Twenty three points. That is where both Columbus Crew and Atlanta United sit after 25 games each, locked together at the bottom of the MLS table with nothing separating them. One place above safety is not a place either club wants to be discussing in mid September, but the numbers make it unavoidable.
A Four Point Spread, Give or Take a Game
CF Montreal sit just below the tied pair on 21 points from the same 25 fixtures, two points adrift of the Columbus and Atlanta group. Sporting Kansas City prop up the division on 18 points, but crucially they have played only 24 matches, one fewer than everyone else around them. That outstanding game is the only cushion Kansas City can point to right now.
Points Per Game Tells Its Own Story
Strip out the fixture count and the picture sharpens. Columbus and Atlanta are both running at 0.92 points per game. Montreal trail at 0.84. Kansas City, even accounting for the game in hand, sit at 0.75, the weakest return of the four by some distance. A win in their outstanding fixture would lift them level with Montreal on points, but the underlying rate still leaves them the most exposed of the bottom four.
Where the Table Stands
- 27. Columbus Crew: 23 pts (25 played)
- 28. Atlanta United: 23 pts (25 played)
- 29. CF Montreal: 21 pts (25 played)
- 30. Sporting Kansas City: 18 pts (24 played)
None of the four has any real breathing room. A single result at the top of this group could flip the order inside a week, and with Kansas City still owed a match, the gap between last and 27th is far thinner than the five point spread on paper suggests.