MLS Rivalry Week presented by Heineken lights up the Week 17 schedule, with three derby matches comprising the national television slate between Friday and Sunday. In addition to Saturday night’s clash between Sporting Kansas City and LA Galaxy on FOX Sports Kansas City and FOX Sports Midwest, here are three must-see showdowns as the 2017 campaign reaches the halfway point.
Houston Dynamo vs. FC Dallas | 8 p.m. CT Friday, Facebook Live & UniMas
At second place in the Western Conference, the Houston Dynamo (7-6-3, 24 points) are among the best home teams in the MLS (7-0-1). They will try to outplay their opponent FC Dallas (6-3-6, 24 points), with whom they are tied for second place. The Texas derby will be intensely battled, as Houston and FC Dallas have both won a game and tied two in the last four meetings since 2016. FC Dallas has been good at home (4-1-3) but irregular on the road (2-2-3). The Dynamo, meanwhile, are always a dangerous offensive outfit with their main goal scorer Erick Torres, who has found the net 10 times this season.
New York Red Bulls vs. New York City FC | 12:30 p.m. CT Saturday, FOX, FOX Deportes
Only four points separate the New York Red Bulls (7-7-2, 23 points) from the Blues of New York City FC (8-5-3, 27 points). Red Bulls will host NYCFC in the first regular season edition of the Hudson River Derby on Saturday. The two seeds faced each other last week in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, which led to a 1-0 home win for the men in red.The New York Red Bulls will use the motivation gained from this recent win to take points at home. Plenty of individual quality will be on display as two of the best strikers in Major League Soccer will be facing off. A year ago, NYRB striker Wright-Phillips scored 24 goals to edge out NYCFC forward David Villa by one for the MLS Golden Boot, while Villa took home the Landon Donovan MLS MVP award. Wright-Phillips finished second in the voting.
Portland Timbers vs. Seattle Sounders FC | 9 p.m. CT Sunday, ESPN2, ESPN Deportes
Evenly matched opposition in the Western Conference between third-place Portland Timbers (7-7-3, 24 points) and eighth-place Seattle Sounders FC (5-7-5, 20 points) will play out at Providence park on Sunday night. The Sounders will look to get back on their feet and ameliorate their road record with only one win in nine away games (1-6-2). The Cascadia rivalry will be the perfect opportunity for the Timbers to recover from their two consecutive losses. Portland playmaker Diego Valeri his nine goals will attempt to lead the Timbers to revenge after losing at Seattle 1-0 last month.
