Is the West the best?
Through 13 weeks of the regular season, and taking into account recent form, it certainly appears that way.
Western Conference teams currently have a 13-match unbeaten streak against their Eastern Conference counterparts, dating back to Atlanta United’s2-1 road win over the Vancouver Whitecaps on May 15.
In Week 13, the West went 6-0-1 in those meetings. In fact, the New York Red Bulls were the only Eastern Conference team to pick up three points as their 2-0 win over FC Cincinnati moved them into third place in the East.
Perhaps because of their struggles against the West, the East is very much up for grabs with five teams separated by just five points, with D.C. United leading the way with 25 points.
If in the West, D.C. would be tied with the LA Galaxy for third. LAFC have built an eight-point gap above the second-place Seattle Sounders, who sit just one point above the aforementioned Galaxy.
In the Supporters’ Shield standings, which LAFC are running away with, the top three teams (LAFC, Seattle and LA Galaxy) are from the Western Conference and when you add in the Houston Dynamo (6th) and Minnesota United (8th), it’s five of the top eight.
This hasn’t been a season-long trend, though. On May 11, the East won four of the five matchups against the West and the Western lead for 2019 is currently just 31-22-11.
Will the West continue their recent dominance, or will the East bounce back? There’s nine cross-conference meetings on tap in Week 14.
