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MLS 2017 Power Rankings, Week 9: Orlando hits max power; no moving Colorado from the bottom

Orlando keeps winning and Colorado keeps losing.

By Austin Fido
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

A bit of a re-set week as the impact of form over the first couple of weeks of the season starts to become less relevant to perceptions of current power in MLS.

1. Orlando City (up one place)

  • 18 points, 1st in Eastern Conference
  • 1st in Supporters' Shield race
  • Last result: Orlando 2-0 Colorado
Yes, Orlando's record is built on the fact that it has played five of its first seven games in MLS 2017 at home, but it has also won all five of those games, plus one on the road. The team now has a four-game winning streak, top spot in the league, and a big test ahead as it will play three of its next four away from home. Enjoy the top of the Power Rankings while you can, Orlando.

2. Sporting Kansas City (up one place)

  • 15 points, 2nd in Western Conference
  • 4th in Shield race
  • Last result: SKC 3-0 RSL
A routine home win over an out-of-sorts opponent for KC this week - but it was also the sort of game a team with power is expected to win comfortably, which KC ultimately did.

3. FC Dallas (down two places)

  • 15 points, 3rd in West
  • 5th in Shield race
  • Last result: FCD 2-2 Portland
Dallas is still unbeaten in MLS 2017, so the Power Rankings can't be too hard on FCD for dropping points at home. But Dallas also had to twice equalize to prevent the Timbers from taking all three points back to Portland with them, so the Rankings have to subtract something for a struggle at home, albeit against one of the better teams in the league at the moment.

4. Portland Timbers (no movement)

  • 17 points, 1st in West
  • 2nd in Shield race
  • Last result: FCD 2-2 Timbers

Tempting as it was to bump Portland up for giving Dallas a scare this week, the Power Rankings have also noticed that the Timbers have won just two of their last six games after opening MLS 2017 with three-straight wins. Portland is good, but there are signs of fluctuating power in its recent form.

5. Toronto FC (up one place)

  • 13 points, 5th in East
  • 9th in Shield race
  • Last result: TFC 2-0 Houston

The early knock on Toronto this season was it didn't win enough, and it drew its first two games at home. Now it has won two straight home games and will chase a third against Orlando on May 3.

6. New York Red Bulls (up two places)

  • 16 points, 2nd in East
  • 3rd in Shield race
  • Last result: RBNY 2-1 Chicago

Three wins in a row for RBNY now: the team can claimed to be undervalued by the Rankings at sixth. If the Red Bulls start winning on the road as well as at home, they won't be outside the top five on this list for very long.

7. New York City FC (up four places)

  • 13 points, 3rd in East
  • 6th in Shield race
  • Last result: Columbus 2-3 NYCFC
Last week's home loss to Orlando suggested the Rankings had overestimated NYCFC"s power, but three goals and three points in Columbus makes last week's decision to drop New York's blue team out of the top 10 look a little hasty.

8. D.C. United (up five places)

  • 11 points, 8th in East
  • 13th in Shield race
  • Last result: Atlanta 1-3 DC
A strong finish to a three-game road trip this week for DCU, which has now lost just one of its last five league games.

9. Atlanta United (down four places)

  • 11 points, 6th in East
  • 11th in Shield race
  • Last result: Atlanta 1-3 DCU
Atlanta has won just one of its last five games and is on the road against NYCFC and Portland over the next two weeks.

10. Chicago Fire (down three places)

  • 11 points, 7th in East
  • 12th in Shield race
  • Last result: RBNY 2-1 Fire

Two games into a three-game road trip, Chicago has back-to-back losses on its record for the first time this season.

11. Houston Dynamo (down one place)

  • 13 points, 4th in West
  • 7th in Shield race
  • Last result: Toronto 2-0 Dynamo

Houston's third loss of the season also happened to be its third road game of the season: the Dynamo is not good away from home.

