Preview: Sporting KC hosts LA Galaxy on Sunday in marquee matchup on FOX

The national spotlight will shine on Children's Mercy Park this Sunday when Sporting Kansas City (11-12-6, 39 points) hosts the LA Galaxy (11-4-14, 47 points) at 1 p.m. CT on FOX and ESPN Deportes. Playoff implications abound as the longtime MLS rivals square off for the third the third time this season, with fifth-place Sporting Kansas City hovering above the red line and second-place LA chasing a Supporters' Shield title. ESPN 99.3 FM and La Grande 1340 AM will air local radio broadcasts in Kansas City, while additional in-game updates can be found at SportingKC.com/gameon and through the Sporting KC Uphoria mobile app.

A limited number of tickets for Sunday's high-profile clash are still available at Ticketmaster.com as Landon Donovan and the Galaxy look for their first win in Kansas City since 2007. The U.S. soccer legend made a shock return to LA last week, coming out of retirement after a two-year hiatus.

Sporting Kansas City's final home game of September comes nine days after a bitter 3-3 draw against the Houston Dynamo at Children's Mercy Park. The hosts twice took the lead as Jacob Peterson, Roger Espinoza and Dom Dwyer found the back of the net, but Raul Rodriguez's 94th-minute equalizer denied Peter Vermes' men a club-record seventh straight home win. Sporting KC nonetheless remains fifth in the Western Conference table, one point ahead of the sixth-place Portland Timbers. That leaves Vancouver, San Jose, Seattle and Houston currently on the wrong side of the red line with more than a month of regular season action still to play.

The Sporting Kansas City attack continues to be spurred by Peterson, Dwyer and Benny Feilhaber. Last Friday, Peterson became the third player in club history to score in four straight regular season home games, Feilhaber tallied his fourth assist in six games, and Dwyer netted his team-leading 13th goal of the season to move one shy of 50 career goals in the MLS regular season.

Five-time MLS Cup champion LA has rediscovered its scoring form, bagging seven goals over the last 180 minutes. Bruce Arena's side battled Real Salt Lake to a pulsating 3-3 draw on Sept. 7 before cruising past Orlando City SC 4-2 last Sunday at StubHub Center, closing within four points of FC Dallas in the Supporters' Shield race. Forward Giovani dos Santos has been unplayable of late, recording five goals and three assists in his last three league appearances. The Mexican international netted twice against RSL and Orlando en route to landing MLS Player of the Week honors.

The Galaxy made further headlines last week when the club welcomed back Donovan, an iconic figure in American soccer who won six MLS Cups during a 14-year playing career between 2001-2014. The league's all-time leading goal scorer (144) and assist man (136) has amassed 13 goals and 12 assists in 29 regular season appearances against Kansas City.

Two previous meetings between the clubs this season have resulted in draws. Dos Santos and Brad Davis traded first-half goals in a 1-1 tie on May 1 at Children's Mercy Park before Sporting KC held LA to an MLS record-low one shot attempt in a scoreless stalemate on June 2 at StubHub Center. Vermes' side dominated both matches, outshooting the Galaxy 32-5 over the two games while enjoying the lion's share of possession. 

Sporting Kansas City will be further encouraged by its recent form at Children's Mercy Park, where the club has gone 6-0-1 in its previous seven league games. Conversely, LA has been as tough to beat as any side in MLS. The Galaxy have lost fewer matches than any other team and are 6-1-8 over their last 15 MLS fixtures, including a 2-1-4 road mark. 

Thanks to its September scoring spurt, LA leads MLS with 1.69 goals per game — this despite ranking last with just 10.6 shot attempts per game. Outshot in 16 straight league games between April and August, the Galaxy hang their hat on absorbing pressure and hitting opponents on the counter attack through the likes of dos Santos and Robbie Keane, who has eight goals in 2016 after notching at least 16 in each of the last four seasons.

Sunday marks the 58th regular season meeting between the MLS charter members. Sporting Kansas City has just one loss in its last five fixtures against LA (2-1-2) and is 4-0-4 at home since 2008. In addition, Sporting KC is the only team that Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena has a losing regular season record against in his heralded MLS coaching career (8-11-8).

Both teams will be without key contributors on Sunday. Sporting KC winger Graham Zusi is set to miss his third straight match with a calf strain, while Lawrence Olum (abdominal strain), Chance Myers (thigh strain) and Justin Mapp (calf strain) are also sidelined. The Galaxy, meanwhile, could play their fourth straight game without influential midfielder Steven Gerrard. The 36-year-old Englishman is tied for the team lead with 11 assists but is questionable with a hamstring injury. Dynamic U.S. international forward Gyasi Zardes will miss the rest of the regular season after breaking the fifth metatarsal in his right foot on Aug. 27.