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Original publish date: March 5, 2020

MLS Power Ranking Averages - Week 1

First and Last unchanged from last year’s final rankings.

13 sites published rankings to start the 2020 season, more may join in the coming weeks as some rankers need a few weeks worth of data for their calculations. The pre-season totals and order has changed slightly as a few more sites were added. Los Angeles FC remains on top, which is where they were in the preseason ranks, as well as last year’s ending ranking.

As always, if you know of a site I have not used please let me know in the comments and I’ll look into adding it for next season!

Sites Used

You may notice the list includes several ‘analytic’ sites; they serve to function as a stable counterbalance or ‘control group’ to the rest which are based more on personal opinions, and those done by ‘team’ rankers. There are also sites included that some will argue are ‘prediction rankings’ - but that also is a form of Power Ranking is (see the quote at the top).

All the averages use the Olympic method (I.E. Truncated Mean value) of dropping the highest and lowest scores, and then averaging the rest to reduce bias.

PlaceTeamWk 33Wk 34Wk BestWk WorstStd. Dev2022 Avg5-yr avg
21Atlanta United FC20.6720.8610254.4617.611.0832
5Austin FC5.226.145174.027.212.992
23Charlotte FC2021.7116273.6122.814.784
24Chicago Fire23.5622.7117242.1720.719.678
10Cincinnati (FC)11.119.577131.8717.519.634
18Colorado Rapids20.4418.7114222.651615.666
12Columbus Crew SC8.8912.714163.7611.310.859
28D.C. United28282828024.517.176
6Dallas (FC)5.896.294163.828.511.1342
26Houston Dynamo24.5625.4324270.882217.22
15Inter Miami CF1415.1411213.9121.317.622
9L.A. Galaxy10.338.576122.069.811.408
2Los Angeles FC1.561.71130.6725.5268
11Minnesota United FC15.2212.147172.931112.076
3Montreal (CF)332123.0610.214.52
7Nashville SC8.116.864101.968.711.874
17New England Revolution2018.296234.7714.712.164
4New York City FC6.334.863102.116.66.5156
8New York RB7.117.295101.586.49.5228
16Orlando City SC14.1115.8613233.8713.513.312
1Philadelphia Union1.441.29120.52.56.902
14Portland Timbers11.67147162.7913.811.134
13Real Salt Lake14.44139151.7910.813.31
25San Jose Earthquakes2524.4319262.6523.818.838
19Seattle Sounders FC19.4419.4312233.9113.97.384
22Sporting Kansas City20.2221.1416263.1423.510.9248
27Toronto FC25.6726.4320272.5421.714.724
20Vancouver Whitecaps FC18.5620.1416253.4922.619.364
  • Highest Standard Deviation: Inter Miami CF at 6.41
  • Lowest Standard Deviation: Los Angeles FC 0.52
  • Biggest Rise: TBD Wk 2
  • Biggest Fall: TBD Wk 2

Site Bias

All sites are going to have bias, whether conscious (blogs) or due to analytic calculation (based on past performance). This section lets you see the extent that sites are biased for/against teams.

Team / SiteAVGJeff Sagarin538Who ScoredESPNMasseySoc. AmerMLSSonny MooreFreeborgMLS Multiplex3rd deg.US Soc. PlayersAVGTeam / Site
Atlanta United FC15.5-0.5-0.971.572.831.90.282.19-1.875.671.815.641.115.5ATL
Chicago Fire18.66-0.47-0.59-3.661.091.012.91.344.590.262.843.343.9418.66CHI
Colorado Rapids14.04-0.481.83-5.511.04-0.241.741.594.4-2.873.652.253.9614.04COL
Columbus Crew SC4.714.42-0.980.89-0.210.09-2.04-1.084.421.71-1.271.860.294.71CLB
D.C. United20.480.583.59-0.680.692.320.963.02-0.982.520.214.381.3220.48DCU
FC Cincinnati22.342.723.061.861.991.33-1.450.971.790.410.72-0.91-0.1422.34CIN
FC Dallas9.94-1.25-0.01-2.942.390.130.621.75-2.94-0.274.442.775.069.94FCD
Houston Dynamo17.460.792.670.470.29-2.262.212.29-1.77-0.791.792.25-0.0617.46HOU
Inter Miami CF6.514.86-0.02-0.422.36-0.222.551.74-6.89-2.724.242.682.116.51MIA
Los Angeles FC15.67-1.88-1.981.962.990.89-0.41.24-2.959.071.681.35-1.1115.67LAFC
L.A. Galaxy6.861.77-1.67-4.40.832.13-2.342.210.464.331.08-3.380.936.86LAG
Minnesota United FC15.85-1.112.87-4.133.64-1.530.252.58-0.232.061.080.711.1415.85MUFC
Montreal Impact12.242.652.55-1.25-0.852.820.591.285.09-1.02-0.22-0.56-0.6512.24MTL
Nashville SC9.151.561.852.18-0.82-2.953.18-0.380.060.431.992.891.389.15NASH
N.E. Revolution13.884.451.430.36-2.411.76-0.24-0.113.32-1.41-0.81.76-1.8413.88NER
New York City FC7.92-0.650.783.520.68-0.684.96-0.15-1.15-2.481.66-1.86-0.957.92NYFC
New York RB13.881.120.59-1.28-0.462.521.341.181.811.95-0.826.125.3213.88NYRB
Orlando City SC7.92-0.292.355.21-0.92-2.851.640.141.64-2.75-0.110.371.087.92ORL
Philadelphia Union3.86-0.61-0.863.940.22-0.730.92-0.3-0.8-1.940.771.851.743.86PHI
Portland Timbers7.53-0.972.28.80.64-3.531.03-1.281.724.72-0.9-4.39-1.137.53POR
Real Salt Lake15.16-1.411.041.643.342.910.620.65-1.11.171.470.411.0415.16RSL
San Jose Earthquakes17.050.010.288.080.622.82-0.271.082.952.780.2-1.62-4.2517.05SJE
Seattle Sounders FC4.1-0.790.9-0.170.233.570.23-0.6-0.971.980.34-1.24-0.14.1SEA
Sporting Kansas City7.643.74-0.51-0.171.861.831.250.174.74-0.22-1.51-0.21-0.647.64SKC
Toronto FC4.421.46-1.553.05-0.754.45-0.75-1.482.58-0.17-1.79-2.424.184.42TFC
Vancouver Whitecaps FC21.041.592.432.360.043.891.41.273.4-1.12-1.23-2.75-2.6421.04VAN
X Team / SiteAVGSagarin538Who ScoredESPNMasseySoc. AmerMLSSonny MooreFreeborgMLS Multiplex3rd deg.US Soc. PlayersAVGTeam / Site
SiteVSTeamFORTeam
Jeff Sagarin5.72NER-6.97RSL
FiveThirtyEight4.52DCU-8.42MIA
Who Scored11.86PHI-8.52CHI
ESPN5.53NYFC-6.58COL
Massey5.56LAG-4.75COL
Soccer America5.53NYFC-3.47FCD
MLS Soccer3.27DCU-2.99POR
MLS Fantasy Boss7.67ORL-7.75MIA
Reddit /r/mls6.34PHI-6.44LAG
Cincinnati Soccer Talk10.34PHI-8.31MTL
US Soccer Players8.34PHI-9.53NER
SBI5.67ORL-6.15ATL
Sonny Moore11.35CLB-13.25MIA
MLS Multiplex5.86FCD-3.44LAG
Fansided MLS5.26POR-8.94LAG