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Original publish date: March 31, 2016

Power Ranking Averages - Week 4

Only 14 sites published this week, and very little movement on the table. Kansas City retains first.

MLS Power Ranking Averages - Week 4

Little movement on the table due to only 3 games. 14 sites published for Week 4, the ratings for 2 sites that published last Friday are being used for this week.

Here's a reminder of the Power Ranking "Guidelines":

"If two teams played tomorrow, given their current injury concerns, form, and other considerations, who is likely to win on a neutral field? This list is designed to tell you who we feel is most likely to win that match-up. All things being equal, who is the best team going forward, based on what we know now?"
-Richard Farley, NBC Sports ProSoccerTalk. 3/11/14

Sites Used:

  • Who Scored (whoscored.com)
  • Squawka (squawka.com)
  • Jeff Sagarin (sagarin.com/sports/soccer.htm)
  • Sports Club Stats (www.sportsclubstats.com/USA/MLS.html) - No ranking since Wk 1
  • Football Database (footballdatabase.com/ranking/north-america/1)
  • Sports Illustrated (www.soccer.si.com) - No ranking Wk 4
  • ESPN (espnfc.us/major-league-soccer)
  • The Mane Land (themaneland.com)
  • Major League Soccer (www.mlssoccer.com/news/power-rankings)
  • Reddit user/FlyingCarsArePlanes (User analytic ranking, posted on reddit.com/r/mls) - No ranking Wk 4
  • NYCFC Blog (skybluesofny.com) - No ranking Wk 4
  • MLS Fantasy Boss (mlsfantasyboss.com) - Wk 3 late, using it as wk 4
  • SoccerAmerica (socceramerica.com)
  • Soccer By Ives (sbisoccer.com/sbi-mls-power-rankings)
  • Reddit r/MLS (reddit.com/r/mls)
  • Bleacher Report (bleacherreport.com/mls)
  • Soccer Information Network (soccerinformationnetwork.com/category/mls-power-rankings/) - No ranking since Wk 1
  • Seattle Times (seattletimes.com/author/matt-pentz)
  • The Score (thescore.com/mls/news) - No ranking Wk 4
  • Altius Directory (altiusdirectory.com/Sports/mls-power-rankings.php) - No ranking since Wk 1
  • MLSfix (mlsfix.com) - Wk 3 late, using it as wk 4
  • Hot Footy (hotfooty.com/major-league-soccer) - No ranking Wk 4
  • Power Rankings & More (powerrankingsandmore.com/tag/mls) - No ranking Wk 4

You may notice several 'team specific' sites used; yes they will at times be a bit more biased for/against certain teams, as such the averages use the Olympic Method of dropping the highest and lowest scores, and averaging the rest to compensate for possible bias. Each week I'll also be listing the sites closest and furthest from average to show which are more biased than others.

As with previous years, if you know of a site that I have not listed, please let me know in the comments below and I'll add it!


Weekly Power Ranking Averages
Using the "Olympic" method of dropping the highest / lowest scores, and averaging the rest.

Wk4

Wk3

Wk2

Team

Wk4

Avg

Wk3

Avg

Wk2
Avg

Worst

Best

Range

1

1

2

Kansas City

2.00

1.63

3.12

7

1

6

2

4

8

Dallas

2.50

4.44

8.65

7

1

6

3

2

1

Montreal

3.75

3.13

1.29

11

1

10

4

3

6

Los Angeles

4.50

3.94

7.53

7

1

6

5

5

3

Portland

5.75

5.69

4.53

13

1

12

6

6

4

Toronto

8.58

7.56

5.06

18

4

14

7

8

5

San Jose

9.33

8.88

5.65

12

6

6

8

7

15

Philadelphia

9.42

8.44

15.65

15

4

11

9

9

10

Salt Lake

10.25

10.44

10.82

16

3

13

10

11

16

Orlando

11.25

12.06

15.59

16

7

9

11

13

14

Vancouver

11.67

13.31

15.71

16

6

10

12

10

7

Houston

12.00

10.63

8.18

14

5

9

13

12

13

New York RB

12.75

12.38

14.12

20

5

15

14

14

9

New York FC

15.42

14.56

10.41

19

8

11

15

15

11

Columbus

16.00

15.25

12.47

19

7

12

16

16

18

Colorado

16.42

16.19

16.29

19

8

11

17

17

12

New England

17.00

17.38

12.41

18

10

8

18

18

17

Seattle

18.67

18.88

16.12

20

4

16

19

19

19

D. C.

20.00

19.19

19.00

20

13

7

19

20

20

Chicago

20.00

19.69

19.71

20

15

5

  • Largest Rise: Dallas/Vancouver +2
  • Largest Fall: Houston -2
  • Largest Range: Seattle (16)
  • Smallest Range: Chicago (5)

Site Evaluations
Each site's ranking is compared to the weekly averages above. The best and worst # of matches is indicated. Team bias column shows what team the site shows the highest average for/against (including Preseason ranking).

