Home vs. road splits are serious in the MLS
The MLS is famous for the drastic home vs. road splits that some of these American teams display. Teams like Nashville, Montreal, and Atlanta all have either seven or eight home wins, most in a convincing manner. But is that going to be enough?
The Montreal Impact currently sits in eighth place in the Eastern Conference. That means as of now they are in at least the playoff play-in game. Now Montreal catches an unbelievable scheduling break. Out of their next five games, four will be played on their home turf, and out of their last 10 games, six will be played at home. So barring a massive collapse in play they should be okay to at least reach the play-in.
The other team with a similar scheduling setup is D.C. United. Currently sitting in 10th place in the Eastern Conference standings. That means they are on the outside looking in when it comes to the playoffs. Their road record is better than most (4-8-2) which is good for ninth overall in MLS but I'm not sure that'll be enough. Where United really catches a break is in their home scheduling. Four out of the next five and five out of their last 10 games will all be played on home soil. That could be enough to help them reach the play-in match.
Two MLS teams are in serious playoff trouble
While the Montreal Impact and D.C. United both have a good shot at making the MLS playoffs there are currently a few teams who are currently safe that may not be for much longer. Teams like Nashville SC. Nashville should be flying high after a Leagues Cup final appearance and having the league's MVP and Golden Boot front-runner leading the team, in Hany Muktar. But something just isn't right in Nashville.
Their road record is atrocious (3-6-3) and while their home record has eight wins, it still really concerning half of their remaining games are on the road. When they are at home they face tough tasks facing good teams like the Seattle Sounders and the New England Revolution.
The other team who I think will be on the outside looking in hasn't missed the MLS Playoffs in 14 seasons, that's a long time. The New York Red Bull would be that team. Currently sitting in 11th place, they have just 29 points from 24 matches and have an xG of 1.57 while their actual goals scored is .96 per game. While that does say they are due for some positive regression, this isn't the kind of team that can just turn it on. It's sad to say but NYRB will be on the outside looking in.
Can Messi and Inter Miami do the impossible?
So Messi is the phenom we were all expecting. He's taken Inter Miami from zeros to heroes and they haven't even played a real MLS game yet. They have been red hot since the start. He led them to a Leagues Cup Championship They then followed that up by taking down 1st Place Cincinnati FC in the U.S. Open Cup in an incredible comeback and shootout victory! I'm not totally delusional. They have a really tough schedule with a lot of travel. But if anyone could take a last-place team to the playoffs it's Lionel Messi.
Who will make it to the MLS playoffs?
We've covered a lot. Like the title of this article says this MLS playoff race could be shaping up to be one of the most memorable in sports. With so many teams in the East on the cusp of at least the play-in-game, drama is sure to ensue in the remaining 10 games of the MLS regular season.
