1. LAFC (-)
LAFC has played a lot of games as of late, and have been very successful in them. Against Seattle, they played a much slower style and settled for a point in a 0-0 draw on the road, an acceptable result.
2. FC CINCINNATI (-)
Cincy were moments away from suffering a massive drop in the rankings, but the heroics of Sergio Santos and Junior Moreno helped FCC come back from 3-1 down to draw Chicago 3-3. The defense is known for being leaky at times, but the FC Cincinnati attack is prolific and is bound to keep them in games.
3. ATLANTA UNITED (+1)
Atlanta United is officially back. Thiago Almada is the best player in MLS. This team is putting the entire league on notice following their 5-1 thrashing of the Portland Timbers. Almada had 2 goals and 2 assists, Giakoumakis scored in his first start, Caleb Wiley is firing on all cylinders, and Luiz Araujo got on the scoresheet as well. The team to watch in MLS.
4. ST. LOUIS CITY SC (+1)
Everyone is waiting for St. Louis City to finally have their welcome to MLS moment, but it's simply not coming. This team will not be denied, and continued their dominance through a 3-0 win against the San Jose Earthquakes at CITYPARK. STL improves to 4-0-0, the first expansion team to win all four of their first games. Joao Klauss keeps banging in goals, and the defense held strong.
5. PHILADELPHIA UNION (-2)
The Union have not looked as sharp in MLS play recently, their most recent blunder being a choke up North in Montreal. Mikael Uhre battled back from a 1-0 deficit with a brace, but CF Montreal's late run saw Philly ultimately fall 3-2 at Stade Olympique. With that being said, this team should be fine, but they have looked a tad shaky so far.
6. SEATTLE SOUNDERS (+1)
The Sounders probably should have beat LAFC, but a 0-0 draw is not the worst result in the world. Seattle debuted their new Bruce Lee kits at Lumen Field, but they could not find the winning goal despite winning the xG battle and taking more shots.
7. FC DALLAS (+3)
FC Dallas have not been completely convincing thus far, but the results have been there. Jesus Ferreira bagged a late goal to defeat Sporting Kansas City 2-1 on Saturday night. Maarten Paes was able to concede a penalty, save it illegally, and then save it legally, en route to Dallas' home victory.
8. NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION (+4)
New England's main criticism was their weak early schedule, beating two middling teams to start the season, then took a 4-0 beating against LAFC last week. On Saturday, the Revs took on the joint Eastern Conference leading Nashville SC without their captain, Carles Gil, and grabbed all three points thanks to a Gustavo Bou banger.
9. NEW YORK RED BULLS (+2)
The Red Bulls won their first game of the season, defeating Columbus Crew 2-1 at home, despite conceding the opening goal on a Carlos Coronel mistake. Luquinhas finally showed his ability, and new DP striker Dante Vanzeir smashed home the match winning goal in the closing minutes at Red Bull Arena.
10. AUSTIN FC (-3)
Concerns about Austin FC are legit at this point. The central defense continues to prove weak, as they dropped this week's match against Houston, 2-0. Driussi hasn't been up to standard, and ATX have struggled to find much going forward. They have a great opportunity next week at Q2 Stadium against the MLS worst Colorado Rapids.
11. ORLANDO CITY SC (-3)
Orlando City is starting to look like a bit of a disappointment, especially with all the off-season signings. They lost a home match 2-1 to Charlotte FC, a team without any points coming in. Facundo Torres has yet to get on the scoresheet. Even though Orlando has not been able to score goals, this was just their first loss of the season.
12. NASHVILLE SC (-3)
Nashville SC had not conceded a single goal in MLS until Gustavo Bou smashed home the game winning strike at Joe Willis' near post. Nashville fall to 2-1-1 following a match that saw them play their usual defensive style. Hany Mukhtar has yet to score a goal.
13. NEW YORK CITY FC (+2)
NYCFC grabbed their second win of the season in a wild one against DC United, which ended 3-2. Santiago Rodriguez was a massive part in the victory, scoring and assisting, while Talles Magno finally put the ball in the net for NYC as well.
14. LA GALAXY (-1)
The Galaxy are off to quite an ugly start here in 2023, they remain winless. After conceding first to the Vancouver Whitecaps, the unlikely scorer of Kelvin Leerdam knotted it up before the half. LA was the better team, but could not finish their chances and had to take a single point.
15. TORONTO FC (+3)
TFC badly needed a positive result, and they got it in their 2-0 win over Inter Miami at BMO Field. Without Insigne, and without a striker (both Diomande and Akinola injured), Toronto found a way through their stellar defense. Jonathan Osorio and Mark-Anthony Kaye provided the two goals.
