WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
YOUR WEEKEND STORYLINES
For better or worse for those involved, there are some massive games this weekend. Here are your storylines to keep an eye on today and tomorrow.
1. My goodness there’s blood everywhere
We get Portland-Seattle tonight and El Trafico tomorrow. One half of the parties involved are pretty stoked about that. The other half may call out sick.
I can’t remember either of these games having a larger disparity in where each team is at on their personal journey. In the standings, in the Power Rankings, in the stats, you have the two single-best teams in the league so far taking on two of its very worst. We might be set for a pair of all-time bloodlettings. You kind of feel like both Seattle and LAFC are going to relish an opportunity to pick their score and add to the large pile of problems their biggest enemy is accruing so far.
For Portland, it’s been a season that’s seen general stagnation after missing the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs last season paired with an early injury crisis. That crisis got even worse this week when the club announced that star midfielder Eryk Williamson will miss the rest of the year after tearing his ACL. They already had a limited roster. Now it feels like they’ve stumbled onto the meanest possible timeline for this season. Throw in a healthy dose of generally bad vibes that have included the starting goalkeeper going after Gio Savarese in the media and you have one of the worst teams in the league.
Meanwhile, the Galaxy have the fans openly feuding with the front office as the Galaxy are still working to earn their first win of the year. Their underlying numbers and general play haven’t been quite as rough as Portland’s, but they certainly haven’t been much better. They’ve earned their spot at the bottom of the conference. And, again, just go ahead and throw in a healthy dose of generally bad vibes.
Those two teams, each in the middle of what could easily be called a crisis, will now have to find something deep inside them that they haven’t already just to avoid getting squashed into the ground by their archrival. That’s heckuva place to be a few weeks into the season.
That being said…
2. Hate fuel
If we were ranking matchups in MLS where it would make absolutely no sense on paper for the far worse team to show up and pull out a huge win against all explanation but they do it anyway, El Trafico would be a surefire first, Portland-Seattle would be somewhere close to second. If we check back in on Monday and Portland and LA are touting potentially season-altering wins, don’t be surprised. Just say “Yep, seems like MLS” and move on.
These things tend to power teams for a while though if they can capitalize on it. Look, it’s either a game that accelerates a tail spin or steadies the entire thing. I don’t think there’s any in between here. The stakes are high for everyone involved.
3. The Revs and Crew try to prove it to themselves
New England and Columbus have been two of the best surprises of the early season. No one expected them to be bad or anything, but I don’t think anyone expected them to immediately establish themselves as two of the East’s best.
The Revs are sitting second in the conference with 16 points and the Crew are three points behind. New England have thrived in part to the emergence of a young midfielder named Noel Buck and Columbus have watched a young midfielder named Aidan Morris take major steps forward. And both teams have put together impressive wins that have left little doubt as to either’s playoff potential.
How high are their ceilings though? It’s fair to wonder. This New England team has a very similar makeup to the group that won the Supporters’ Shield with a record point total in 2021, but are they anywhere near that level? This Columbus team is playing some of the most attractive soccer we’ve seen from the Crew since they ran Seattle off the field in 2020, but do three wins against a depleted Atlanta side and two lower-tier opponents really suggest that they’re up to compete for a title again?
I’m not passing judgment on any of those things yet. However, I do think tonight will give us our first truly relevant data point. The expectations are rising and the early season rustiness is fading. What do these teams look like against one of the best?
4. St. Louis CITY SC versus FC Cincinnati good soccer game yeah
I don’t really have anything narratively to add to this one. I just wanted to remind you not to forget about one of the best cross-conference matchups of the year tonight at 8:30 pm ET. It’s a huge test for both teams as St. Louis look to recover from their first losing streak and Cincy look to find the kind of gear that takes them past 1-0 wins.
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Good luck out there. Celebrate important dates.
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