What We Want to Happen Today 9/23

Sporting Kansas City got a pair of results to help towards them clinch a playoff berth yesterday with Real Salt Lake and the Portland Timbers both losing, Vancouver not winning today would see Sporting clinch a playoff berth for the eighth straight season if they can defeat the Philadelphia Union today first. Here’s a look at the rest of the MLS action today and what KC is looking for in those games.

Seattle at Los Angeles

What we want to happen - LA win

The Galaxy’s max points at this point is 53 points, two above Kansas City’s current total of 51, so by the time LA takes the field, Sporting could already be above their max point total for the season should they beat Philadelphia. So LA picking up points doesn’t hurt Kansas City much at all, meanwhile, the Sounders sit in sixth in the West, four points clear of seventh place Vancouver. Keeping a point gap between KC and road wild card games continues to be a big point right now and most KC fans won’t argue with the idea of Seattle dropping points.

Dallas at Vancouver

What we want to happen - Vancouver win

While a loss or a draw by Vancouver would see Kansas City clinch a playoff berth with a win over Philadelphia, Sporting at this point is over 99% likely to make the playoffs, so waiting a week to clinch is not that big of a deal at this point. The more important thing is wrapping up a first round bye and first place in the Western Conference, the odds of both will go up if Dallas (currently third) lose to Vancouver. That combined with a KC win would put Sporting four points ahead of Dallas and Los Angeles FC in the West with five games to go for all three teams.