16. MINNESOTA UNITED (+4)
Even without Emanuel Reynoso, Minnesota United has not been half bad in 2023. The Loons have yet to lose across their first three matches, as they beat the Colorado Rapids 2-1. Fragapane and Amarilla both started on the bench in this one, but both came in to contribute to goals, while center back Miguel Tapias added the game winner.
17. PORTLAND TIMBERS (-3)
The Timbers are so injured that it would take hours to list off their entire injury report. There's not much to say about their 5-1 spanking at the hands of Atlanta United, other than the fact that they looked really bad. Portland tried to run a three/five back, but Thiago Almada was determined to break right through it, and there wasn't much resistance on that front.
18. INTER MIAMI CF (-2)
Inter Miami's flying start to this season has definitely not lasted. During their visit to Toronto, they were dominated on all fronts, and fell 2-0. This team badly needs Leo Campana, Josef Martinez is not getting the job done at all up front by himself. They'll try to get back to winning ways when they host Chicago next weekend.
19. COLUMBUS CREW (-2)
Cucho Hernandez's late omission from the squad due to injury hurt the Columbus attack, and they were unable to get the job done against the Red Bulls in a 2-1 loss. Alexandru Matan took advantage of a goalkeeping mistake early on, but the Crew couldn't finish the job. They best get it together, Atlanta United struts into town next week.
20. SPORTING KANSAS CITY (-1)
Week by week, Sporting Kansas City drop games while their important players stay sidelined with various injuries. SKC are still without a win, and scored their first and only goal in a 2-1 loss to Dallas. Salloi scored the goal, but the attack lacks firepower without Pulido, Russell and Kinda. Sporting had the game in their hands with two penalty attempts, but Agada and Thommy managed to miss both tries.
21. CF MONTREAL (+4)
On the verge of losing their fourth straight match to open the season without scoring a goal from open play, CF Montreal turned up. The stoppage time number was given with MTL down 2-1, and by the end of it, they found themselves ahead of the Philadelphia Union by a score of 3-2. Romell Quioto scored his second in the 98th minute, earning Montreal their first +3 of the year.
22. REAL SALT LAKE (-)
Real Salt Lake earned the privilege of the week four bye, they'll host the red hot St. Louis City SC next week.
23. CHARLOTTE FC (+3)
Similar to CF Montreal, Charlotte FC went into Orlando City trying to avoid losing all of their first four games. They did so successfully, shocking Orlando with two first half goals from Kerwin Vargas and Enzo Copetti. Charlotte weathered the storm of the late comeback attempt, and took three points back home.
24. VANCOUVER WHITECAPS (-)
For Vancouver, their 1-1 draw at the LA Galaxy felt like a win. Vanni Sartini's side survived the Galaxy's 20 shots, with the lone goal scored by center back Tristan Blackmon. The Whitecaps are still without a win in MLS, and hope to find it in Minnesota on Saturday.
25. SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES (-4)
Coming off two consecutive wins, the Earthquakes folded under the pressure of the CITYPARK lights. St. Louis City owned them for most of the game, though Cade Cowell had some golden chances right in front of goal. They lost 3-0 in the end.
26. HOUSTON DYNAMO (+3)
The Houston Dynamo won a game and climbed up from the cellar. Austin FC was no match, as Hector Herrera starred and scored his first goal in orange and black, as did Amine Bassi from the penalty spot. The Dynamo will look to build on the 2-0 home win next Saturday against NYCFC.
27. DC UNITED (-4)
DC United's magic lasted approximately one game, as they have gone winless since their miracle late win against Toronto FC in week one. Mateusz Klich clocked two assists, Benteke scored, but it was all too little too late in a 3-2 loss at New York City FC.
28. CHICAGO FIRE (-)
Minutes away from soaring up the rankings with a huge victory over FC Cincinnati, the Chicago Fire did what they do best. Cincy roared back to tie the game at 3 extremely late inside a completely empty Soldier Field. The Fire sit dead last in the Eastern Conference with 0 wins.
29. COLORADO RAPIDS (-2)
The Rapids made tons of signings, but it hasn't exactly helped or fixed literally anything. They have now dropped three games and drew the other 0-0. In their most recent loss, Cole Bassett opened the scoring before Minnesota clapped back to score twice and take the 2-1 victory at Dick's Sporting Goods Park. Colorado needs to figure it out sooner rather than later, they'll visit Austin FC next Saturday.
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