Preview: First-place Whitecaps visit Sporting KC in pivotal Saturday showdown

The riveting race for top spot in the Western Conference heats up Saturday night when third-place Sporting Kansas City (12-6-11, 47 points) hosts leaders Vancouver Whitecaps FC (14-10-6, 48 points) at Children’s Mercy Park.

Kickoff is slated for 8 p.m. CT, with FOX Sports Kansas City Plus, FOX Sports Midwest Plus and FOX Sports GO airing three hours of live coverage beginning at 7:30 p.m. CT. The match will also be joined in progress of FOX Sports Kansas City upon conclusion of Royals baseball. Listeners can follow the action live on Sports Radio 810 WHB (English) and La Grande 1340 AM (Spanish), while the Sporting KC Uphoria mobile app will provide live updates.

Tickets for Saturday’s highly anticipated showdown are available at SeatGeek.com as Sporting Kansas City looks to extend a club-record 24 game home unbeaten run in the MLS regular season dating back to June 2016, the third-longest such streak in MLS history.

Winners of three straight home games in all competitions — including a victory in the 2017 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final on Sept. 20 — Sporting KC sits one point behind Vancouver in a logjam at the top of the Western Conference. Manager Peter Vermes’ men currently hold a share of second place alongside the Portland Timbers and Seattle Sounders FC, having played two fewer games than both Pacific Northwest rivals.

Closing in on a club-record seventh straight appearance in the MLS Cup Playoffs, Sporting KC could clinch a postseason berth as early as Saturday night. The following three scenarios would see the team punch its playoff ticket with four regular season games to spare:

1. Sporting KC beats Vancouver AND Real Salt Lake loses or ties at LA Galaxy, or
2. Sporting KC beats Vancouver AND Houston Dynamo loses vs. Minnesota United FC, or
3. Sporting KC ties Vancouver, AND Real Salt Lake loses at LA Galaxy, AND San Jose Earthquakes lose or tie vs. Portland Timbers

Vancouver, meanwhile, would seal a return to the playoffs with a victory in Sporting KC’s vaunted home fortress. Head coach Carl Robinson’s side could even tie or lose and still celebrate playoff qualification by the end of the evening if other results fall in their favor.

Sporting KC is riding a wave of momentum into the weekend thanks to three consecutive victories on home soil. Last Wednesday’s euphoric Open Cup triumph was followed by a comprehensive 2-1 win over the LA Galaxy on Sunday as forwards Daniel Salloi and Diego Rubio bagged first-half goals. The club has gone 22 straight home games without defeat in all competitions, a team record that began Sept. 18, 2016.

Whitecaps FC entered Week 30 as the hottest team in MLS, rattling off five wins and two draws over the course of a month to reach the Western Conference summit. A humbling 3-0 defeat at Seattle on Wednesday, however, curbed their impressive run of form and represented a missed opportunity to create a gap between themselves and the chasing pack.

Vancouver’s late-season renaissance has seen midfielder Jordy Reyna and forward Fredy Montero play leading roles. Reyna, a 24-year-old Peru international, missed the first half of 2017 through injury but has gained steam during the stretch run, tallying three goals and three assists in Vancouver’s last five games. Similarly, Montero has seven goals and five assists in the team’s last 11 league fixtures, an impressive spell that mirrors his prolific four-year stint with Seattle from 2009-2012.

Reyna and Montero will be put to the test on Saturday, as Sporting Kansas City boasts the best defense in MLS behind the standout play of goalkeeper Tim Melia and a patented back four of Graham Zusi, Ike Opara, Matt Besler and Seth Sinovic. The team’s 0.79 goals against average is on pace to tie a league record for the lowest in a 34-game regular season, and their 23 goals allowed are 10 fewer than any other club.

Sporting KC is 6-2-3 all-time against Vancouver, going 4-0-1 at Children's Mercy Park. The Whitecaps have lost three straight in Kansas City, including a pair of defeats last year. The sides most recently met on May 20 when Vancouver secured a 2-0 home win behind goals from midfielder Cristian Techera and defender Tim Parker, giving the club its first win in the series since 2014.

Besler, who took an elbow to the face in the late stages of Sunday’s win over LA, is listed as questionable for Saturday alongside midfielder Soni Mustivar (thigh strain). The duo join Sporting KC’s injury report alongside Cameron Porter, who sustained a season-ending ankle injury in early August. Vancouver is without two long-term absentees, as Matias Laba and David Edgar will miss the remainder of 2017 with knee injuries.