MLS Stats Zone: Union attack wakes up, Oluwaseyi's star turn, examining All-Star roster

Coming off a full midweek slate of action and with the All-Star Game quickly approaching, it's a good time to look at the most important numbers in Major League Soccer.

Inter Miami is still clinging to its lead in the overall standings despite being without Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez while they were away for Copa America.

In the Western Conference, three teams sit within two points of each other at the top of the table.

Most teams have nine or 10 regular season matches remaining. Which trends could impact the rest of the season?

Philadelphia Union attack wakes up

The Philadelphia Union attack was not thriving even before the team sold striker Julian Carranza to Feyenoord, and the team had not won a match between when he left the lineup on May 29 until July 17 - a nine-game span that included a five-game losing streak.

Against the New England Revolution on July 17, the attack woke up and led the team to a 5-1 victory.

Striker Tai Baribo, who had been viewed as Carranza's replacement when he joined the team 11 months ago but rarely received playing time, finally emerged. He opened the scoring in the 29th minute against the Revs and capped off his hat trick in the 52nd minute.

Even more impressive is how the 26-year-old completed his hat trick on chances worth 1.68 expected goals (xG).

Speaking of xG, Quinn Sullivan - a player whose improvement I've written about a lot in this column this season - came off the bench and scored a scorcher from a chance worth 0.05 xG, meaning it had a five percent chance of finding the net based on where he shot from.

The win over the Revs was Philly's second straight game allowing less than 1.0 xG, and it was just the fifth game overall this season where the team allowed less than 1.0 xG.

Tani Oluwaseyi's star turn in Minnesota

After a hot start, Minnesota United has one point in its last five matches, but 24-year-old Canadian striker Tani Oluwaseyi has been a revelation for the Loons this season.

Oluwaseyi has eight goals and four assists in just 714 minutes of play. He scores or assists every 59.5 minutes of play.

In addition, Oluwaseyi posts 0.81 xG per 90 minutes of play, which is the most in MLS, but he doesn't qualify for the statistical leaderboards given his lack of minutes. He has outscored his xG by 1.6 goals so far this season, and none of those goals were from the penalty spot.

The question at this point is how Oluwaseyi's career progresses from here. The fact he is 24 helps his case because it is less likely that his current form is just a flash in the pan like when fellow Canadian forward Ayo Akinola scored nine goals in 1,060 minutes in the 2020 season, only for Akinola to be out of MLS four seasons later.

Oluwaseyi played college soccer at St. John's and scored 20 goals in 49 matches, a rate of less than one goal every two games against weaker competition. To aid his development, he should stick around in MLS, become a full-time starter and keep putting up great numbers instead of rushing for a big-money move.

MLS All-Star roster announced

My last Stats Zone was about which players should be on the All-Star roster, and with the teams having been announced, I'm going to take a look at the biggest snubs.

The group of eight forwards and wingers is hard to complain about given each player in the group has either scored and assisted plenty or led their team to the top of the table. Some of the players, mainly Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez of Inter Miami, have done both.

LA Galaxy offseason signings Joseph Paintsil and Gabriel Pec should have been in consideration, at the very least. Paintsil has seven goals and five assists while Pec has nine and nine, and the additions of both players has made the Galaxy difficult to stop going forward.

It's a similar situation in midfield. Luciano Acosta, Sergio Busquets and Riqui Puig were voted in, and each of the coach's and commissioner's picks are worthy of the honor.

Hopefully, New York City FC's underrated defensive midfielder James Sands and LAFC's box-to-box dynamo Timmy Tillman each received consideration.

As usual when it comes to MLS individual awards, defense and goalkeeper are where the decisions get questionable.

The center backs - Justen Glad of Real Salt Lake and Miles Robinson of FC Cincinnati - were deserved selections, but the fact two right backs made the team over Atlanta United's Brooks Lennon is something of a shock.

Atlanta is having a bad year as they're below the playoff line in the East, but Aaron Herrera, the right back for DC United - the team sitting one point above Atlanta - earned an All-Star honor.

Lennon ranks in the top 10 in MLS in expected assists, crosses into the penalty area, key passes and crosses. Herrera ranks in the top 10 in only crosses into the penalty area and blocks.

The other right back on the All-Star team, Keegan Rosenberry, is a steady presence and experienced leader but only cracks the top 10 in interceptions.

The two left backs to make the All-Star roster, Cincy's Luca Orellano and Miami's Jordi Alba, are both deserving - but Philadelphia Union left back Kai Wagner leads all defenders in assists with seven and is one of the league's best playmakers based on statistics.

In goal, I think Miami's Drake Callender deserves recognition given he is ninth in MLS with 3.6 goals saved above expected, which is a considerable accomplishment given how wide-open Miami can be in defense.