What We Want to Happen Today 9/30

Sporting Kansas City had a number of results go their way yesterday, with Portland and Dallas playing to a 0-0 draw in the Pacific Northwest, Chicago defeating Los Angeles FC in Bridgeview and Philadelphia and Columbus playing to a draw. It means that a win today against Real Salt Lake will see KC go back atop the Western Conference, ahead of FC Dallas on tie-breakers. It will also virtually guarantee KC finish top five in the West. There’s one other game today with Supporters’ Shield ramifications involved, here’s a look at what we want to happen in that game.

Atlanta at New York Red Bulls

What we want to happen - Atlanta win

KC’s chances at winning the Supporters’ Shield are minimal at best, their max point total is 66, three ahead of where Atlanta currently sits on 63, so to win the shield, KC would need to win their final five games and Atlanta couldn’t pick up more than two points in their final four games, including today while the Red Bulls can’t pick up any points themselves after today. Or KC need to win four of five, drawing the fifth and Atlanta can’t pick up any points in their final four games (and New York can’t pick up any more after today). With that said, KC wants Atlanta to win to keep the second seed overall in play for them to catch the Red Bulls. A win today by KC combined with a New York loss still keeps that a little unlikely as it would close the game from eight to five with KC having four games left and New York having three, but that chance is greater than the above scenarios where KC some how passes both Atlanta and New York for the Shield.