Weekly Top 25 CONCACAF Club Rankings

CONCACAF Club Rankings - Top 25 Clubs in North America - April 9, 2012

There was a lot of movement in the CCR Top 25 this week.  The Mexican Primera Division got a boost to its league coefficient with Santos and Monterrey advancing to the finals.  However, it was not enough of a boost to over come some Major League Soccer team's hot starts.  Now that MLS has progressed further into the season, last season's results are beginning to drop off.  Sporting Kansas City, Real Salt Lake, and the San Jose Earthquakes no longer have last season's results holding them back.

1.)  Sporting KC (MLS) - Sporting KC moved into the top spot with their 1-0 win over the LA Galaxy.  Sporting is 5-0-0 with a +1.4 goal differential per game.  What has contributed to that is their defense.  In their first five games, they have only allowed 1 goal.  Sporting KC will look to remain undefeated when they face Real Salt Lake (2) later this week.  This will be the first time the #1 and the #2 ranked teams will face each other.

2.)  Real Salt Lake (MLS) - Real Salt Lake is another Major League Soccer team that is benefiting from a strong start.  Not only that, but last season's results are no longer playing into this season's rankings.  RSL won 3 matches in a one week time frame with their most recent win being a 2-0 win over the Colorado Rapids (16).    As stated earlier, the two top teams in the CCR Top 25 (and the top two teams in MLS) will be facing each other later in the week.

3.)  Santos Laguna (Mexico) - Even with a win in Champions league and a draw in the Primera, it was not enough to over come the MLS team's fast starts.  However, as long as Santos continues its strong form, they will be able to regain the top spot if any of the MLS teams slip up.  Santos will be facing America (22) later this week.

4.)  San Jose Earthquakes (MLS) - The San Jose Earthquakes rode a 3-1 win over the Vancouver Whitecaps FC (56) into the CCR Top 5.  Like the other MLS teams in the Top 5, the Earthquakes have a strong goal differential.  Currently the Earthquakes have a +1.2 goal differential per game.  The Earthquakes will defend their Top 5 ranking when the face the best offense in the MLS, the New York Red Bulls (16), later in the week.

5.)  UANL (Mexico) - UANL just barely remained in the Top 5 over Monterrey after losing to them 2-0.  UANL edged out Monterrey for the final Top 5 spot based on winning the Apertura earlier in the season.  Thoe bonus points from winning the Liguilla was enough to put them over Monterrey this week.  UANL looks to remain in the Top 5 of the CCR Rankings and the Top 3 of the Mexican Primera Division when they face Guadalajara (12) later this week.

Rank	Club	League
1	Sporting KC	MLS
2	Real Salt Lake	MLS
3	Santos Laguna	Mexican Primera
4	San Jose Earthquakes	MLS
5	UANL	Mexican Primera
6	Monterrey	Mexican Primera
7	Morelia	Mexican Primera
8	Pachuca	Mexican Primera
9	Cruz Azul	Mexican Primera
10	Seattle Sounders FC	MLS
11	Jaguares	Mexican Primera
12	Guadalajara	Mexican Primera
13	Isidro Metapan	El Salvador Primera
14	LA Galaxy	MLS
15	Real Esteli	Nicaraguan Primera
16	New York Red Bulls	MLS
17	Colorado Rapids	MLS
18	Tijuana	Mexican Primera
19	Houston Dynamo	MLS
20	América	Mexican Primera
21	UNAM	Mexican Primera
22	Toluca	Mexican Primera
23	Vancouver Whitecaps	MLS
24	Herediano	Costa Rican Primera
25	Querétaro	Mexican Primera

Next Five:
Puebla (Mexico), Alajuelense (Costa Rica), Saprissa (Costa Rica), San Luis (Mexico), Atlante (Mexico)

Biggest Movers:
Vancouver Whitecaps FC (+33 spots), Portland Timbers (-27 spots)