SOCCER MLS ARTICLES

A big part of the reason why New York City FC finds itself atop the table in the Eastern Conference this year is because it has gotten over its road woes which plagued it over the course of its inaugural season. The team already has four victories away from the Bronx this year, and a triumph at Sporting Kansas City on Sunday would be massive to keep it in front of Philadelphia and other contenders in the East.... 

The Seattle Sounders and the LA Galaxy are going to get to know a heck of a lot about each other over the course of the next few weeks. They're set to meet three times between now and the end of July, including the game this Saturday at CenturyLink Field.... 

The New York Red Bulls are in the midst of an awfully crowded portion of their schedule. They've finally been eliminated from the U.S. Open Cup, taking that distraction away from them, but from the return from the international break on June 15 through July 17, they'll play nine fixtures. They're nearly at the end of this run though, and a home match against the Portland Timbers after a rare full week off might end up rejuvenating them just a bit.... 

A strange league, the MLS is. We didn't know it at the time, but last year in July, the Columbus Crew were positioning themselves for a run all the way to the MLS Cup Final, a match which they hosted. Sure, they overachieved, but no one could have forecasted a drop of this epic of a proportion in 2016. The Crew are sitting four points out of the playoffs 15 matches into the season, and they look nothing like contenders for the MLS Cup this year.... 

New York City FC really believed it had a shot to send a message to its rivals, the New York Red Bulls when these two teams met back in May. Instead, not only did NYCFC fail to pick up even a point for the first time against its crosstown foes, but it was clocked by a whopping 7-0 result. Will the tide turn this time around in the Bronx?... 

The last time New York City FC was on the pitch, it was embarrassed at home by its rival. That 7-0 loss to the Red Bulls must still sting quite a bit, but as is always the case in the regular season in sports, another opportunity awaits to get vengeance. Orlando City is headed to the Bronx for the second time this year, and it hopes that its May visit is as fruitful as its March visit when it snared three points in a 1-0 triumph.... 

There could be a heck of a lot of goals hit the board on Sunday afternoon for the crucial tilt in the Western Conference between the Vancouver Whitecaps and the Portland Timbers.... 

The LA Galaxy remain one of the most polarizing teams in the MLS. They continue to play tremendous ball at home where they're 4-1-0 this season, and the only thing keeping them from the top of the table in the Western Conference is their lousy form on the road. The Galaxy get the San Jose Earthquakes at home on Sunday to wrap up Rivalry Week in the MLS.... 

New York City FC has never won the Hudson River Derby against the New York Red Bulls. City is 0-3 to show for its work in these matches without a single point, losing two of the three by multiple goals. The Red Bulls will hope to continue their dominance on Saturday afternoon in the Bronx.... 

The opening part of the 2016 MLS season has been a big disappointment for Sporting Kansas City. No one really figured SKC was going to challenge for the MLS Cup this year, but getting into the playoffs felt like it should've been easy in the top-heavy Western Conference. Instead, Sporting sits three points back already with more matches played than any other team in the conference, and that makes this game at home against Orlando City all the more important.... 

At some point this year, the Portland Timbers are going to figure out how to win a match on the road. They've been beaten in four of their six away games and have drawn twice.Fortunately for the Timbers though, they've got a match at Providence Park on Sunday night, and another sellout crowd is expected to be on hand for the visit from New York City FC, a team which shockingly might have a chance to move to the top of the table in the Eastern Conference with an upset.... 

The New England Revolution have yet to taste victory on the road this season in five tries.

Heading to the West Coast to take on the LA Galaxy, who haven't lost a game at home this year, probably won't be the remedy to that problem.... 

Goals weren't in short order last year when D.C. United and New York City FC played against each other. There were seven strikes between the two matches, and that could be a sign of a higher scoring match on Sunday night to round out Match Day 10 for these two Eastern Conference contenders.... 

Sporting Kansas City can't be overly happy with its form at the moment. The team hasn't won a match since April 9, but it also has only played one home game in that stretch. SKC will be back at home on Sunday in a nationally televised game against the LA Galaxy though, and that might be the shot in the arm this club needs.... 

The champs are definitely in some trouble in the early going in the 2016 MLS season. The Portland Timbers only have two wins from their first eight matches, but if there's some good news, it's that they'll be back at Providence Park on Sunday for a game against Toronto FC.... 

There isn't a heck of a lot separating all of the teams in the Western Conference in the MLS through a couple months of the season.Matches like this one between the San Jose Earthquakes and Sporting Kansas City could end up going a long way towards determining playoff positioning down the stretch of the campaign.... 

Orlando City's hot start to the season has been quelled just a bit with consecutive suspect results in the dying moments. Now, the men in purple will have to head on the road to take on the New York Red Bulls.... 

FC Dallas doesn't exactly look as dominant at the outset of this season as it did for much of last year in the Western Conference. The Hoops have a really tough week ahead of them. After they take on the defending champs on the road on Wednesday night, they've got to face the team which is topping the table in the West at the moment, Sporting Kansas City.... 

We've already seen the Chicago Fire and New York City FC face off with one another this year. They opened up their seasons with a cracking 4-3 match played in the Windy City, and they'll return to the Bronx on Sunday for the first of two MLS showdowns on FS1.... 

Perhaps the Portland Timbers are experiencing a bit of a hangover right now.

They haven't gotten off to a good start to the season at this point, and having to go on the road to visit the LA Galaxy won't help matters on Sunday in all likelihood.... 

We're only four games into the season, but it's hard to classify the first few weeks of the MLS campaign as anything but a bitter disappointment for the Seattle Sounders. They're just 1-0-3 in their first three tussles, and they've already played three matches at home. They're out on the road on Sunday in what could be a big match against the Houston Dynamo.... 

The United States Men's National Soccer Team is up against it over the course of the next week and a half. They've got a ton of fixtures coming down the road which will help determine if they qualify for both the World Cup and the Olympics.... 

We're only two matches into the MLS season, but the Eastern Conference already looks a little lopsided. The two teams which played in the conference finals, New York and Columbus, are both without a single point to start the year, while D.C. United is sitting on just one point in two duels. The Black and Reds will have a shot to jumpstart their campaign against a still-rebuilding Colorado Rapids side at home on Saturday afternoon.... 

New York City FC made it well known that there were going to be changes this year from the team which disappointed in its expansion campaign in 2015. Patrick Vieira is now the man in charge, and already, City looks like a team which is set to press forward as often as it can. A week after netting four in a win over Chicago, NYCFC will play its first home match of the year against Toronto FC.... 

The San Jose Earthquakes and Portland Timbers were expected to be on relatively level terms coming into the 2015 season.San Jose badly underachieved and failed to make the playoffs, while the Timbers came out of nowhere to win their first MLS Cup. Now, the two collide for the first time this season at Aviva Stadium....