Site

Exact

1 off

2 off

3+ off

Furthest off

most bias vs

most bias for

Who Scored

3

4

2

11

COL

NYRB +7.69

HOU -7.27

Squawka

2

3

4

11

TFC

NYRB +7.94

COL -6.13

Jeff Sagarin

5

4

5

6

POR

POR +5.42

COL -5.38

Sports Club Stats

NA

NYRB +5.94

NYFC -9.14

Football Database

0

3

3

14

SEA

TFC +10.32

SEA -13.56

Sports Illustrated

NA

RSL +3.61

NYRB -5.06

ESPN

4

8

1

7

NYRB/RSL

RSL +4.41

NYRB -6.86

The Mane Land

4

7

3

6

NYRB/PHI

PHI +3.55

NYRB -6.86

Major League Soccer

3

8

7

2

NYRB

HOU +1.88

VAN -4.44

Reddit u/FlyingCarsArePlanes

NA

HOU +2.98

CLB -5.44

NYCFC Blog

NA

PHI +2.75

CLB -5.27

MLS Fantasy Boss

1

5

3

11

NYRB

TFC +5.07

SEA -9.36

Soccer America

1

7

4

8

RSL

NYRB +3.69

RSL -5.89

Soccer By Ives

9

5

3

3

TFC

MON +1.81

SEA -4.56

Reddit r/MLS

6

12

1

1

PHI

HOU +1.68

CLB -2.14

Bleacher Report

6

8

3

3

NYRB/RSL/VAN

NYFC +2.11

NYRB -4.31

Soccer Information Network

NA

PHI +6.75

CLB -9.44

Seattle Times

8

8

3

1

VAN

NER +1.59

VAN -5.00

The Score

NA

SKC +3.10

NYRB -6.56

Altius Directory

NA

POR +10.42

SEA -11.36

MLSfix

1

8

3

8

TFC

TFC -2.82

NYFC -5.64

Hot Footy

NA

PHI +3.42

NYFC -4.14

Power Rankings & More

NA

FCD +4.13

PHI -3.92

  • Most Accurate Site: (best Exact, with 1 off as tiebreaker): Soccer By Ives with 9 exact matches to the average.
  • Least Accurate Site: (most 3+ with 2 off, and 1 off as tiebreaker): Football Database with 14 off by 3+.
  • Site with Worst Bias VS: Altius -INACTIVE (POR 10.42 worse), but for ACTIVE sites Football Database ranked TFC 10.32 from avg (improved by 0.6 from last week).
  • Site with Worst Bias FOR: Football Database with SEA 13.56 places from avg (getting worse with Seattle's current form)
  • Site with Least Bias VS: Seattle Times with NER only 1.59 places from avg.
  • Site with Least Bias FOR: Reddit/r/MLS with CLB 2.14 places from avg.

Season Average Power Ranking
The 5 Year Weighted Average is calculated using a variation of the "FIFA method" with the current year counting for 100%, and previous years counting for a decreasing amount. The table is ordered based on the Weighted Points.

Team

Week

4

Week

3

Week
2

2015
Avg

5 Yr
Avg

Weighted
Pts

Sporting Kansas City

3.40

3.87

3.13

6.35

4.59

16.35

LA Galaxy

4.94

5.09

7.67

4.51

5.64

17.59

FC Dallas

4.54

5.21

8.93

4.64

7.40

20.99

New York Red Bulls

12.06

11.83

14.27

4.68

7.78

28.46

Portland Timbers

4.58

4.19

4.33

9.45

9.48

28.70

Real Salt Lake

11.39

11.77

11.20

12.43

7.24

28.88

Seattle Sounders

16.36

15.58

16.47

6.07

7.95

29.93

Vancouver Whitecaps

13.00

13.44

15.40

5.09

9.07

30.97

Toronto FC

6.68

6.04

4.67

9.75

12.02

35.06

Montreal Impact

3.59

3.54

1.13

15.06

11.07

36.38

San Jose Earthquakes

8.78

8.59

5.80

9.75

10.02

37.05

Columbus Crew SC

12.94

11.92

11.93

8.75

11.16

37.35

Houston Dynamo

11.52

11.35

8.13

13.81

10.51

39.07

Orlando City *

13.23

13.88

15.87

14.21

10.89

39.52

New England Revolution

14.41

13.55

12.40

9.50

12.17

40.16

D.C. United

18.88

18.45

19.47

5.91

11.39

40.30

New York City FC *

13.14

12.37

10.53

15.47

11.12

40.56

Philadelphia Union

13.25

14.53

15.80

18.07

13.76

47.42

Colorado Rapids

17.13

17.36

16.67

17.38

13.76

49.58

Chicago Fire

19.73

19.55

20.00

17.71

15.05

56.48

  • Expansion teams points adjusted to compensate - (median of 9 for missing years)

Team High / Low
Best and worst placement for each team in weekly, avg rank total.

Team

Best
Avg

Worst
Avg

Best
Pos

Worst
Pos

Chicago Fire

19.25

20.00

19

20

Colorado Rapids

16.19

19.60

16

20

Columbus Crew SC

8.05

16.00

7

15

D.C. United

17.15

20.00

17

19

FC Dallas

2.50

8.65

1

8

Houston Dynamo

8.18

15.25

7

16

LA Galaxy

3.80

7.53

3

6

Montreal Impact

1.29

6.20

1

5

New England Revolution

10.85

17.38

9

17

New York City FC

10.41

15.42

9

14

New York Red Bulls

9.00

14.12

8

13

Orlando City

11.25

15.59

10

16

Philadelphia Union

8.44

19.50

7

18

Portland Timbers

2.35

5.75

2

5

Real Salt Lake

10.25

14.05

9

15

San Jose Earthquakes

5.65

11.25

5

11

Seattle Sounders

11.75

18.88

12

18

Sporting Kansas City

1.63

6.85

1

6

Toronto FC

5.06

8.58

4

6

Vancouver Whitecaps

11.30

15.71

10

14

  • Largest Range (position): 9 (Houston)
  • Smallest Range (position): 1 (Chicago)
  • 3 teams have been ranked first
  • 2 teams have been ranked last