MLS is Back: Ranking the four quarter-finals

The MLS is Back quarter-finals take place over the next four days. Here, we rank each one in terms of which is the most entertaining.

The MLS is Back Tournament is hotting up. After a brilliant Round of 16 which featured shocks, slip-ups, late drama, penalties, and some brilliant individual performances, the teams now prepare for the quarter-finals, which will be played over the next four days, ending on Saturday night.

But of the eight teams that made it this far and the four games that will now be played, which are the must-watch games of the round?

Well, to help answer that question, we ranked all four matches in terms of which is the most entertaining.

4. Orlando City vs. LAFC

That Orlando City’s contest with the best team in MLS, Los Angeles FC, is the ‘worst’ of the four games goes to prove how exciting the quarter-final slate it. There are some hugely interesting storylines to this fixture that should be closely followed this week.

Orlando have been the surprise team of the tournament. They won Group A, which is the only group to have three teams in the quarter-final stages, then eased past the Montreal Impact with a strong performance, and have looked exceptionally competitive under new head coach Oscar Pareja, who has certainly brought a semblance of control and authority to a previously muddled and dysfunctional organisation.

However, they are playing LAFC, and while Bob Bradley’s team is brilliant to watch, even without Carlos Vela, they looked imperious in dismantling the Seattle Sounders in the Round of 16 and are the heaviest of favourites in the quarter-final stages. Put simply, this is the least competitive of the four matches. For that reason, it sits bottom.