As things stand, there’s a good chance that either Indy Eleven or Birmingham Legion FC might host a playoff game in November.

The sides currently sitting in fourth and fifth place in the Eastern Conference standings might have two of the strangest profiles of teams in that position we’ve seen in a while.

You can start with the fact that both teams currently have a negative goal differential. Since the Championship was divided into two conferences in 2015, an Eastern Conference team hasn’t finished in the top four with a negative goal differential, ever.

Then there’s the on-field product both have delivered. Indy has outperformed its Expected Goals mark (33 goals on 30.21xG) and underperformed its Expected Goals Against mark (36 goals against on 31.32xGA)

On the other hand, Birmingham has underperformed its Expected Goals mark (29 goals on 32.41xG) and outperformed its Expected Goals Against (31 goals against on 34.03xGA).

Legion would, at least, make the playoffs on those numbers, earning the No. 8 seed in American Soccer Analysis’ Expected Points model behind teams like Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC – whose massive scoring deficiency has it underperforming by a margin of 12.3 points. Indy, on the contrary, would be the wrong side of the line in ninth place.

And yet, here we are, with Indy in the U.S. Open Cup Semifinals and Legion on the verge of a sixth consecutive playoff trip and another chance to host in the postseason.