Pythagorean 2.0 Projections: 2010 MLS Regular Season (2010-05-01)
Categories: Soccer Pythagorean: Tables
UPDATE (7:29pm, 5/3): Wow, that was quite a tidal wave from the Pacific Northwest! Thanks as always to Sounder at Heart for sending visitors my way. (With all of the readers that I have up there, maybe I should make a visit or something!) For those of you who would like an explanation of the Soccer Pythagorean, this page contains a link to a document that I wrote, and this page explains the formula with as little mathematics as possible.
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The 2010 MLS season has reached a point where it's worthwhile to compile Pythagorean projections for the league. I kept the two conferences apart and used the standard league Pythagorean exponent of 1.70. All of the teams are performing pretty much as expected if you just looked at their goal statistics. Only the Red Bulls stand out as they are performing 4 points better than their statistical expectations. It remains to be seen whether they can maintain their hot start to the season.
Eastern Conference:
| Team | GP | GF | GA | Pts | Pythag | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Red Bulls | 6 | 8 | 4 | 15 | 11 | +4 |
| Columbus Crew | 4 | 6 | 3 | 8 | 8 | 0 |
| Chicago Fire | 6 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 10 | -2 |
| New England Revolution | 6 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 9 | -2 |
| Kansas City Wizards | 5 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 0 |
| Toronto FC | 6 | 7 | 12 | 6 | 5 | +1 |
| Philadelphia Union | 5 | 6 | 11 | 3 | 4 | -1 |
| DC United | 5 | 2 | 13 | 0 | 2 | -2 |
Western Conference:
| Team | GP | GF | GA | Pts | Pythag | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles Galaxy | 6 | 10 | 2 | 16 | 14 | +2 |
| Houston Dynamo | 6 | 9 | 6 | 10 | 10 | 0 |
| Colorado Rapids | 6 | 8 | 6 | 10 | 10 | 0 |
| Seattle Sounders | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 0 |
| San Jose Earthquakes | 5 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 7 | +2 |
| Real Salt Lake | 6 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 9 | -2 |
| Chivas USA | 6 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 6 | +1 |
| FC Dallas | 5 | 7 | 8 | 4 | 6 | -2 |
