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Week 4 MLS Power Ranking Averages - Dallas easily on top

13 of 15 sites published week 4 rankings. Kansas City & New England rise most, Toronto & Philadelphia fall most.

By Kreg Asay
Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports


MLS Power Ranking Averages - Week 4

Seattle Times blog caught back up this week.  Wk 3 averages and standings retroactively updated.

As always, if you come across any that I have not included please send me a link and I'll add it to the list.

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:

  • Major League Soccer (www.mlssoccer.com/news/power-rankings)
  • Soccer by Ives (www.sbisoccer.com/sbi-mls-power-rankings)
  • Soccer America (www.socceramerica.com)
  • ESPN (espnfc.us/major-league-soccer)
  • Seattle Times Blog (seattletimes.com/author/matt-pentz)
  • MLS GB (mlsbg.com/tag/power-rankings)
  • Black & Red United (www.blackandredunited.com)
  • Sports Illustrated (www.soccer.si.com)
  • Examiner (examiner.com/topic/power-rankings) *No ranking for Wk 4
  • The Mane Land (themaneland.com)
  • Who Scored 'team rating' (whoscored.com/Regions/233/Tournaments/85/USA-Major-League-Soccer)
  • Playing for 90 (playingfor90.com) *No ranking for Wk 2-4
  • Reddit MLS subreddit (reddit/r/mls)
  • The Sports Network (sportsnetwork.com)
  • Soccer Information Network (soccerinformationnetwork.com)

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.


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

Wk 4 Wk 3 Wk 2 Wk 1
 Team
 		W4 Avg W3 Avg W2 Avg W1 Avg Worst
 		Best
 		Range
1
 1
 1
 4
 Dallas 1.09
 1.08
 1.75
 5.00
 2
 1
 1
2
 4
 13
 9
 New York RB 2.91
 6.38
 11.75
 10.50
 7
 1
 6
3
 5
 11
 15
 Vancouver 3.36
 6.62
 11.25
 13.92
 12
 1
 11
4
 2
 1
 2
 Los Angeles 4.73
 2.62
 1.75
 1.83
 9
 2
 7
5
 3
 3
 1
 Seattle 5.45
 4.31
 4.08
 1.17
 10
 3
 7
6
 10
 4
 4
 D.C. 5.91
 10.54
 4.92
 5.00
 10
 3
 7
7
 11
 9
 8
 Salt Lake 7.45
 10.77
 10.17
 8.92
 13
 3
 10
8
 7
 10
 19
 San Jose 9.18
 7.23
 11.33
 18.25
 14
 4
 10
9
 6
 5
 10
 Columbus 9.55
 6.69
 6.00
 11.17
 15
 7
 8
10
 15
 15
 6
 Kansas City 9.82
 14.62
 14.58
 7.58
 15
 4
 11
11
 8
 6
 14
 New York FC 10.27
 6.77
 6.50
 12.58
 14
 6
 8
12
 9
 8
 3
 Toronto 11.18
 7.77
 7.58
 3.08 15
 4
 11
13
 12
 7
 12
 Orlando 11.73
 11.15
 7.08
 11.50
 18
 7
 11
14
 19
 17
 12
 New England 14.27
 17.38
 16.33
 11.50
 20
 11
 9
15
 14
 14
 7
 Houston 14.91
 12.54
 14.17
 7.92
 17
 11
 6
16
 13
 11
 10
 Portland 15.00
 12.38
 11.25
 11.17
 19
 9
 10
17
 18
 19
 18
 Montreal 17.55
 17.46
 18.33
 17.58
 20
 14
 6
18
 20
 20
 20
 Chicago 17.64
 19.92
 19.67
 19.33
 19
 14
 5
19
 16
 18
 17
 Colorado 17.82
 17.08
 17.17
 16.08
 20
 11
 9
20
 16
 16
 16
 Philadelphia 19.82
 17.08
 14.67
 15.50
 20
 17
 3

Site Evaluations
Each site's ranking is compared to the weekly averages above.  The best and worst # of matches is indicated.

