Starting XI: Rule the Galaxy

Starting XI, presented by StorageMart, is a biweekly series on SportingKC.com that highlights 11 of the biggest storylines and news updates from Sporting Kansas City, MLS and soccer around the globe. Click here to visit the Starting XI archive.

Sporting KC's playoff push will hit a fever pitch on Saturday when the club welcomes Zlatan Ibrahimovic and the LA Galaxy to Children's Mercy Park for a crucial Western Conference clash at 7:30 p.m. CT. The highly anticipated and fully sold-out showdown will air on FOX Sports Kansas City, FOX Sports Midwest Plus and FOX Sports GO, with live coverage beginning at 7 p.m. CT. Sports Radio 810 WHB and ESPN Deportes KC 1480 AM will carry the game over the radio.

Postseason implications abound as Sporting KC looks to secure a club-record eighth straight playoff berth with a win or a draw against the Galaxy, who sit just two points below the playoff line after posting consecutive 3-0 victories. Ibrahimovic headlines a star-studded LA roster, but the Galaxy are entering a building where they have never won. LA is 0-4-3 at Children's Mercy Park and 0-5-5 over their last 10 trips to Kansas City since 2008.

2. All Tickets Sold

Saturday’s highly anticipated MLS match between Sporting KC and LA Galaxy at Children’s Mercy Park is sold out. No more tickets—including general admission and standing-room only tickets—remain available for the 7:30 p.m. CT kickoff featuring two Western Conference playoff contenders.

With an over-capacity crowd expected for the game, ticket holders are encouraged to arrive early to Children’s Mercy Park on Saturday. The first 7,500 fans through the stadium gates will receive a free license plate cover courtesy of match sponsor US Bank.

3. Playoff Math

Sporting KC can clinch a club-record eighth straight playoff berth Saturday if...

1. Sporting KC beats or ties LA Galaxy (7:30pm), OR
2. Toronto FC beats or ties Vancouver (4pm), AND
   Real Salt Lake ties Portland (8:30pm)

Heading into Week 32, Sporting KC's best-case scenario is to clinch a top-four spot. This outcome would ensure that Children's Mercy Park hosts its first playoff match since the 2013 MLS Cup. In order for this to happen as early as Saturday, Vermes' side must win and have Portland and RSL tie in a game that kicks off at 8:30 p.m. CT.

Sporting KC can clinch a top-four finish Saturday if...

1. Sporting KC beats LA Galaxy (7:30pm), AND
2. Real Salt Lake ties Portland (8:30pm)

4. Freeman is Official

Sporting KC announced Tuesday that the club has signed 15-year-old forward Tyler Freeman as a Homegrown Player. Freeman, who has inked an MLS contract through 2022 with an option for 2023, will be added to the Sporting KC roster ahead of the 2019 season. A native of Shawnee, Kansas, Freeman becomes the second-youngest signing in club history and the ninth-youngest MLS player ever at 15 years and 266 days.

5. Pitch Your Vote

Voting is now open for Sporting KC’s 2018 team awards — to be announced at Pitch Black, presented by Audi — on Friday, Oct. 12 at Children’s Mercy Park. Media and fans can cast their online ballots through Tuesday, Oct. 9, with the following awards up for grabs:

• Most Valuable Player, presented by Audi
• Offensive Player of the Year, presented by Ivy investments
• Defensive Player of the Year, presented by Firedoor Solutions
• Newcomer of the Year, presented by Rosnet
• Goal of the Year, presented by Heartland Coca-Cola

6. Euro Trip

Sporting KC forwards Krisztian Nemeth and Johnny Russell will join their respective national teams next week for the resumption of the 2018-19 UEFA Nations League in Europe.

Nemeth and Hungary will play two away matches in Group 2 of UEFA Nations League C, battling Greece on Friday, Oct. 12, at Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus before facing Estonia on Monday, Oct. 15, at A. Le Coq Arena in Tallinn. Russell and Scotland will resume their Group 1 campaign in UEFA Nations League C on Thursday, Oct. 11, visiting Israel at Sammy Ofer Stadium in Haifa with kickoff set for 1:45 p.m. CT. Scotland will then return home to meet world No. 7-ranked Portugal in an international friendly at 11 a.m. CT Sunday at Hampden Park in Glasgow.

7. Diaper Dandy

Sporting KC defender Jaylin Lindsey was named to MLSsoccer.com’s 22 Under 22 rankings on Wednesday, coming in at No. 20 in a series highlighting Major League Soccer’s best young players.

Lindsey, 18, has enjoyed a breakthrough 2018 season with Sporting KC and USL affiliate Swope Park Rangers. The outside back has started nine of 10 appearances for Sporting KC in all competitions, becoming the youngest player in Kansas City history to play at least 10 matches for the club. He tallied his first MLS assist on July 14 versus Supporters’ Shield contenders New York Red Bulls and started in both of Sporting KC’s U.S. Open Cup victories this summer against Real Salt Lake and FC Dallas, respectively.

8. SPR Slip

The Swope Park Rangers (14-11-8, 50 points) took a 3-1 loss to Sacramento Republic FC (17-7-8, 59 points) on Wednesday night at Papa Murphy’s Park in Sacramento, equalizing through Tyler Blackwood in the 31st minute before conceding twice in the second half.

The result leaves SPR's playoff status up in the air as the USL regular season draws to a close. The Rangers will host LA Galaxy II in their regular season finale on Sunday, Oct 14, at Children's Mercy Park in a 2 p.m. CT kickoff. SPR currently occupies seventh place in the Western Conference, with the top eight teams punching their ticket to the USL postseason beginning Oct. 19-21.

9. Dream Come True

Kalen Ricketson, an 18-year-old from Stillwater, Oklahoma, who has been battling a form of bone cancer called osteosarcoma since his diagnosis in December 2015, was a special guest with Sporting KC last weekend. Now the club has posted an inside look at Ricketson's visit, which coincided with Sporting's annual Childhood Cancer Awareness Match as part of MLS WORKS’ league-wide Kick Childhood Cancer campaign.

Ricketson signed a short-term contract with the club last Wednesday, joined the squad for their training session on Saturday, and donned a No. 24 jersey and walked out of the tunnel with his new teammates ahead of their Sunday tilt against Real Salt Lake.

10. Postseason Scenarios

Atlanta United, the New York Red Bulls, New York City FC and FC Dallas have already clinched their berths to the Audi 2018 MLS Cup Playoffs. MLSsoccer.com tells us how six more teams, including Sporting KC, can clinch their spots this weekend.

11. Class in Session

The Sporting KC Academy U-15s and U-17s will venture to BMO Training Ground in Toronto this weekend for 2018-19 Generation adidas Cup regional qualifying. The U-17s will kick off Group B play on Friday, facing perennial powerhouse FC Dallas at 1:30 p.m. CT, before rounding out the group stage against Columbus Crew SC at 1:30 p.m. CT Saturday and the Montreal Impact at 1 p.m. CT next Monday. The U-15s have also been placed in Group B at their age level, battling Toronto FC at 8:30 a.m. CT Friday, the Houston Dynamo at 8:30 a.m. CT Saturday and Columbus Crew SC next Monday at 11 a.m. CT.

Games to Watch (Oct. 2-3, 2018)