MLS Decision Day: Can anyone beat Lionel Messi for the league MVP as regular season wraps up?

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On Saturday, the MLS regular season will come to an end, and while there will be a wild finish in the Western Conference with three teams playing for two spots in the playoffs, things in the Eastern Conference are much more settled, with teams only battling for seeding. But there is one battle which may come down to the final day of play, and that's the award for most valuable player.

Lionel Messi won it last season, and he's likely the frontrunner for the award again this season, but it's the final day that anyone can make an impression for the award. Obviously the MVP is not an award that can be won in one day, depending on how things break, Anders Dreyer's San Diego FC could win the Western Conference, which changes the view on his excellent season. Joining from Anderlecht in Belgium, the 27-year-old winger has taken the league by storm with 17 goals and 18 assists so far, leading San Diego's attack. From coming up in big moments to consistency, Dreyer has done it all while featuring in every game for the club this season. Alone, that'd seem like enough to win the MVP award, but that's how things shift in a league where Messi exists.

With 26 goals and 18 assists, Messi leads the league in goal contributions by a significant margin. And unlike last season, he doesn't have competition from his own team in the Golden Boot standings. Luis Suarez has taken a step back, and Miami has returned to being the Messi show first, second and third. What's more. the Argentine has done this while only featuring in 27 of Miami's matches. But that means that Messi could end the season scoring a goal per game before even taking into account assists.

At times, the fact that MLS counts secondary assists in their official statistics can make things seem inflated, but that only adds three assists to Messi's total. There's a chance that Messi won't win the Golden Boot with Denis Bouanga (24 goals) and Sam Surridge (23 goals) bearing down, but even so, he's already outdone is previous MVP season where he had 21 goals and 11 assists.

This is unheard of production in the league, and it's why it'll be hard to deny Messi another MVP award once the season has come and gone. The Messi effect may make these things seem normal, but they most certainly aren't, which is why the Argentine stands in a class of his own.

MLS Decision Day schedule

All times Eastern, all matches available on MLS Season Pass

Saturday, October 18