Major League Soccer is entering the final two months of the season. Five Eastern Conference clubs are currently vying for the last few playoff positions with only two points separating them. Even though there is still plenty of time for clubs to make a late-season push, assessing the current outlook for the playoff hopefuls provides insight into the challenges that remain.
This article utilizes Jeff Sagarin’s Major League Soccer Ratings Model to measure the teams most likely to reach the playoffs. In Sagarin’s statistical model, he combines three methods of measurement for the final rating: Predictor, Golden Mean, and Recent.