The Pitch: Storylines to Watch in Audi MLS Cup Playoffs Best-of-3 Series, Game 3

MLS Communications

The Audi MLS Cup Playoffs have traditionally favored the home team, with clubs winning 65-percent of matches played at home (not including neutral sites) during the postseason, all-time.

Apart from top-seeded St. Louis CITY SC falling to No. 8 seed Sporting Kansas City in last year’s Audi MLS Cup Playoffs, higher seeds won 87.5 percent of Round One Best-of-3 Series games and 20 out of 28 matches (71 percent) total in the 2023 postseason. This season has seen much of the same with the clubs taking care of business in front of their faithful fans.

LAFC is known for their intimidating form at home, making BMO Stadium a tough venue for visiting teams while boasting an 11-2-4 home record during the 2024 regular season. Vancouver Whitecaps FC hopes to be a spoiler, as they have won more on the road this season than back at BC Place. No stranger to must-win games in front of their faithful supporters, LAFC has not lost a postseason game at home since the 2019 Western Conference Final (7-0-0 over that span).

Inter Miami CF was electric in their first postseason win at home during Game 1 in the Round One Best-of-3 Series. Chase Stadium has been a fortress this season, as Miami produced an 11-2-4 record in a challenging environment for visitors. Atlanta United is familiar with playing in front of a raucous crowd at Mercedez-Benz Stadium and hopes to use the momentum from their Wild Card match and Game 2 Best-of-3 Series win to propel them past the Herons.

FC Cincinnati returns to the comforts of TQL Stadium with a fan base that aids them in controlling the game. The Blue and Orange won seven games in front of the home crowd this season and are poised to test a New York City FC side that won four games on the road during the regular season.

Orlando City SC and Charlotte FC return to action in a decisive Game 3. Orlando City is 3-1-1 in its last five games at home and has never lost a postseason match at Inter&Co Stadium (3-0-0).

Game 3 Matchups Could Usher Historic Upsets

The drama continues to follow Audi 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs Wild Card winners Atlanta United and Vancouver Whitecaps FC as both sides forced Game 3 against Inter Miami CF and LAFC, respectively, in the Round One Best-of-3 Series.

For Atlanta, this series is about maintaining dominance over soccer down south and potentially ushering the biggest upset in MLS postseason history. Atlanta and Miami were separated by 34 points in the regular season standings, and the largest regular season point deficit between a lower seed that eliminated the higher seed is 22, which happened when New York City FC defeated the Supporters’ Shield winning New England Revolution in 2021. The Five Stripes have defied the odds by pushing this series to a pivotal Game 3, and it will take more moments of magic from Saba Lobjanidze and Brad Guzan to end Lionel Messi and Miami’s season.

Inter Miami CF vs. Atlanta United - Saturday, Nov. 9 (8 p.m. ET, MLS Season Pass on Apple TV)

In the West, after dismantling the Portland Timbers 5-0 in the Wild Card match, the Whitecaps ran rampant at BC Place to earn their first-ever postseason win against LAFC, 3-0, in Game 2. Scottish international Ryan Gauld leads the league in postseason goals with five in three games as the Whitecaps try to avoid a second consecutive postseason elimination at the hands of LAFC. As Gauld has cemented himself as a Whitecaps legend-to-be throughout his four seasons with the club, he is now showing his leadership in the postseason with big goals in high-pressure postseason atmospheres.

LAFC vs. Vancouver Whitecaps FC – Friday, Nov. 8 (10:30 p.m. ET, MLS Season Pass on Apple TV)

Many of the league’s biggest stars will be called upon to help keep their club’s Audi 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs hopes alive as eight teams face a do-or-die Game 3 in the Round One Best-of-3 Series. Two Landon Donovan MLS MVP finalists – the Inter Miami CF duo of Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez – and last season’s MLS Golden Boot presented by Audi winner, Denis Bouanga (LAFC), are looking to stave off elimination, as Atlanta United (East No. 9) and Vancouver Whitecaps FC (West No. 8) look to make postseason history after holding serve in their respective home matches.

Back-to-back scoreless outings have been a rarity for Messi and Suárez in 2024 as one of the two have scored in 14 of the 20 (70 percent) regular season and postseason matches they have appeared in together this season. Messi, who has yet to score in this series, and Suárez, who scored the first goal in Miami’s Game 1 victory, have set a high standard for themselves heading into this pivotal Game 3, and the Miami faithful will expect another moment of magic from them.

Bouanga, who is joined by World Cup-winning teammates Hugo Lloris and Olivier Giroud, has scored eight goals in 10 career postseason matches for LAFC, but was held scoreless in a 3-0 loss to Vancouver in Game 2. LAFC is aiming to advance to their third consecutive MLS Cup presented by Audi and the French tandem of MLS Goalkeeper of the Year finalist Lloris and all-time French national team leading scorer Giroud will be expected to tap into their big-game experience to help clinch the series on Friday night (10:30 p.m. ET, MLS Season Pass on Apple TV).

Those standouts, as well as reigning Landon Donovan MLS MVP Luciano Acosta of FC Cincinnati, the postseason’s leading scorer Ryan Gauld of Vancouver Whitecaps FC, and rising stars Facundo Torres (Orlando City SC), MLS Goalkeeper of the Year finalist Kristijan Kahlina (Charlotte FC), Alonso Martínez (New York City FC), and Alexey Miranchuk (Atlanta United), will all look to keep their season alive during the win-or-go-home weekend ahead.

IT ALL COMES DOWN TO THIs MLS NEXT PRO CUP NOVEMBER 9

The 2024 MLS NEXT Pro season all comes down to Saturday night: Western Conference Champion North Texas SC will welcome Eastern Conference Champion Philadelphia Union II to Toyota Stadium for MLS NEXT Pro Cup (8:30 p.m. ET, MLS Season Pass on Apple TV). Both clubs will compete in MLS NEXT Pro Cup for the first time in their three-year histories after each shut out their opponents in the Conference Finals on Saturday, November 2.

In the West, No. 1 seed North Texas SC made its Conference Final debut Saturday, dueling with No. 2 seed St Louis CITY2, who returned to the Western Conference Finals after previously appearing in 2022. After an intense scoreless 90 minutes of regulation, North Texas’ offense came alive in extra time, eventually beating CITY2, 3-0.

In the East, Union II cruised past two-time defending Eastern Conference Champions, Columbus Crew 2 (No. 7 seed), 4-0, in Philadelphia’s first appearance in the Eastern Conference Final. Fifteen-year-old Cavan Sullivan notched his first professional playoff goal in the victory, becoming the youngest player to ever score in the MLS NEXT Pro Playoffs.

SULLIVAN GOAL ASSETS: **BROADCAST VIEW** | | | **PHOTOS** | **PRE-MATCH SOUNDBITE**

The 2024 edition of MLS NEXT Pro Cup will be the first without Columbus, who appeared in the previous two finals. Crew 2 defeated St Louis CITY2 in 2022 to capture the inaugural MLS NEXT Pro Cup and finished as a runner-up to champion Austin FC II in 2023.

The 2024 MLS NEXT Pro Cup will air live on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV and will feature an enhanced broadcast. Josh Eastern will provide play-by-play and will be joined by analyst Ricky Lopez-Espin in the booth. Jalil Anibaba and Michelle Montaine will provide coverage on the sidelines.

To assist in your coverage of the 2024 MLS season, the MLS Communications staff has provided the following media resources, all of which are available on MLSsoccer.com/Media-Resources.