A rivalry match, a big Western Conference showdown and some dramatic second-leg cup action in Canada should make for an eventful Wednesday night:
D.C. host Red Bulls with ground to cover
D.C. United (14pts) host their long-time Atlantic Cup rivals with plenty of ground to make up in their quest to make the playoffs in the East (8pm ET | TV & streaming info). The match kicks off a stretch of five of United's next six at brand-new Audi Field.
The Red Bulls (38pts), who are very much in the chase for the Supporters’ Shield (six points back), will be looking to spoil those plans after already ruining D.C.’s final match at RFK Stadium with a 2-1 victory in 2017. And outside of Red Bull Arena, there’s probably not another place that RBNY star striker Bradley Wright-Phillips would rather score his 100th MLS career goal.
Union visit house of horrors in Houston
The last six times Philadelphia have traveled to Houston, there’s been only one outcome: a Dynamo victory. And the Dynamo are once again favorites on Wednesday night (9pm ET | TV & streaming info).
The Union are not exactly riding high of late: Losers of three of their last four, Philadelphia will need to find a way to contain Houston’s dynamic attacking quartet just a few days after the Union’s young defense was picked apart by LA’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic in a home loss.
Can Seattle keep rolling vs. SJ?
For the third consecutive year, Seattle are working on yet another second-half turnaround. Unbeaten in their last four, on Wednesday they’ll be facing last-place San Jose, who will look to put the Mikael Stahre-Fatai Alashe incident behind them from their last outing 11 days ago (10:30pm ET | TV & streaming info).
MLS Cup champs look to make another final
Things just might be looking up for defending MLS champions Toronto FC, who are poised to make the Canadian Championship final as they carry a one-goal lead on aggregate into the second leg at home against USL side Ottawa Fury (7:30pm ET | CanadaSoccer.com, Yahoo! Sports Canada). It would represent TFC’s second final this year after their CONCACAF Champions League heartbreaker against Chivas Guadalajara.
Despite a 5W-11L-4D record in league play, optimism is slowly returning to BMO Field after Toronto's recent league win in Chicago, where Jozy Altidore and some key defenders returned from injury, while Sebastian Giovinco looked like the version of himself that MLS defenders have feared for three seasons.
It remains to be seen what kind of squad head coach Greg Vanney decides to field on Wednesday with a big home match against Chicago coming up on Saturday.
Vancouver, Montreal set up for tight Leg 2
In the other Canadian Championship semifinal, Vancouver and Montreal are primed for a nail-biter in their second leg after the Impact won by a slim 1-0 result in Montreal (10pm ET | CanadaSoccer.com, Yahoo! Sports Canada).
Vancouver’s MLS form has slipped of late and they are in need of a jumpstart, having lost four of their last five matches. The Impact are headed in the opposite direction recently, winners of five of their last seven matches in league play.
