Out - of - favour Super Eagles striker Obafemi Martins is competing directly with Republic of Ireland international Robbie Keane for the Most Valuable Player in the MLS.

The Seattle Sounders marksman had been leading the rankings until last week when he was overtaken by Robbie Keane.

With the LA Galaxy forward away on international duty, Obafemi Martins had the opportunity to close the gap but his display in the 1 - 0 loss to Vancouver Whitecaps did not tick the right boxes.

In first place in the ranking is Keane with 49 points followed by the Nigerian, who has accumulated 38 points while Lee Nguyen(New England Revolution ), Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy) and Diego Valeri (Portland Timbers) complete the first five positions in that order.

The soon - to - be 30 - year - old Obafemi Martins has chalked up 17 goals ( with 10 assists) this term.