Five of the six games today will have some sort of impact on Sporting KC and their playoff aspirations, or who they could potentially face. Here's a look at today's MLS match ups and what we want to happen.
DC at Toronto
What we want to happen - Toronto Win
A loss by United guarantees that DC cannot finish ahead of KC. KC can take care of that themselves if TFC can't get the job done at home, but some help is never a bad thing. Of course Toronto's in the middle of one of the worst non-expansion MLS seasons ever, so I'm not sure you want to put too much faith in this result.
Chicago at New York
What we want to happen - draw
With Chicago's midweek loss to Philadelphia, KC can clinch the Eastern Conference on Sunday if Chicago and New York play to a draw at Red Bull Arena today. The result certainly isn't out of the realm of possibility, but Chicago's last two games (losses to KC and Philadelphia) they've looked less than inspired especially defensively.
New England at Philadelphia
What we want to happen - does not matter
Both teams are eliminated from the playoff race, so in the grand scheme of things this game means little. You could make an argument that you don't want Philadelphia gaining too much confidence before coming in to KC to close the season, but it's a stretch.
Montreal at Houston
What we want to happen - Montreal win
I think if there's one team that KC fans want to avoid in the playoffs is Houston, the Dynamo seem to always have KC's number with the way that Dominic Kinnear prepares his team. So having the Dynamo out of the playoffs would be a plus for KC.
Salt Lake at LA
What we want to happen - draw
A draw here and a win on Sunday by KC means that neither one of these two teams can catch KC. That would leave only San Jose and Seattle as the two teams that could finish ahead of KC on points and host MLS Cup ahead of Sporting if both teams were to make it. A win by LA combined with a KC win Sunday would also do this for KC.
San Jose at Colorado
What we want to happen - Colorado win
San Jose is still 3 points clear of Sporting in the race for the Supporters' Shield, but with goals for being the first tie breaker, it might as well be another point. Sporting needs the Earthquakes to drop at 4 more points than KC does down the stretch for KC to win the SS. That could start tonight on the road where the Quakes will play in cold, snowy, Colorado.
Saturday, October 06, 2012
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Though hosting the cup final would be great, the real mission is to have enough left in the tank to win it all.
KC has obviously had a great season and they've been the class of the east the last two seasons. A real finger to MLS and the Red Bulls in my opinion. But winning the east means little if they don't back it up and finish off the playoffs by winning it all. Few people remember the conference champs, and rightly so, but everyone remembers the MLS Cup champion.
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