The 'United' state of MLS East

Until Real Salt Lake's Jeff Cunningham converted two stoppage-time penalty kicks to rally RSL to a 2-1 victory over D.C. United on July 29 last year, D.C. was virtually unbeatable.

Its record prior to that summer visit to Salt Lake City was 13-1-6. That loss, however, sent D.C. into a downward spiral, and it finished the year with a 2-5-4 mark in its final 11 games and was eliminated by New England in the Eastern Conference finals.

Don't expect a repeat performance.

A handful of offseason acquisitions has D.C. United looking even stronger in 2007, making the likelihood of another midseason collapse even less likely.

With Major League Soccer slated to kick off this weekend, here's a look at the Eastern Conference in predicted order of finish.

1. D.C. United

2006 RECORD: 15-7-10 (55 points)

CONFERENCE FINISH: First

COACH: Tom Soehn (first season)

FIRST-CHOICE STARTING 11: Troy Perkins (K), Facundo Erpen (D), Bobby Boswell (D), Bryan Namoff (D), Ben Olsen (M), Brian Carroll (M), Christian Gomez (M), Fred (M), Joshua Gros (M), Luciano Emilio (F), Jaime Moreno (F)

STRENGTHS: This team is so ridiculously talented, the departure of Freddy Adu really isn't that big of a deal. Between reigning MLS MVP Gomez, midfield workhorses Carroll and Olsen, not to mention the finishing ability of Moreno, there was plenty of talent remaining. The scary thing for the rest of the league is that D.C. brought Brazilians Emilio and Fred into the fold, in addition to young wide midfielder Casali Yinka Casal from Fulham FC of England. With so many great players, it's hard to envision a scenario in which D.C. United doesn't win the East.

CONCERNS: United was far and away the best team in MLS last year, but the club seemed to burn out in the final months and didn't even advance to MLS Cup. That is an even bigger concern this year. In addition to the grind of the 30-game MLS regular season, D.C. will be extremely busy as well, participating in the U.S. Open Cup, CONCACAF Champions Cup and the debut SuperLiga. Burnout seems inevitable at some point.

2. Chicago Fire

2006 RECORD: 13-11-8 (47 points)

CONFERENCE FINISH: Third

COACH: Dave Sarachan (fifth season)

FIRST-CHOICE STARTING 11: Matt Pickens (K), Gonzalo Segares (D), Jim Curtin (D), C.J. Brown (D), Logan Pause (M), Chris Armas (M), Diego Gutierrez (M), Thiago (M), Chris Rolfe (F), Justin Mapp (F), Chad Barrett (F)