Real Salt Lake has just four matches left in the MLS regular season and there was only one change this week in the playoff seeding after only the Portland Timbers managed a victory among the six teams in playoff position. Although RSL is winless in its last three matches, two of the final four are at home and the two road matches come against teams currently below the red line.
Here is a look at how the postseason would shake out if the season ended today.
Real Salt Lake (12-10-8, 44 points) remains in fourth place in the Western Conference, which would ensure a home match in the Knockout Round. All three teams ahead of RSL drew over the weekend, so the gap didn’t increase significantly. FC Dallas (15-8-7, 52 points), the LA Galaxy (11-4-15, 48 points) and the Colorado Rapids (12-5-11, 47 points) hold the top three spots, respectively. That leaves Salt Lake to host the Portland Timbers, who have won three of their last four matches to climb to fifth in the West at 11-11-8 (41 points). Colorado would host sixth-seeded Sporting Kansas City, who let late leads slip in two consecutive matches to dip to 11-12-7 (40 points). Depending on the winners in those matches, if RSL advances it would either host the Galaxy or FC Dallas in first leg of the Conference Semifinals.
Seattle jumped to seventh in the West at 10-13-5 (35 points), ahead of the Vancouver Whitecaps (9-14-7, 34 points) and the San Jose Earthquakes (7-8-13, 34 points).
This week’s Western Conference matchups include:
Saturday
Vancouver Whitecaps vs. Colorado Rapids (5 p.m. MT, MLS Live)
Houston Dynamo vs. Portland Timbers (7 p.m. MT, MLS Live)
Real Salt Lake vs. FC Dallas (7:30 p.m. MT, KMYU)
San Jose Earthquakes vs. Sporting Kansas City (8:30 p.m. MT, MLS Live)
Sunday
LA Galaxy vs. Seattle Sounders (2 p.m. MT, ESPN)
