Favorites are beginning to emerge

Red-hot Toronto FC will be missing Honduran Amado Guevara (center) and American Marvell Wynne (left) to national-team duties. Paul Giamou/MLS via Getty Images

Our weekly dose of Major League Soccer quick takes, plotlines to watch and Power Rankings.

Playoff road isn't paved with draws

With a plethora of ties creating exciting end-game scenarios around MLS (or plaguing the sport, depending on your position), multiple teams have gone well more than a month without losing. Chicago hasn't suffered a blemish all season. Los Angeles last tasted defeat during Week 2. Houston boasts no losses in its previous six matches. Seattle is on a 1-0-4 run. However, as the Galaxy -- currently sitting on only 11 points -- have shown, tying won't get your team to the playoffs. (On the flip side, neither New England nor San Jose have won in six matches -- that won't get it done, either.) Wins are at a premium, and the Dynamo, which have zoomed up the standings (and the Free Kicks Power Rankings) with 13 points in five matches, are the perfect example.

Your national team is calling

With another international-fixture date nearly upon us, teams around the league will lose players to U.S. national-team duties. Bob Bradley called seven MLSers into camp -- Jonathan Bornstein and Sacha Klejstan (both of Chivas USA), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus), Marvell Wynne (Toronto), Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado), Brian Ching (Houston) and Landon Donovan (Los Angeles) -- and in the next week other talents will be leaving their clubs for CONCACAF squads and beyond. While the league's coaches are used to these departures, that doesn't make dealing with them any easier. Expect role players to be thrust into the spotlight and benchwarmers to see time they otherwise wouldn't.

Mid-week madness

After a long absence, mid-week MLS action returns, with San Jose visiting Columbus on Wednesday and Chicago battling Chivas in L.A. on Thursday. The latter fixture is arguably the week's best, although the TFC-Dynamo tilt at Robertson Stadium pits two of the league's hottest teams against each other. Elsewhere, the Crew will have their depth tested as they fly to Seattle to take on the Sounders on Saturday, while traditionalists will relish a time-tested clash of old rivals as D.C. United and the Revs unite in Foxborough, Mass.

Week 11 Power Rankings   New Rank Previous Rank Team 1 1 Chicago Fire (4-0-6) Fire push their unbeaten streak to 10 games. Better yet, Cuauhtémoc Blanco and the boys have won two straight. 2 2 Chivas USA (7-1-3) Another disappointing weekend for L.A.'s other team; only managed a tie despite two-man advantage at K.C. 3 7 Toronto FC (4-3-4) MLS Player of the Week Amado Guevara's pair lifted TFC to a convincing win over Steve Nicol's reeling Revolution squad. 4 3 D.C. United (3-1-7) Second-half subs Chris Pontius and Rodney Wallace couldn't help United break down a determined Real Salt Lake defense. 5 8 Houston Dynamo (4-2-3) Dynamo marched to their fourth victory in five games, abusing San Jose's complete lack of organization in the back. 6 4 Seattle Sounders FC (4-2-4) Expansion club is suffering the same league-ride injury problem, but Kasey Keller's phenomenal play has kept it in matches. 7 5 Kansas City Wizards (4-4-3) The Wiz gave up an even-strength equalizer but held on for the tie despite Josh Wolff and Santiago Hirsig seeing red. 8 6 Colorado Rapids (3-2-4) A 10-1 advantage on corners wasn't enough as Keller stoned Nick LaBrocca twice and forced Rapids to settle for a draw at home. 9 9 New York Red Bulls (2-6-3) With Juan Pablo Ángel struggling to regain his scoring touch, Red Bulls need another attacking presence to put a couple home. 10 11 Los Angeles Galaxy (1-1-8) Bruce Arena's squad doesn't lose, but Donovan -- who scored again -- can't lead his troops to victory. 11 10 Columbus Crew (1-2-6) The Crew get a gift in a mid-week feature with the Quakes that should help the Ohio group earn its second win of the season. 12 14 Real Salt Lake (3-5-2) RSL earned its first point away from Rio Tinto Stadium and could be back on track after a four-match swoon. 13 12 New England Revolution (2-3-4) Shalrie Joseph's move up front resulted in another goal, but porous defense looks like it misses the hard-nosed Grenadian. 14 13 FC Dallas (1-6-3) Drew Moor tallied the equalizer as a FCD earned a point against the Gals. Can the team build on this tie? 15 15 San Jose Earthquakes (1-6-2) It's gone from bad to worse quickly in San Jose, as the Dynamo ran all over Frank Yallop's defenseless side.