As Matt Doyle wrote over the long weekend, FC Dallas have the Supporters’ Shield in the crosshairs.
This team should take home the Shield. They have a seven-point lead on second-place New York City FC with less than two months left in the season, and even with a tough schedule, are the heavy favorites to win the regular-season title.
Of course, they do face some competition in their chase for the Shield. NYCFC aren’t too far away and the Colorado Rapids, Real Salt Lake, LA Galaxy, New York Red Bulls and Toronto FC all remain in the hunt.
<p>Club</p> |
<p>Points</p> |
<p>Games remaining</p> |
<p>Maximum possible points</p> |
<p>Home/away games remaining</p> |
<p>Strength of Schedule</p> |
<p>FC Dallas</p> |
<p>51</p> |
<p>6</p> |
<p>67</p> |
<p>3/3</p> |
<p>1.44</p> |
<p>New York City FC</p> |
<p>44</p> |
<p>6</p> |
<p>62</p> |
<p>3/3</p> |
<p>1.12</p> |
<p>New York Red Bulls</p> |
<p>43</p> |
<p>6</p> |
<p>61</p> |
<span style="line-height: 20.8px;">4/2</span> |
<span style="line-height: 20.8px;">1.21</span> |
<p>Toronto FC</p> |
<p>43</p> |
<p>7</p> |
<p>64</p> |
<p>5/2</p> |
<p>0.99</p> |
<p>Real Salt Lake</p> |
<p>43</p> |
<p>7</p> |
<p>64</p> |
<p>4/3</p> |
<p>1.29</p> |
<p>Colorado Rapids</p> |
<p>43</p> |
<p>8</p> |
<p>67</p> |
<p>4/4</p> |
<p>1.21</p> |
<p>LA Galaxy</p> |
<p>43</p> |
<p>7</p> |
<p>64</p> |
<p>3/4</p> |
<p>1.54</p> |
On paper, Colorado have perhaps the best shot to chase Dallas down. The Rapids have played the fewest games of any of the contenders and hold two games in hand on FCD. The West foes will square off this weekend, when Dallas host Colorado at Toyota Stadium on Saturday night (9 pm ET; MLS LIVE).
Given current form, I’m expecting a Dallas win. FCD are an excellent 10-0-4 at home this year, while the Rapids are just 2-5-6 away from Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. Dallas have been flying high in recent weeks as well, posting a 4-1-2 record in their last seven. Colorado, on the other hand, have been in a bit of a rut – they’ve lost two in a row, are winless in four and are just 1-3-3 in their last seven.
A Dallas win would pretty much effectively eliminate the Rapids from the chase, as FCD would move 11 points ahead of Colorado with a victory. Even with a couple of games in hand, that’s a huge margin to make up.
While things wouldn’t be looking good for Colorado, a couple of other teams could still find themselves in the hunt. New York City, RSL and LA will all have a chance to take a direct shot at Dallas – NYCFC host FCD on Sept. 17, RSL welcome them to Utah on Sept. 24 and LA play at Dallas on Oct. 1 before hosting them in California on Oct. 23.
But Toronto may have the best chance of any of the remaining contenders at actually catching FCD for the Shield.
TFC will still be without Sebastian Giovinco for a couple of weeks. But they have the easiest schedule of any of the contenders, with their opponents averaging just 1.25 points per game and five of their final seven contests set for BMO Field, where they’re 7-2-3 this year.
Other than a home game against the Red Bulls on Sept. 18 and a roadie at Montreal on Oct. 16, their schedule – at Chicago, vs. New York, vs. Philadelphia, vs. Orlando, vs. D.C., at Montreal, vs. Chicago – is very manageable. They’ll probably be favored to win six of those contests. Now, it’d be quite a feat to actually pull off those six wins, but it’s not exactly out of the realm of possibility, either.
Still, even if Toronto manage 18 points from their final seven games, that’d leave them with 61 points. Dallas only needs 10 – three wins in three home matches, one draw in three road contests – to reach that number. Like I said, they should be able to pull it off, even if the schedule’s a bit gnarly.
