FRISCO – With most of the league having the weekend off, not a whole lot has changed in the weekly power rankings roundup.
Heading into the lone match of the season on Saturday at Toyota Stadium, here’s where FC Dallas and Columbus stand.
MLSSoccer.com
1. Atlanta United FC (no change)
2. New York Red Bulls (no change)
3. Seattle Sounders (no change)
4. Sporting Kansas City (no change)
5. FC Dallas (no change) - Remarkably, FC Dallas remain atop the West but seem to be flying under the radar nationally. A home game against a Crew SC team building a reputation for peaking late will be a great test for both teams.
8. Columbus Crew SC (no change) - Crew SC are still smack-dab in the middle of the playoff places in the Eastern Conference, but the business end of the season is nearly here and a strong run to close the campaign before the playoffs would be great. Can Gregg Berhalter get his side fully in sync for the final two months?
ESPNFC (From Sept. 3)
1. Atlanta United (no change)
2. New York Red Bulls (no change)
3. FC Dallas (no change) - The West leaders secured El Capitan and boosted their chances of salting away the top seed in the conference with a 4-2 win over Houston on Saturday. The win was a big bounce back for Oscar Pareja's team after a bad midweek loss in San Jose.
4. Seattle Sounders (+2)
5. Sporting Kansas City (-1)
7. Columbus Crew SC (+1) - The Crew handled NYCFC at Mapfre Stadium on Saturday, a crucial victory for a team that hadn't won in its last two games. The best part for Columbus might have been the play of Justin Meram, who looked fully back after returning from Orlando last month.
Soccer America (From Sept. 5)
1. Atlanta United (no change)
2. New York Red Bulls (no change)
3. FC Dallas (no change) - FC Dallas is back on top in the Western Conference after the win over Houston in the Texas Derby. Santiago Mosquera scored twice and fellow Colombian Michael Barrios added his sixth goal in his last seven games.
4. LAFC (+1)
5. Seattle Sounders (+1)
8. Columbus Crew SC (no change) - The Crew's "clever" head coach, Gregg Berhalter, drew praise from NYCFC coach Domenec Torrent. Told Berhalter was a candidate for the U.S. national team coaching job, Torrent said, “I didn’t know, but I’m very happy for him."