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Draws for Los Angeles Galaxy and Seattle Sounders gave Real Salt Lake a slight advantage in the sprint to the playoffs as the three sides engage in a tight-margin battle for second, third and fourth place.
RSL, sitting on 52 points from 31 played, and LA Galaxy, with 50 from 31, face off at the Home Depot Center on Saturday, while rivals Seattle take on basement-dwellers Portland on Sunday. Seattle and Real Salt Lake are pitted together on Wednesday, Oct. 17, and Seattle faces the Galaxy in the final match of the season as the positions fall into place.
Assuming each side wins its remaining games against other clubs (setting Seattle at 55, RSL at 55, and LA at 53), what follow are potential results and points totals. With three matches, each with three distinct outcomes, there are 27 possibilities with between 7 and 9 points involved. Each cell denotes a home win. Items in bold are the best possible results for Real Salt Lake, with RSL coming in second place. Items in bold and italics represent RSL coming in second place without optimal results. Items in italics represent a tie in which tiebreaker regulations are used in determining RSL's final position.
| LA v. RSL | SEA v. RSL | LA v. SEA | Totals |
| W | W | W | LA: 6 (59), SEA: 3 (58), RSL: 0 (55) |
| W | W | D | LA: 4 (57), SEA: 4 (59), RSL: 0 (55) |
| W | D | W | LA: 6 (59), SEA: 1 (56), RSL: 1 (56) |
| W | W | L | LA: 3 (56), SEA: 6 (61), RSL: 0 (55) |
| W | L | W | LA: 6 (59), SEA: 0 (55), RSL: 3 (58) |
| W | D | L | LA: 6 (59), SEA: 3 (58), RSL: 0 (55) |
| W | L | D | LA: 4 (57), SEA: 4 (59), RSL: 0 (55) |
| W | D | D | LA: 4 (57), SEA: 2 (57), RSL: 1 (56) |
| W | L | L | LA: 3 (56), SEA: 3 (58), RSL: 3 (58) |
| D | W | W | LA: 4 (57), SEA: 3 (58), RSL: 1 (56) |
| D | W | D | LA: 2 (55), SEA: 4 (59), RSL: 1 (56) |
| D | D | W | LA: 4 (57), SEA: 1 (56), RSL: 2 (57) |
| D | W | L | LA: 1 (54), SEA: 3 (58), RSL: 1 (56) |
| D | L | W | LA: 4 (57), SEA: 0 (55), RSL: 4 (59) |
| D | D | L | LA: 1 (54), SEA: 4 (59), RSL: 2 (57) |
| D | L | D | LA: 2 (55), SEA: 1 (56), RSL: 4 (59) |
| D | D | D | LA: 2 (55), SEA: 2 (57), RSL: 2 (57) |
| D | L | L | LA: 1 (54), SEA: 3 (58), RSL: 4 (59) |
| L | W | W | LA: 3 (56), SEA: 3 (58), RSL: 3 (58) |
| L | W | D | LA: 1 (54), SEA: 4 (59), RSL: 3 (58) |
| L | D | W | LA: 3 (56), SEA: 1 (56), RSL: 4 (59) |
| L | W | L | LA: 0 (53), SEA: 6 (61), RSL: 3 (58) |
| L | L | W | LA: 3 (56), SEA: 1 (56), RSL: 6 (61) |
| L | D | L | LA: 0 (53), SEA: 3 (58), RSL: 4 (59) |
| L | L | D | LA: 1 (56), SEA: 1 (56), RSL: 6 (61) |
| L | D | D | LA: 1 (54), SEA: 2 (58), RSL: 4 (59) |
| L | L | L | LA: 0 (53), SEA: 3 (59), RSL: 6 (61) |
If any of the three teams achieve sub-optimal results in their remaining matches outside of these scenarios, it's all different — but it still promises to be an exciting finish for fans of all involved.