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After a 5-2 loss, and not being THAT far up the standings, you would think the New York Red Bulls' place at the top of the Eastern Conference would be gone. Normally, that would be true, but this is MLS. The Red Bulls got pretty much all the help they needed to stay at the top. Vancouver lost to NYC FC. D.C. United, Columbus, New England couldn't gain much ground. Pretty much everything that could go the Red Bulls way did.
Below are the current standings with each team's maximum point and projected points. For a reminder, here's how they are calculated:
- Maximum Points = Current Points + (Remaining Games x 3)
- Projected Points = Current Points + (Current Home Points Per Game [PPG] x Home Games Left) + (Current Away PPG x Away Games Left)
You can see the full set of data on our Google Sheets file.
Eastern Conference Standings
| # | Club | PTS | Max Pts | Proj Pts |
| 1 | New York Red Bulls | 48 | 63 | 56 |
| 2 | New England Revolution | 47 | 56 | 50 |
| 3 | Columbus Crew SC | 47 | 56 | 51 |
| 4 | D.C. United | 45 | 54 | 49 |
| 5 | Toronto FC | 43 | 55 | 49 |
| 6 | Montreal Impact | 42 | 57 | 47 |
| 7 | Orlando City SC | 38 | 47 | 41 |
| 8 | New York City FC | 37 | 46 | 40 |
| 9 | Philadelphia Union | 34 | 43 | 37 |
| 10 | Chicago Fire | 27 | 36 | 30 |
Supporter's Shield Standings
| # | Club | PTS | Max Pts | Proj Pts |
| 1 | LA Galaxy | 50 | 59 | 53 |
| 2 | Vancouver Whitecaps FC | 48 | 60 | 54 |
| 3 | New York Red Bulls | 48 | 63 | 56 |
| 4 | FC Dallas | 47 | 62 | 55 |
| 5 | New England Revolution | 47 | 56 | 50 |
| 6 | Columbus Crew SC | 47 | 56 | 51 |
| 7 | Seattle Sounders FC | 46 | 55 | 51 |
| 8 | D.C. United | 45 | 54 | 49 |
| 9 | Sporting Kansas City | 45 | 57 | 51 |
| 10 | Portland Timbers | 44 | 56 | 49 |
| 11 | Toronto FC | 43 | 55 | 49 |
| 12 | San Jose Earthquakes | 43 | 52 | 47 |
| 13 | Montreal Impact | 42 | 57 | 47 |
| 14 | Houston Dynamo | 41 | 50 | 44 |
| 15 | Real Salt Lake | 38 | 50 | 43 |
| 16 | Orlando City SC | 38 | 47 | 41 |
| 17 | New York City FC | 37 | 46 | 40 |
| 18 | Philadelphia Union | 34 | 43 | 37 |
| 19 | Colorado Rapids | 34 | 46 | 38 |
| 20 | Chicago Fire | 27 | 36 | 30 |
Games to Watch
10/2 - D.C. United v NYC FC - A draw or loss for D.C. would be best for the Red Bulls.
10/3 - Red Bulls v Crew - No explanation necessary of course. A win puts the Red Bulls 4 points ahead of Columbus and keeps them ahead of New England if they win.
10/3 - Chicago v New England - Chicago is already eliminated from the playoffs. Time for them to play spoilers and help the Red Bulls out. Seeing as this isn't an away match, they have a chance to actually win.
10/3 - San Jose v Vancouver - San Jose winning helps the Red Bulls' shield chances.
10/4 - Dallas v Houston - It's not Kinnear time in Houston anymore, but some of that magic would help the Red Bulls.
10/4 - Seattle v LA - Seattle won the Shield on the last day of 2014 by beating LA. The shield isn't on the line for Seattle now, but winning would spoil the party for LA again.