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A lot went Portland's way last weekend to help them take 3 giant steps closer to securing a 2013 playoff berth. Not only did their win against the LA Galaxy help but so too did a few other results. Seattle's tie keeps Portland within striking distance of the top seed, Real Salt Lake's defeat of Vancouver pushed one of the remaining 8 teams further down the standings and FC Dallas' loss essentially killed their playoff hopes.
Now that Portland has put some distance between themselves and the red line they can focus on earning a top 3 berth. If they earn a top three berth any team they play will have to come to the House of Pane to play and this is a good thing.
Current Standings
| # | Club | PTS | GP | PPG | W | L | T | GF | GA | GD | HG | HGD | RG | RGD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Real Salt Lake | 51 | 31 | 1.65 | 15 | 10 | 6 | 54 | 39 | 15 | 28 | 14 | 26 | 1 |
| 2 | Seattle Sounders FC | 51 | 29 | 1.76 | 15 | 8 | 6 | 39 | 29 | 10 | 27 | 17 | 12 | -7 |
| 3 | Portland Timbers | 49 | 30 | 1.63 | 12 | 5 | 13 | 46 | 31 | 15 | 28 | 17 | 18 | -2 |
| 4 | LA Galaxy | 45 | 30 | 1.5 | 13 | 11 | 6 | 46 | 37 | 9 | 26 | 18 | 20 | -9 |
| 5 | Colorado Rapids | 45 | 30 | 1.5 | 12 | 9 | 9 | 37 | 31 | 6 | 22 | 9 | 15 | -3 |
| 6 | San Jose Earthquakes | 44 | 31 | 1.42 | 12 | 11 | 8 | 32 | 41 | -9 | 20 | 8 | 12 | -17 |
| 7 | Vancouver Whitecaps | 41 | 30 | 1.37 | 11 | 11 | 8 | 42 | 39 | 3 | 27 | 10 | 15 | -7 |
| 8 | FC Dallas | 40 | 30 | 1.33 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 42 | 46 | -4 | 25 | 6 | 17 | -10 |
| 9 | Chivas USA | 26 | 31 | 0.84 | 6 | 17 | 8 | 29 | 55 | -26 | 17 | -7 | 12 | -19 |
Remaining Games
(This is not chronological. it is just a list of their remaining games)
| Colorado | Vancouver | Dallas | LAG | Portland | Seattle | San Jose | RSL |
| Seattle | Portland | at RSL | Chivas | at Vancouver | at Colorado | Colorado | FC Dallas |
| At San Jose | at Seattle | Chicago | Montreal | Seattle | Vancouver | at LAG | at Portland |
| Vancouver | at Colorado | Seattle | San Jose | RSL | at Portland | FC Dallas | Chivas |
| at Vancouver | Colorado | at San Jose | at Seattle | at Chivas | at FC Dallas |
The Galaxy have arguably the easiest schedule with three home games left and one of them against the worst team in the conference. Portland would be second with their two toughest opponents having to come to their home and play. The hardest schedule might be Vancouver or San Jose but it really is debatable.
Predicted and Actual Results
I updated the points I am predicting they earn and also added up the point difference between the predicted results and the actual result. (Teams are shown in reverse order of standings)
| Dallas | Predicted result | Actual Result |
| at Colorado | loss | loss |
| at New York | loss | Loss |
| Columbus | win | Loss |
| at RSL | loss | |
| Chicago | win | |
| Seattle | tie | |
| at San Jose | loss | |
| 4 Points | -3 |
| Vancouver | Predicted result | Actual Result |
| at San Jose | tie | tie |
| at montreal | loss | Win |
| RSL | tie | Loss |
| Portland | tie | |
| at Seattle | loss | |
| at Colorado | loss | |
| Colorado | win | |
| 4 points | 1 |
| San Jose | Predicted result | Actual Result |
| Vancouver | tie | tie |
| at RSL | loss | Win |
| at Chivas | win | win |
| Colorado | win | |
| at LAG | loss | |
| FC Dallas | loss | |
| 6 points | 3 |
| Colorado | Predicted result | Actual Result |
| FC Dallas | Win | Win |
| at Portland | loss | Loss |
| Seattle | tie | |
| At San Jose | loss | |
| Vancouver | Win | |
| at Vancouver | loss | |
| 4 points | 0 |
| LAG | Predicted result | Actual Result |
| At DC united | Win | Tie |
| Seattle | Tie | tie |
| at Portland | Loss | Loss |
| Chivas | Win | |
| Montreal | Win | |
| San Jose | Win | |
| at Seattle | loss | |
| 6 points | -2 |
| Portland | Predicted result | Actual Result |
| At Chivas | Win | tie |
| Colorado | Win | win |
| LAG | Win | Win |
| at Vancouver | tie | |
| Seattle | tie | |
| RSL | tie | |
| at Chivas | Win | |
| 6 points | -2 |
| Seattle | Predicted result | Actual Result |
| RSL | tie | Win |
| at LAG | tie | tie |
| New York | Win | tie |
| at Colorado | tie | |
| Vancouver | win | |
| at Portland | tie | |
| at FC Dallas | loss | |
| LAG | tie | |
| 6 points | 0 |
| RSL | Predicted result | Actual Result |
| at Seattle | tie | Loss |
| San Jose | win | Loss |
| at Vancouver | tie | Win |
| FC Dallas | win | |
| at Portland | tie | |
| Chivas | win | |
| 7 points | -3 |
Max Points
| Team | Points | games | games left | max points |
| RSL | 51 | 31 | 3 | 60 |
| Seattle | 51 | 29 | 5 | 66 |
| Portland | 49 | 30 | 4 | 61 |
| LA Galaxy | 45 | 30 | 4 | 57 |
| Colorado Rapids | 45 | 30 | 4 | 57 |
| San Jose | 44 | 31 | 3 | 53 |
| Vancouver | 41 | 30 | 4 | 53 |
| FC Dallas | 40 | 30 | 4 | 52 |
| Chivas | 26 | 31 | 3 | 35 |
Predicted Standings
| Team | Predicted points | Predicted total | Playoff seed |
| Seattle | 6 | 57 | 2 |
| RSL | 7 | 58 | 1 |
| Portland | 6 | 55 | 3 |
| LA Galaxy | 6 | 51 | 4 |
| Colorado Rapids | 4 | 49 | 6 |
| San Jose | 6 | 50 | 5 |
| Vancouver | 4 | 45 | 7 |
| FC Dallas | 4 | 44 | 8 |
As you can see RSL barely earns the top spot in the West and possible the SS depending on the eastern conference. One more win and Portland pretty much guarantees themselves a place in the playoffs but if they earn more than the 3 points they can secure a top three seed.