12. Columbus Crew (down three places)

  • 13 points, 4th in East
  • 8th in Shield race
  • Last result: Crew 2-3 NYCFC
The Crew takes a hit this week for losing at home for the first time this year. Columbus has now lost three of its last four games, which will start to weight heavily on its place on this list if it doesn't shake itself into better form soon.

13. Vancouver Whitecaps (up five places)

  • 10 points, 6th in West
  • 14th in Shield race
  • Last result: Montreal 1-2 Vancouver
The Caps had a slow start to the season, but they have settled into a win-one-lose-one pattern recently that suggests they're average, rather than terrible - so the Rankings offer a correction and an apology this week: we underestimated you, Vancouver.

14. San Jose Earthquakes (up six places)

  • 12 points, 5th in West
  • 10th in Shield race
  • Last result: Minnesota 0-1 San Jose
San Jose's first win since March came a long way from home, so credit is due. A five-place jump might be too much credit, but there are plenty of teams in the league with more to worry about than San Jose at the moment.

15. Seattle Sounders (no movement)

  • 10 points, 6th in West
  • 15th in Shield race
  • Last result: Seattle 3-3 Revs
The Sounders were set to tumble down this list after dropping into a 3-0 hole at home against the Revs, but they retrieved their position by digging their way back out of it before the final whistle.

16. New England Revolution (no movement)

  • 10 points, 9th in East
  • 16th in Shield race
  • Last result: Seattle 3-3 Revs
Scoring three in Seattle is a solid indication of power; conceding three in the last 15 minutes of the same game suggests that power was mostly gone by the final whistle. Winless in four, the Revs hold position in the Rankings. For now.


17. Minnesota United (down five places)

  • 8 points, 9th in West
  • 18th in Shield race
  • Last result: Minnesota 0-1 San Jose

The Power Rankings were perhaps giving Minnesota way too much credit for having kicked the habit of shipping five or six goals per game. This week's loss at home to San Jose - a team on a six-game winless streak until it lucked into playing Minnesota - was reminder that the only wins this Expansion United has recorded so far this season were over RSL and Colorado.

18. Montreal Impact (down four places)

  • 7 points, 10th in West
  • 20th in Shield race
  • Last result: Montreal 1-2 Vancouver
All that is keeping Montreal off the bottom of the East is Philadelphia's winless start to the season. L'Impact has won one game in eight attempts in MLS 2017, and that win is increasingly looking like the exception to the rule that is a team that has forgotten how to win.

19. Real Salt Lake (down two places)

  • 8 points, 8th in West
  • 17th in Shield race
  • Last result: KC 3-0 RSL
If RSL was good, Jeff Cassar would not have been sacked and Mike Petke wouldn't be it head coach right now: Petke knew this was a troubled team when he took the job. Still, the honeymoon is over: after two wins to kick off his time in charge at RSL, Petke has now watched his team concede six goals in two games and lose on both occasions. And next up is FC Dallas. Things could get worse for RSL before they get better.

20. LA Galaxy (down one place)

  • 7 points, 10th in West
  • 19th in Shield race
  • Last result: LA 0-0 Philadelphia
Three games without a win, two games without a goal, and its most recent result is a 0-0 draw against the only winless team in MLS: LA is not good right now.

21. Philadelphia Union (no movement)

  • 4 points, 11th in East
  • 22nd in Shield race
  • Last result: LA Galaxy 0-0 Philadelphia

The Union still hasn't won a game in MLS this season, but it has at least stopped losing for the moment. The team's second consecutive draw and first clean sheet since opening day is perhaps a sign of a modest improvement in form. A very modest improvement, but an improvement nonetheless.

22. Colorado Rapids (no movement)

  • 4 points, 11th in West
  • 21st in Shield race
  • Last result: Orlando 2-0 Colorado
The Rapids have now lost four straight and four of their last five - and have been shut out for two games in a row. Zero power.

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OaM's MLS Power Rankings: 2017 Edition

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