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The Portland Thorns head into the final week of the season with the knowledge that they will be participating in the playoffs and that they have no chance at earning the top seed. What they do not know is which seed they will have going into the playoffs. All four playoff bound teams have the potential to move up in the seeding but also have the potential to move down.
The only team that controls their own destiny is FC Kansas City. Kansas City is almost guaranteed it will host a semifinal and only need 1 point to guarantee they will have home field throughout the playoffs. The Thorns on the other hand need help in order to move up the standings.
Here is the top four in the standings:
| # | Team | Pts | GD | GR | Max Pts |
| 1 | FC Kansas City | 38 | 13 | 1 | 41 |
| 2 | Western New York Flash | 35 | 15 | 1 | 38 |
| 3 | Portland Thorns FC | 35 | 6 | 1 | 38 |
| 4 | Sky Blue FC | 35 | 5 | 1 | 38 |
This weekend each playoff bound team is playing a non-playoff bound team. Here is the schedule:
Saturday
WNY Flash vs. Boston Breakers, 8 p.m. ET - FOX Soccer
Seattle Reign FC vs. Portland Thorns FC, 11 p.m. ET
Sunday
FC Kansas City vs. Chicago Red Stars, 4:10 p.m. ET
Washington Spirit vs. Sky Blue FC, 5 p.m. ET
Here are the current tiebreakers for the Portland Thorns: (For a detailed breakdown of all 4 teams check out Equalizer Soccer)
| PTFC vs. FCKC | FC Kansas City (2-1-1) | ||||||
| PTFC vs. WNYF | Tied (0-0-2) | Goal difference: WNYF + 15, PTFC + 6 | |||||
| PTFC vs. SBFC | Tied (1-1-1) | Goal difference: PTFC + 6, SBFC + 5 | |||||
Scenarios in which Portland will earn the #2 seed:
| ... the Thorns win vs. the Reign | AND | the Thorns overcome the Flash's superior +9 goal difference | ||||||||||
| AND | Sky Blue FC do not overcome the Thorns' superior +1 goal difference | |||||||||||
| OR | ||||||||||||
| ... the Thorns draw vs. the Reign | AND | the Flash lose vs. the Breakers | ||||||||||
| AND | Sky Blue FC draw or lose vs. the Spirit | |||||||||||
| OR | ||||||||||||
| ... the Thorns draw vs. the Reign | AND | the Flash draw vs. the Breakers | ||||||||||
| AND | the Thorns overcome the Flash's superior +9 goal difference | |||||||||||
| AND | the Sky Blue FC do not overcome the Thorns' superior +1 goal difference | |||||||||||
Long story short, it is not looking good for Portland hosting a playoff game.