Sporting Kansas City will host the Chicago Fire tonight at Sporting Park. Limited tickets are available and can be purchased by calling 888-4KC-GOAL, visiting the Sporting Park Box Office or clicking here. And if you can't make it to the match, you can watch it on KMCI-TV's 38 the Spot starting at 7 p.m. CT with local radio coverage on La Gran D 1340.
Here are five things you should know ahead of tonight's match vs. Chicago.
1. Win and we're in
With three games to go in the regular season, the math is simple. If Sporting KC defeats the Chicago Fire Friday night at Sporting Park, they will clinch their fourth consecutive playoff berth. If Sporting KC draws the Chicago Fire, they can still clinch a playoff berth this weekend, but will have to wait to see the results of three other matches. If the Chicago Fire pull out their first victory at Sporting Park since June 29, 2012, Sporting KC's playoff hopes will linger for another week.
2. October streaking
One of the many things Sporting KC has going in their favor is their recent October form. Sporting KC is 6-0-5 with seven shutouts in their past 11 October matches dating back to 2011. During that time, Sporting KC has outscored opponents 10-4. In each of the past two years, Sporting KC has followed an October 0-0 road draw with a home win. Last weekend, Sporting KC tied D.C. United 0-0 at RFK Stadium. You do the math ...
3. Missing pieces
Both squads will be missing key pieces for tonight's Eastern Conference clash at Sporting Park. Sporting KC will be without defender Seth Sinovic (yellow card accumulation) and midfielder Jorge Claros (Honduras national team). The Chicago Fire will be without defender Gonzalo Segares (yellow card accumulation), midfielder Benji Joya (US U-23 national team) and reigning MLS MVP Mike Magee, who suffered a season-ending injury in August.
Sinovic has missed only two regular season games in 2014, the season-opener at Seattle on March 8 and an August 1 home draw vs. the Philadelphia Union.
4. Nothing to lose
The Chicago Fire are eliminated from playoff contention. With only 33 points through 31 games, the Fire can finish no higher than sixth place in the Eastern Conference if they win their remaining games. That means that Frank Yallop's side comes to Sporting Park with nothing to lose. And what happens when a team in playoff contention plays a team with nothing to lose? Here's a reminder.
And we can't talk about the Chicago Fire without referencing their record-setting number of draws. They have tied 18 of their 31 games played this season. The next highest team is the Vancouver Whitecaps with 13.
5. Matchday essentials
There are plenty of reasons to be at Sporting Park tonight. First and foremost is the chance to see Sporting KC clinch a playoff spot. But here are a few others that might interest you:
1. The Kansas City Royals start their ALCS series tonight vs. the Baltimore Orioles. We'll have TVs in the Members Club showing the Royals game and will provide updates on the scoreboard throughout the night.
2. We'll also have a few special guests at the stadium tonight. FC Kansas City and U.S. Women's National Team players Lauren Holiday and Becky Sauerbrunn will be in attendance tonight and will be honored on the field at halftime. Holiday and Sauerbrunn are in town training ahead of next week's CONCACAF Women's Championship matches at Sporting Park.
3. Sporting Kansas City will be honoring Breast Cancer Awareness Month at Sporting Park tonight. We'll feature pink corner flags, goalkeeper kits, Gatorade towels and an MLS WORKS logo on our match balls. The Victory Project will also honor Carol Delmerico-Pollom, who survived three bouts with breast cancer and whose son, Cody, is a leukemia survivor.
For full coverage of the match, visit SportingKC.com/Gameon.
