MLS to the death: Taking stock of playoff scenarios

Five MLS teams have made the playoffs, but in the world of probability that number is a lot closer to 10.

Red Bulls, DC, L.A., Vancouver and Dallas are in the postseason, while Toronto, Columbus, New England and Sporting KC are on the verge. Seattle is just behind that group.

[ MORE: Three big battles between U.S. and Mexico ]

So how about those final two slots?

Eastern Conference

Team	GP	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Home	Away	PTS
x - New York	31	16	6	9	55	39	16	11-2-3	5-4-6	54
x - D.C.	32	14	6	12	39	40	-1	10-3-3	4-3-9	48
New England	32	13	8	11	45	45	0	9-6-1	4-2-10	47
Columbus	32	13	8	11	51	53	-2	8-4-4	5-4-7	47
Toronto FC	31	14	4	13	55	53	2	10-1-4	4-3-9	46
Montreal	31	12	6	13	44	43	1	10-2-4	2-4-9	42
Orlando City SC	32	11	8	13	44	54	-10	6-5-5	5-3-8	41
New York City FC	32	10	7	15	47	53	-6	6-4-6	4-3-9	37
Philadelphia	32	9	7	16	40	51	-11	6-3-7	3-4-9	34
Chicago	32	8	6	18	42	52	-10	8-1-7	0-5-11	30

Matches remaning
Montreal: at Colorado, at New England, vs. Toronto
Orlando: vs. NYC, at Philadelphia
New York City: at Orlando, vs. New England

Obviously, the Impact have the wheel here, though a pair of road tests -- one across the continent -- aren’t easy. If it comes down to a match against their rivals at BMO Field, all bets will be off. NYC can do Montreal a huge favor by getting a result in Orlando, but Jason Kreis’ side need all three points (Well, all six points... and a load of help). No one is playing better than Orlando right now.

Western Conference

Team	GP	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Home	Away	PTS
x - FC Dallas	31	15	6	10	47	38	9	11-2-2	4-4-8	51
x - Los Angeles	32	14	9	9	53	39	14	12-3-1	2-6-8	51
x - Vancouver	32	15	5	12	42	34	8	8-2-6	7-3-6	50
Sporting KC	31	13	9	9	46	41	5	9-5-1	4-4-8	48
Seattle	32	14	5	13	40	34	6	10-2-4	4-3-9	47
San Jose	32	12	8	12	39	37	2	7-6-3	5-2-9	44
Portland	31	12	8	11	31	36	-5	7-6-3	5-2-8	44
Houston	32	11	8	13	41	45	-4	9-3-4	2-5-9	41
Real Salt Lake	31	11	8	12	37	43	-6	7-6-2	4-2-10	41
Colorado	31	8	10	13	30	38	-8	5-5-6	3-5-7	34

Matches remaning
San Jose: vs Sporting KC, at Dallas
Portland: at RSL, at LA, vs. Colorado
Houston: vs. Seattle, at Vancouver
Real Salt Lake: vs. Portland, vs. Dallas, at Seattle

Quite literally anything can happen here in terms of these four. Pressure’s surely on Caleb Porter and the Timbers to finally give their supporters a side worth their passion. RSL is the only other side with three matches left, and the two pair up next. Houston has a harrowing pair of matches, one without Cubo Torres, while San Jose also has two tough efforts.

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