What We Want to Happen Today 10/21

It’s the penultimate weekend of the MLS regular season and all of the weekends action kicks off at either 2pm or 4pm Central Time today. Sporting Kansas City got a big win in Vancouver on Wednesday night, vaulting themselves back into second place in the Western Conference and setting up a 1 verses 2 match up today against FC Dallas. There are other games today that could have an effect on Sporting today. By the end of the day they could have a top three finish guaranteed if results go their way. Here’s a look at all the games today.

Chicago at Atlanta

What we want to happen - does not matter

Chicago is eliminated from playoff contention at this point while Sporting can no longer catch Atlanta, no matter the result here, it does not matter to Sporting.

New York City at DC

What we want to happen - DC win

New York City FC has stumbled as of late and now Sporting is actually ahead of them on points. So DC topping NYCFC would keep Sporting ahead of NYCFC. Combine that with Sporting getting any points on the road against Dallas and KC would be guaranteed to finish ahead of NYCFC.

Toronto at Montreal

What we want to happen - does not matter

Montreal can’t catch Sporting on points and Toronto is eliminated for the playoffs, so this game doesn’t matter.

Columbus at Orlando

What we want to happen - does not matter

Columbus’ max point total is 54 while Orlando is eliminated from playoff contention so this result means nothing for KC’s playoff standing.

New York Red Bulls at Philadelphia

What we want to happen - New York win

Sporting cannot catch the Red Bulls in the league’s single table, but the Philadelphia Union still can with two wins and KC dropping both of their games. A Philadelphia loss guarantees that Sporting will finish ahead of the Union and host a potential MLS Cup between the two teams.

Seattle at Houston

What we want to happen - Houston win

A loss by Seattle combined with one point by KC this weekend would guarantee KC finishes ahead of the Sounders in the Western Conference. Getting that sort of result would be important to Sporting because if Seattle and KC finish tied on points the Sounders would get the tiebreaker over Sporting because they would have more wins.

Vancouver at Los Angeles FC

What we want to happen - Vancouver win

Vancouver winning on the road would likely keep Kansas City ahead of LAFC in the West (barring a big loss by KC to overturn the four goal advantage KC currently has in their goal difference). Combine a Vancouver win with a KC win and KC is likely finishing ahead of LAFC no matter how the result on Decision Day goes.

LA Galaxy at Minnesota

What we want to happen - does not matter

Result wise, this game doesn’t matter as Minnesota is eliminated and the Galaxy can not catch Sporting on points. If you’re worried about potentially having to face Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the playoffs, hoping LA don’t win would keep them from getting in.

Salt Lake at Portland

What we want to happen - Salt Lake win

A Salt Lake win would mean that Portland could no longer catch Sporting on points and guarantee Sporting at least the four seed and a home wildcard game, their potential first home game in the playoffs since MLS Cup 2013.

Colorado at San Jose

What we want to happen - does not matter

The two bottom teams in the West, this game means nothing for KC.