MLS News and Previews

So far this year the dominant trends in MLS have been plenty of scoring and the Eastern Conference's superiority to the West; if one were to integrate the table you'd see that the best teams in the Western Conference have only a few points more than the cellar dwellers in the Eastern Conference. It's probably pointless to speculate about this too much until all of the teams have faced each other once. The major stories from this season aside from this drastic imbalance and proof that Beckham's a bit more than just a billboard campaign is the terrible form of reigning champions Houston, who've finally collected their first win, and the miserable performance from D.C. United whose revamped roster was supposed to leave the rest of the East in the dust. Much of this is due to injury but both teams will have a hard time making up ground in August and September if they continue to drop points early.

Last night Colorado staked their claim to the top spot in the West after a convincing win in the Rocky Mountain Derby, but it's telling that they've been repeatedly punished by teams from the East.

Barca, MLS ink deal. It seems like there may come a day when MLS will want to stop associating so closely with big teams from abroad to emphasize its own quality, but that day is a long way off. Anything that gets the Eurosnobs to pay attention is probably for the best.

Since there are no good weekend previews out there, I'll do my best to give a quick summary here:

Columbus @ TFC : The league's best team heads north to contend with an army of drunken Canadians who've lately taken to assaulting traveling fans and trashing public transport. See, that's how sophisticated football fans behave! I can't wait until Philly gets a team and the Sons of Ben hit the road; blood will flow in the streets. Columbus should take this one in a walk.

San Jose @ New England : The league's worst team visits New England, who are desperate for some points. Twellman's back and he's scoring, expect a NE win.

KC @ Red Bull: Red Bull's form has picked up with Jozy Altidore and JP Angel finding the net recently. Claudio Lopez has been cooler of late. Could go either way, so flip a coin if you want a prediction.

Houston @ Chicago : The last time the Dynamo came to Chicago they humiliated us 4-0 in former Coach JC Osorio's first game. SSN Editor Sanford was in attendance and was none too impressed with the scene. Expect some serious payback.

D.C. United @ Chivas : Dog crap, meet dog crap. Most of the news surrounding Chivas of late has to do with extreme fan violence included an alleged stabbing outside a Houston game. D.C. fans travel, I hope they're wearing kevlar.

Jewel of MLS @ Dallas : a point separates these two in the standings. Both lost last week but JoMLS lost to a better team so they're probably a safer bet if Goldenballs is healthy enough to go 90.