When you take a look at the Eastern Conference standings, one can’t help but feel a twinge of excitement as the Impact sits currently three points out of a playoff spot following a three game winning streak.
Reality hits, however, when you see that D.C. United, holding down the final playoff spot, has four games in hand.
Check out the standings here => //www.impactmontreal.com/en/standings
“It’s definitely hard to read the table,” said Impact head coach Jesse Marsch. “The fact that we have played more games and that it’s not easy to predict results leaves in a position where we can’t really look too far. We have to take it one game at a time.”
Looking at the Impact’s last eight games of the season, there is some optimism to be seen for a playoff push. Five of those final games come against Eastern Conference opponents, including a game against D.C. United and the Chicago Fire, the 5th and 4th placed teams respectively, as well as matchups versus the Columbus Crew, Toronto FC and the New England Revolution, all of which are trailing the Impact in the East. However, three of the five games against Eastern opponents are on the road.
The Impact will also face the division leaders Sporting KC (East) and San Jose (West), this Saturday, as well as the Houston Dynamo. This might seem like a tough task, but all three of these games will be played in the friendly confines of Stade Saputo, and the Impact has a record of 2-2 against these top teams.
How many points to qualify
The New York Red Bulls were the fifth place qualifiers in the Eastern Conference in 2011, with 46 points in 34 games played. To reach the same number of points, the Impact needs at least four wins and one draw from its last eight games.
The Impact has a record of 5-4-1 in games played against its upcoming opponents, with the first and only matchup versus San Jose coming up this weekend. If the trend continues, the winning percentage may just be enough to reach 46 points.
D.C. United and the Chicago Fire have very similar schedules to that of the Impact, with games in hand of course, but two of those are head to head matchups, which can help push one of the two teams further down the standings.
Regeneration
With games in hand, D.C. and Chicago have a very charged final two months to the season. D.C. has five games scheduled in September, including another four still left in the month of August. Chicago sees six games scheduled for September and another four in October.
The advantage for the Impact is that while its players are recovering from a charged start to the season, Chicago et D.C. will have to deal with midweek games and stretches of three games in seven days; a difficult task as was seen when the Impact went through similar stretches in May and July.
The Impact will have to play only three games in September and the same number of games in October.
Although the road ahead is a tough one for the onze montrealais, it’s not an impossible one…
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