Site
 		# Exact
 		1 off
 		2 off
 3 off 4 off 5+ off
 		Team(s) furthest off
Major League Soccer 7
 4
 6
 2
 0
 1
 SJE +5
Soccer by Ives 5
 8
 3
 1
 1
 2
 RSL, SJE +6
Soccer America 7
 4
 4
 2
 1
 2
 CLB +6
ESPN 6
 1
 11
 2
 0
 0
 POR +3, TFC -3
Seattle Times 7
 8
 1
 0
 1
 3
 TFC -8
MLS GB 6
 6
 4
 3
 1
 0
 ORL -4
Black & Red United 5
 7
 4
 0
 1
 3
 RSL +6
Sports Illustrated 4
 9
 3
 1
 1
 2
 ORL -6
Examiner NR NR NR NR NR NR
The Mane Land 4
 10
 3
 2
 0
 1
 VAN +5
Who Scored 1
 8
 1
 3
 0
 7
 VAN +9
Playing for 90 NR
 NR NR NR NR NR
Reddit /r/MLS
 8
 8
 3
 0
 1
 0
 TFC -4
The Sports Network
 6
 3
 5
 3
 2
 1
 LAG +5
Soccer Information Network 4
 2
 1
 8
 4
 1
 POR -6
  • Most Accurate Site: (best Exact, with +1 as tiebreaker) Reddit/r/MLS
  • Least Accurate Site: (most 5+ with +4 as tiebreaker) Who Scored
  • Furthest Off: Who Scored placed Vancouver 9 positions higher than average.


Season Average Power Ranking

Team
2015
(run. avg)
 W4 Avg W3 Avg W2 Avg W1 Avg 2014 Avg 2013 Avg
 		2012 Avg
Los Angeles 2.11
 2.73
 2.08
 1.79
 1.83
 6.77
 5.14
 2.46
Seattle 2.69 3.75
 3.19
 2.63
 1.17
 4.04
 9.36
 4.39
Dallas 3.31 2.23
 2.61
 3.38
 5.00
 7.09
 8.78
 17.17
Toronto 5.51
 7.40
 6.22
 5.33
 3.08
 7.47
 16.85
 10.96
D.C. 5.85
 6.59
 6.86
 4.96
 5.00
 12.15
 17.29
 9.33
Columbus 9.04
 8.35
 8.06
 8.59
 11.17
 8.97
 12.89
 9.46
Salt Lake 9.42
 9.33
 9.89
 9.55
 8.92
 2.94
 4.52
 8.40
New York RB 9.73
 7.89
 9.39
 11.13
 10.50
 11.07
 6.38
 7.23
New York FC 9.95
 9.03
 8.64
 9.54
 12.58
 N/A N/A N/A
Orlando 10.29
 10.37
 10.00
 9.29
 11.50
 N/A N/A N/A
Kansas City 10.64
 11.65
 12.25
 11.08
 7.58
 4.45
 4.45
 3.09
Houston 10.70
 12.39
 11.42
 11.05
 7.92
 9.48
 7.74
 6.29
Vancouver 11.47
 8.79
 10.58
 12.59
 13.92
 7.40
 10.41
 7.87
Portland 11.62
 12.45
 11.64
 11.21
 11.17
 11.34
 5.73
 13.89
New England 13.89
 14.87
 15.28
 13.92
 11.50
 11.50
 12.35
 14.84
San Jose 14.16
 11.50
 12.08 14.79
 18.25
 14.44
 12.34
 4.86
Philadelphia 15.77
 16.77
 15.70
 15.09
 15.50
 11.33
 10.53
 15.70
Colorado 16.62
 17.04
 16.72
 16.63
 16.08
 9.66
 9.79
 10.06
Montreal 17.78
 17.73
 17.83
 17.96
 17.58
 17.67 5.32
 15.74
Chicago 19.40
 19.14
 19.64
 19.50
 19.33
 15.61
 14.27
 13.07


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

Team
 		Weekly
Best 		Weekly
Worst 		Best
Wk. Avg.
 		Worst
Wk. Avg.
Chicago Fire
 18
 20
 17.64 19.92
Colorado Rapids
 16
 19
 16.08
 17.82
Columbus Crew
 5
 10
 6.00
 11.17
D.C. United
 4
 11
 4.92
 10.67
FC Dallas
 1
 4
 1.08
 5.00
Houston Dynamo
 7
 15
 7.92
 14.91
LA Galaxy
 1
 4
 1.75
 4.73
Montreal Impact
 17
 19
 17.46
 18.33
New England Revolution
 12
 19
 11.50
 17.38
New York City FC
 6
 14
 6.50
 12.58
New York Red Bulls
 2
 13
 2.91
 11.75
Orlando SC
 7
 13
 7.08
 11.73
Philadelphia Union
 16
 20
 14.67
 19.82
Portland Timbers
 10
 15
 11.17
 15.00
Real Salt Lake
 7
 10
 7.45
 10.77
San Jose Earthquakes
 6
 19
 7.23
 18.25
Seattle Sounders
 1
 5
 1.17
 5.45
Sporting Kansas City
 6
 15
 7.58
 14.62
Toronto FC
 3
 12
 3.08
 11.18
Vancouver Whitecaps
 3
 15
 3.36
 13.92

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