MLS: Streaks shape regular-season races

• by Paul Kennedy  @pkedit, Sep 17, 2017

Toronto FC's 4-0 win at LA Galaxy extended its lead over New York City FC in the MLS Supporters' Shield race to 11 points, and it can clinch its first regular-season league title as soon as Saturday. Toronto's 11-game unbeaten streak, which includes six wins in a row by a margin of 21-3, is one of several unbeaten streaks shaping the MLS conference races.

Current MLS unbeaten streaks:
13 Seattle (6 wins, 7 ties)
11 Toronto FC (8 wins, 3 ties)
6 Vancouver (4 wins, 2 ties)
6 Columbus (3 wins, 3 ties)
4 Atlanta United (2 wins, 2 ties)
4 NY Red Bulls (4 ties)
3 Chicago (2 wins, 1 tie)
3 Philadelphia (3 ties)

Toronto FC's six-game winning streak have blown open the Eastern Conference race. TFC will clinch the Supporters' Shield race if it beats Montreal on Wednesday and New England on Saturday.

But Columbus (6-game unbeaten streak) and Atlanta United (4-game unbeaten streak) have also pulled away from their Eastern Conference rivals, leaving a six-point gap between the sixth- and seventh-place teams.

Eastern Conference:

The race is a lot different in the Western Conference, where first-place Vancouver leads the next three teams by one point and fifth-place San Jose has only a one-point lead over the next three teams.

The Whitecaps have shot into the lead with a six-game unbeaten streak. Seattle has the longest current unbeaten streak in MLS -- 13 games -- but four straight draws have dropped the Sounders into a three-way tie with Portland and Sporting Kansas City for second place behind the 'Caps.

Western Conference: