Sporting Kansas City is on top of the Western Conference. While other clubs have gone after expensive game-changers, KC has built an efficient and, frankly, scary squad of largely interchangeable pieces. When Yohan Croizet wasn’t pushing the team forward, Johnny Russell and Diego Rubio did. When Khiry Shelton couldn’t find the back of the net, Daniel Salloi and Felipe Gutierrez stepped up.
And this is more than just a regular matchup for Peter Vermes’ men. With a win and some other results going their way, Sporting Kansas City can clinch a playoff berth. Those results are actually quite likely: Atlanta United, FC Dallas, and Minnesota all need to win or draw for KC to lock up a postseason berth, and of those teams only Minnesota won’t be favored to at least take a point (the Loons face Portland Timbers).