The MLS Cup playoffs are less than two months away and the playoff pictures are starting to round out in both conferences as the regular season winds down.
For Sounders FC, that final stretch of the schedule includes a difficult swing of five matches in 16 days that features the U.S. Open Cup final in Philadelphia and the team’s final trip to the East to face the New York Red Bulls.
Here is a look at how the playoffs would shape up if the season ended today.
In the West, Sounders FC leads by two points over the LA Galaxy, leaving the Galaxy with a Conference Semifinal meeting with No. 3 Real Salt Lake. That series would start at Rio Tinto Stadium and conclude at the StubHub Center. Meanwhile, Seattle would await the winner of a Knockout Round match between No. 4 FC Dallas and the No. 5 Portland Timbers. FC Dallas would host the Timbers in that meeting at Toyota Stadium. Seattle would travel to face the winner of that match in the first round of its Conference Semifinal series, then host the second leg at CenturyLink Field.
Seattle holds a 2-0-1 regular season record against the Timbers and won the only match with FC Dallas thus far, 3-2, back on April 12 at Toyota Stadium. Against the other two playoff teams in the West, Seattle has gone 1-2-0 with defeats to the Galaxy and Real Salt Lake, in addition to a home win over RSL.
Of the teams on the outside looking in, Vancouver Whitecaps FC is nipping at the heels of the Timbers and the Colorado Rapids are just five points behind with seven matches left to play.
In the East, there is a tight battle that runs nine teams deep, as the Chicago Fire are in ninth place but sit just seven points behind the Philadelphia Union for the fifth playoff spot.
If the season ended today, second-seeded Sporting Kansas City would meet the No. 3 New England Revolution, while D.C. United would await the winner of a Knockout Round match between the Columbus Crew and Philadelphia Union. The Crew and Union are even with 9-9-9 records, but Columbus holds the second tie-breaker with a plus-four goal differential while Philadelphia is at plus-two.
Meanwhile, the New York Red Bulls are just two points back of the playoffs, Toronto FC is three points back and the Houston Dynamo is five points back.
