Sporting Kansas City may not play again until Saturday, but Manager Peter Vermes' side can seal a spot in the Audi 2021 MLS Cup Playoffs as soon as Wednesday when 12 midweek matches unfold across Major League Soccer.
First, a quick table setter. Sporting currently occupy second place in the Western Conference, five points behind leaders Seattle Sounders FC with five regular season matches remaining. The top seven teams in each conference will advance to the postseason, with the top seeds in the East and West both receiving first-round byes to the conference semifinals.
That brings us to Wednesday's busy slate of MLS action, which could see Sporting punch its playoff ticket with any one of three outcomes.
Sporting will clinch a playoff berth on Wednesday if...
- Minnesota United FC lose or tie vs. Philadelphia Union (7 p.m. CT kickoff), OR
- LA Galaxy lose at Houston Dynamo FC (7:30 p.m. CT kickoff), OR
- LAFC lose or tie at FC Dallas (7 p.m. CT kickoff), AND Vancouver Whitecaps FC lose at Portland Timbers (9 p.m. CT kickoff)
To clarify, Sporting need only one of these scenarios to happen on Wednesday in order to clinch their playoff spot.
If none of the three come to fruition, Sporting will enter the weekend needing a result on the road against first-place Seattle to secure their playoff fate.
Saturday's colossal clash between the top two teams in the West will kick off at 2:50 p.m. CT, with coverage starting at 2:30 p.m. CT regionally on Bally Sports Kansas City/Midwest and nationally in Spanish on Univision and TUDN. Sporting took a 3-1 win on their last visit to Lumen Field on July 25, receiving strikes from star wingers Johnny Russell and Daniel Salloi and a first professional goal from Cam Duke.