Major League Soccer Preview, Picks, October 7-10: Will You Still Love Me On Monday?

There’s an outside chance the playoff race could end this week. If the Rapids can manage a point at Dallas, the Earthquakes win in DC and Kansas City fails to get a point from the Sounders, all that will be left for the season’s final two weeks will be positioning.

Considering this was shaping up to be an honest-to-goodness multi-team playoff chase just a few weeks ago, it does feel like a letdown.

That doesn’t mean this week is without intrigue, though.

Without a doubt, the marquee matchup is Salt Lake at New York, a possible MLS Cup preview. There’s also a potentially consequential match between Dallas and Colorado. If the Hoops can come away with three points, it not only gives their Supporters’ Shield quest a boost, but it also makes the Rapids’ final two weeks potentially nerve-racking.

The Rapids are currently seven points clear of the Wizards, but have also played one more match. A Kansas City win, coupled with a Colorado loss would shrink that gap to four points. Considering the Rapids still have to play at Los Angeles and close out the season by hosting rival Salt Lake, while the Wizards have winnable three winnable games, this season may have some intrigue yet.

It’s hard not to feel a little bit of pity for the Crew. At the midpoint of the season, they were cruising along at 34 points through 17 matches. Since then, they’ve claimed 12 points in 10 matches, including just two in their past four. It has been more than a month since they won a MLS match and it seems as if they are constantly playing on short rest. In MLS matches following CONCACAF Champions League games, the Crew are about a goal worse per game than in their other matches. This is another short week for them, having played at Seattle on Tuesday. Prediction: Chicago 1, Columbus 0.

It has been 18 matches since FC Dallas last failed to earn at least a point. While it’s tempting to say that they’ve gotten by with a lot of ties, the fact of the matter is they have won 10 matches in that span, including two straight by a collective score of 6-1. With three tough matches to finish out their season, it’s hard to imagine this streak will carry into the postseason. Playing their final home match, against a team that hasn’t won a road match since May 15, it’s hard to see that streak ending this week. Prediction: FCD 3, Rapids 2.

Coming off a pretty nice victory at Colorada, United have to be feeling pretty good about themselves. The Quakes continue to do just enough to remain comfortably ahead of the competition for the final playoff spot. A win, coupled with a Kanas City loss would clinch a playoff berth for the Quakes, but this just seems to have draw written all over it. Prediction: United 1, Quakes 1.

A couple weeks ago the Wizards seemed like an unstoppable force just destined to streak into the playoffs. Two straight losses later and their playoff hopes are on life support. They need a result in the worst way and probably need all three points to retain any realistic hope of playing beyond the regular season. The Sounders can clinch a playoff spot by just getting a point, and would probably be perfectly content with that. Prediction: Wizards 1, Sounders 1.

Although TFC has not officially been eliminated, there’s a decent chance they will have been by the time this one kicks off (a San Jose tie would do the trick), so this could be the classic “dead-teams walking” contest. When it’s Week 27 and teams are only playing for pride, it’s hard to know what to expect. The Goats have kind of fallen apart recently, while TFC is not yet used to playing meaningless games this year and might be looking to take out some frustrations. Prediction: Toronto 3, Chivas 1.