this team and their direction.
23. Inter Miami (0-1-0)
For a long time I thought that this “franchise” was actually just a grift that would never come to be. After seven years though, Inter Miami are a real-life soccer club. Losing their opener to LAFC isn’t great, bu going down to a Vela golazo isn’t anything to be ashamed of in this league. There’s talent and potential there, but we’ll have to see how quickly it comes together.
24. Nashville SC (0-1-0)
Our preseason assessment that Nashville have built a decent floor thanks to a veteran spine looks spot on. But as past expansion teams have shown you can do a lot worse than solid. Plus, the atmosphere looked great and they’ve got this guy on their side:
25. Vancouver Whitecaps (0-1-0)
The Caps lined up with plenty of attacking options and created their fair share of chances, but giving up three goals at home is a bad look to start the season. We’re still not entirely sure what this team’s plan is this season.
26. FC Cincinnati (0-1-0)
After having a historically bad defense in their expansion season, shipping three goals is not how FCC wanted to start year two.