Week 21 MLS Power Rankings

Technical issues forced a brief hiatus, but the power rankings are back!

As a reminder, the rankings use an all new model I’ve obnoxiously titled the Overall Performance Index. Click here for a full breakdown of how the model works.

Week 21 Power Rankings

RankTeamScoreMovement
1New York City FC25.97
2LAFC22.67
3Philadelphia Union22.22
4Austin FC16.45
5New York Red Bulls14.03+1
6FC Dallas10.36-1
7LA Galaxy9.73-1
8Nashville SC9.67
9CF Montréal9.17+2
10Columbus Crew8.41+2
11Portland Timbers7.93-1
12Minnesota United7.77+2
13Colorado Rapids7.71
14Real Salt Lake6.71+4
15FC Cincinnati6.63-6
16Atlanta United5.68
17Seattle Sounders4.73-2
18New England Revolution3.22+1
19Charlotte FC2.68-2
20Chicago Fire2.48+2
21Houston Dynamo2.25-1
22Orlando City SC0.34-1
23Inter Miami CF-1.07
24San Jose Earthquakes-2.70
25Vancouver Whitecaps-3.42
26DC United-6.78
27Toronto FC-8.81
28Sporting KC-9.99

Not a ton of movement at the top or the bottom. NYCFC continue to be ranked above LAFC, despite being four points behind in the Supporters Shield race. The OPI model tends to really like NYC’s underlying numbers, rating them above 2021 Supporters Shield winners New England Revolution for nearly the entire season. The Pigeons ended up winning MLS Cup, so it seems the model was right.

I thought Minnesota United would break into the top 10. They’ve won four of their last five and are tied with Austin FC for the best current form in the league. They’ve climbed up from 19th to 12th in the last couple weeks and look set to pass Portland Timbers if their form continues.

Nashville SC have hung onto 8th place, despite a really poor run of form a couple weeks ago. This is in part because they had built up a solid score earlier in the season, and partially because no one below them really challenged. A 1-0 win over Seattle Sounders gives them a bump, and their score actually increased after a 2-1 loss to LAFC in which they performed well.


With the technical issues resolved, the Power Rankings will be back each week. If you have complaints, direct them to Davey Shepherd.

Author: Ben Wrightis the Director of Soccer Content and a Senior MLS Contributor for Broadway Sports covering Nashville SC and the US National Team. Previously Ben was the editor and a founder of Speedway Soccer, where he has covered Nashville SC and their time in USL before journeying to Major League Soccer since 2018. Raised in Louisville, KY Ben grew up playing before a knee injury ended his competitive career. When he is not talking soccer he is probably producing music, drinking coffee or hanging out with his wife and kids. Mastodon

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