It's Monday, another week of MLS action is in the books, which means it's time for ESPN's Power Rankings. - Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.) Our Power Rankings are derived from a combination of key season statistics (points per game, goal differential, expected goal (xG) differential), recent performance, the Opta computer ratings, and the observations of our writers. So, who's climbing the table? Who's in free fall? We've ranked all 29 clubs in the league after Matchday 7. Let's dive in.
2. Philadelphia UnionPrevious ranking: 4 Jim Curtin's substitutions completely changed the game in Nashville and fueled a 2-1 comeback win. The Union are not just undefeated on the season -- they've won three in a row now. 4. Columbus CrewPrevious ranking: 1 The Crew are a really good team, but even they can't win with any consistency if they're playing with 10 men. Their 1-1 draw with D.C. marked the third time in four games across all competitions that they saw red. The latest dismissal was on Cucho Hernández, who was just coming off an unexplained absence, so it's worth an eyebrow raise at a minimum. 6. LAFCPrevious ranking: 11 LAFC beat the Galaxy 2-1 thanks to a very generous penalty call from the referee, but it was hardly three points stolen for them by the man in the middle. The Black and Gold were the better team and had several great chances that went awry, including Dénis Bouanga missing a wide-open goal late. They deserved the win, penalty aside. 8. Real Salt LakePrevious ranking: 7 RSL were an excellent road team last year and it looks like that's going to be the case again this season. A 1-1 draw in Minnesota is their third away result in a row. 10. Atlanta United FCPrevious ranking: 8 It took another great Brad Guzan performance to manage a 1-1 draw with NYCFC. That's hardly encouraging, but Giorgos Giakoumakis's likely return next week is. 12. Houston DynamoPrevious ranking: 9 Ibrahim Aliyu is up to three goals on the season after finding the back of the net in Chicago, but it wasn't enough as the Dynamo fell 2-1. 13. Minnesota UnitedPrevious ranking: 14 Tani Oluwaseyi rescued a draw for the Loons late, but it was the least they deserved for a good performance against a good RSL team. Oluwaseyi has gone from being drafted by Minnesota to a season with the reserves, to a loan year in the USL Championship and now he's proving to be one of MLS's most impactful subs. That's some terrific player development by the Loons. 15. Seattle SoundersPrevious ranking: 22 Welcome to the 2024 season, Seattle. The Sounders finally put together a full match and were rewarded with their first win, a 5-0 shellacking of Montréal. 17. Colorado RapidsPrevious ranking: 19 The Rapids had the misfortune of being subject to Messi's return from injury, but Cole Bassett's late goal still earned them a 2-2 draw and they're above the playoff line. Chris Armas is getting it done. 18. Orlando CityPrevious ranking: 18 Orlando had the week off to get ready for a run of six straight games against East teams coming up. 20. CF MontréalPrevious ranking: 16 CFM got mollywhopped by the Sounders 5-0, but it's hard to hold it against them. It was their sixth straight away match to start the season. They finally get to play at home next week. 21. Chicago FirePrevious ranking: 24 The Fire's schedule is very home-heavy at the moment, so they have to rack up points while they can. A 2-1 win over Houston is a job well done. 23. St. Louis City SCPrevious ranking: 20 Stop me if you've heard this one before: Roman Bürki rescued a result for St. Louis. This time he earned them a scoreless draw with Dallas. 25. FC DallasPrevious ranking: 25 Dallas conceded a lot of the ball and a lot of shots in St. Louis but did a pretty good job of limiting the quality of chances. Of course, they didn't create a ton themselves either in the 0-0 draw. 27. New England RevolutionPrevious ranking: 28 The Revs entered the weekend not just winless -- they hadn't even had a lead at any point this season. Well, that's not the case anymore. Carles Gil's goal was enough to beat Charlotte 1-0. 29. San Jose EarthquakesPrevious ranking: 27 The Quakes are winning (?) the race for the Wooden Spoon after a loss in Austin. They probably deserved at least a draw from the match, but nobody cares much about whether you were a little hard done when you're bottom of the table.
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