For the second straight weekend, Sporting Kansas City is among the clubs competing on national television.
Manager Peter Vermes' men are riding a wave of momentum into Sunday's home tilt with defending Western Conference champion Seattle Sounders FC, unbeaten in five straight games and sitting atop the Supporters' Shield standings. The Faith and Family Day matchup is one of four games available to soccer fans across the country in Week 7 as ESPN, FS1 and Univision combine to provide action from Friday through Sunday.
We offer a rapid-fire rundown of said matches in the space below.
Philadelphia Union vs. Orlando City SC | 7 p.m. CT Friday, ESPN
Orlando City SC (2-2-1, 7 points) staged a furious rally last Sunday, scoring three goals in the final 10 minutes to sink the Portland Timbers 3-2 and secure their second straight win. Dom Dwyer bagged the game-winner, his third tally in two games, and will lead the Lions against a Philadelphia Union side (1-1-2, 5 points) whose aim is to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2011. Like Orlando, the Union feature a former Sporting KC attacker up top in forward C.J. Sapong, who notched a career-high 16 goals last season.
Chicago Fire vs. LA Galaxy | 2:30 p.m. CT Saturday, Twitter & Univision
Chicago (1-2-1, 4 points) wrapped up its first victory of 2018 last weekend, edging Columbus Crew SC in a workmanlike 1-0 result. The likes of Nemanja Nikolic and Bastian Schweinsteiger will now welcome the star-studded LA Galaxy (2-2-1, 7 points) to Toyota Field for a compelling cross-conference matchup, made all the more intriguing by the emergence of recently acquired LA striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Sporting KC contained the Swedish superstar when he came off the bench last Sunday, running out 2-0 winners at StubHub Center, but Ibrahimovic may be inching closer to his first MLS start.
Sporting Kansas City vs. Seattle Sounders FC | 3 p.m. CT Sunday, ESPN
A currently look at the Western Conference table suggests a mismatch. Sporting KC (4-1-1, 13 points) has clicked on all cylinders recently, scoring two goals per game while posting shutouts in two straight outings. Seattle (0-3-0, 0 points) has yet to collect its first point or score its first goal of the 2018 campaign. But anyone familiar with the mysterious ways of Major League Soccer knows that Sunday figures to be a dogfight. The Sounders may not be desperate just yet, but head coach Brian Schmetzer's team will be all-guns-blazing at Children's Mercy Park, a place where they have suffered 3-0 defeats in each of their last two visits.
Atlanta United FC vs. New York City FC | 5 p.m. CT Sunday, FS1
A pair of table-topping Eastern Conference titans will go head-to-head in a mouthwatering battle to close out the weekend. Atlanta United FC (4-1-0, 12 points) has rattled off four straight wins since dropping their season opener, while New York City FC (4-0-1, 13 points) is one of two teams yet to lose in 2018. Mercedes-Benz Stadium has served Atlanta remarkably well, as the Five Stripes have scored an absurd 38 goals in 11 regular season matches at the venue since its opening. If any visitor is up to the task, it just might be NYCFC. The Sky Blues have already prevailed at Children's Mercy Park and Avaya Stadium in recent weeks and appear to be a genuine Supporters' Shield contender.
