A busy Wednesday night
Twenty-eight of 29 teams are in action tonight as we get a little closer to Decision Day. Check out the full schedule here.
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Like we said. Busy night. There’s plenty to keep an eye on. Here are your biggest storylines of the match day.
Houston are currently fifth in the West with 40 points from 28 games played. Vancouver are currently fourth in the West with 41 points from 27 games. The rest of the West is roughly about the same and running out of chances to separate. Basically, whoever loses tonight gets dragged back into the indistinguishable cartoon dust cloud of a fight in the middle of the West and the winner could end up in second place.
It’s not just that there's a chance for upward mobility here, though. This is a matchup of two of the hottest teams in the West and two of the conference’s most dangerous teams entering the playoffs. Since Leagues Cup, Houston have taken 11 points from five games and earned a spot in the US Open Cup final. Vancouver have taken 10 points from five games and are currently undefeated over their last four despite playing all four on the road. They have three more road games to go before they return back home, and it’s fair to say this seven-game road trip has already been a remarkable success.
It honestly goes against the general laws of MLS. Once again, I’d like to remind everyone the only true predictor of MLS results tends to be which team is at home and which team isn’t. The league has the most notable home-field advantage in the world. So, even with Vancouver’s success over the last few weeks on the road, earning a home playoff spot will still be critical to advancing. Considering what the West is right now, and considering the kinds of performances these two teams have been putting together lately, this game tonight could be a deciding factor in which team gets to push toward a (somewhat) surprising run to MLS Cup.
Meanwhile, at the very top of the West, St. Louis are probably feeling lonely. That could change in a hurry tonight. LAFC are six points behind St. Louis but have a game in hand. A win tonight would set off some alarm bells for the Team That Still Doesn’t Have A Nickname As Far As I Can Tell.
The good news for St. Louis is twofold, though. First and foremost, a win or even a draw probably wraps this up. They’d be up at least five points, maybe nine, with four games left to play. Second, LAFC aren’t exactly the terrifying force of nature coming up quickly in the side view mirror that we thought they might be following Leagues Cup. There are genuine concerns, starting with what’s turned into a lackluster midfield and then continuing with goalkeeping concerns and goalscoring concerns with anyone not named Denis Bouanga.
LAFC put up four on the Galaxy over the weekend in an El Trafico win at least. They may have got themselves back on track after a three-game losing streak, but it’s hard to tell if that performance was LAFC being LAFC or the Galaxy being the Galaxy. We’re certainly about to find out. Even if they do make it past St. Louis tonight, they close the year with Philadelphia, RSL, Minnesota, Austin and Vancouver. That’s not a gauntlet, but it’s not a pre-playoff cakewalk either.
All considered, this is the biggest game at CITYPARK since the first one. An expansion team is on the verge of clinching the top spot in their conference, and they can all but seal it tonight against the reigning champs. It should be the most remarkable scene of the night. And, unlike the last time they faced LAFC in a 3-0 loss, St. Louis will have something close to a full-strength lineup ready to go.
It’s not totally clear if Lionel Messi will see the field tonight against Toronto FC. Tata Martino gave a vague statement about Messi’s availability that fell under the typical coach-speak umbrella, and that’s all we’ve really gotten. The thing is, though, Inter Miami shouldn’t even need him.
This isn’t the red-hot Atlanta team they faced on Saturday. This is a home game against the weakest team in the East. If Messi does play, it seems like the best course of action would be to bring him off the bench as needed. Yes, the margin of error is very, very thin for the Herons, but if they don’t have the juice to get past Toronto sans Messi, there might be more flaws to fix than we realized.
There’s extra incentive to not call in Superman to save the city here too. They have a road game against Orlando City on Sunday and a US Open Cup final next Wednesday. They’ll have three critical games in the 10 days after that. They’re about to be busy. And this needs to be a game where they don’t have to push the pedal to the floor and grind down the tires. If not, every game from here on out could be life and death. That’s a bad place to be in MLS.
- Matt Doyle shared what he’s watching for in MLS Matchday 33
- Coco Carrasquilla is achieving lift-off for the Houston Dynamo and Panama.
- Take a look at Diego Valeri’s new show "Cambio de Frente."
- Tata Martino shared updates on Lionel Messi’s status for tonight.
- Check out the Lionel Messi Jersey Swap Tracker.
- Power Rankings.
Kick childhood cancer.
