Ranking this week’s games. For the first time this season I will actually rank the games from best to worst. In the past, I’ve categorized them as Games of the Week, Best of the Rest, etc.
Here we go
1. Toronto (11-3-5) at NYCFC (10-6-3), 7:30 p.m. Wednesday: The two best teams in MLS will face off with NYCFC having the advantage of playing on its Lilliputian field and Toronto missing Michael Bradley and Jozy Altidore.
2. Atlanta United (9-7-3) at Orlando City (8-7-5), 7 p.m., Friday: What amounts to a six-pointer because of where the teams are in the Eastern Conference standings. It is the first meeting between the teams, which may or may not be rivals. Atlanta United will benefit from Orlando City's Cyle Larin being called up to Canada for the knockout rounds of the Gold Cup.
3. Chicago (11-3-5) at NYCFC (10-6-3), 2 p.m. Saturday: No team is hotter than Chicago, which is unbeaten in 11 games.
4. Portland (7-7-6) at Vancouver (7-7-3), 6:30 p.m. Sunday: The Cascadia rivalry resumes with the Timbers currently fourth in the West and the Whitecaps in sixth. Two beautiful cities, by the way.
5. Philadelphia (6-7-5) at Columbus, (9-10-1), 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Both teams desperately need to win to avoid staying in the red line bubble. That's especially true because Atlanta United and Orlando City are about to play twice in the span of eight days. If either wins both, they are going to join Toronto, Chicago and NYCFC as locks for the playoffs.
6. San Jose (7-7-5) at Seattle (6-7-6), 10:30 p.m. Sunday. Seattle is outside the red line because of goal difference. It has a game earlier in the week that may push it to the northern side of the red line.
7. Philadelphia (6-7-5) at Montreal (5-6-6), 7:30 p.m. Wednesday: If either team is going to climb above the red line, now is the time to go to work.
8. Houston (8-7-4) at Minnesota United (5-11-3), 8 p.m. Wednesday: If Houston can't defeat the Loons, then it may not win on the road all season. The Dynamo are 0-7-2 this season away from home.
9. Dallas (8-3-7) at Montreal (5-6-6), 7:30 p.m., Saturday. The Impact are a better team than their record and now is the time to show it. As of Monday, they are seven points away from a playoff spot.
10. San Jose (7-7-5) at New York Red Bulls (8-8-2), 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
11. Vancouver (7-7-3) at L.A. Galaxy (6-8-4), 10:30 p.m. Wednesday
12. Real Salt Lake (6-12-2) at Portland (7-7-6), 10:30 p.m. Wednesday
13. Sporting KC (8-4-8) at Real Salt Lake (6-12-2), 10 p.m. Saturday
14. New York Red Bulls (8-8-2) at Minnesota United (5-11-3), 4 p.m. Saturday
15. D.C. United (5-11-3) at Seattle (6-7-6), 10:30 p.m. Wednesday: Though it is unbeaten in its past three, I'm still not sold on Seattle. Plus, it is without several key players because of Gold Cup call-ups.
16. Houston (8-7-4) at D.C. United (5-11-3), 7 p.m. Saturday
17. L.A. Galaxy (6-8-4) at New England (5-9-5), 7:30 p.m. Saturday
18. Colorado (6-11-1) at Toronto (11-3-5), 7 p.m. Saturday: This should get out of hand fairly quickly.
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