One team will be gunning for first place in the west while the other will be looking to climb back in a playoff position as Sporting Kansas City travel to Banc of California Stadium on Friday night to take on Los Angeles FC.
The Wizards remain two points behind the Seattle Sounders for first in the Western Conference, while LA are three points behind Real Salt Lake for a postseason berth.
Match preview
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The Black-and-Gold continue to lose ground in the playoff race, and if they are not careful, they could soon find themselves missing the postseason for the first time in their history.
Having gone winless now in eight successive fixtures, this is by far the biggest slump Bob Bradley and his team have experienced since they entered the league in 2018.
In 2020, they squeaked into the postseason despite winning only two of their last six matches, and the way things are looking at the moment, leapfrogging the four teams above them in the table could take some doing.
The last two games have been there for the taking, but LA have failed to finish off their opponents, squandering a second-half lead and losing 2-1 to the Vancouver Whitecaps and then giving away two advantages against their rivals the Los Angeles Galaxy last Saturday in a 3-3 tie.
In each of their previous three regular-season campaigns, the Black-and-Gold had not lost more than two games at Banc of California Stadium, but they have already lost twice at home in 2021 and have not won in front of their home fans since July 17.
With 24 points after 21 matches played, they have been one of the most disappointing teams, who have failed to live up to their lofty expectations, just two years after setting the MLS single-season record for points, with 72 in 2019.
Their next two games are on their home field versus teams above them in the table, and they know that to climb back into a playoff spot, the time to make a move is now.
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Last weekend was another opportunity for KC to reclaim the top spot in the conference, but once again, they failed to seize the opportunity.
It took a Rapids goal in the 17th minute from Jonathan Lewis to wake them up on Saturday, but from that moment on, they dominated the Burgundy Boys, firing nine shots on target while only conceding one.
Coming away with only one point after such a strong showing had to have been disappointing for Peter Vermes, who has seen his side post three consecutive draws.
The highest-scoring team out west have created plenty of opportunities over their recent three-game stretch but have not been as clinical as they have been most of the season, scoring only two goals on their last 18 targeted efforts.
With their top goalscorer unavailable this week due to the World Cup 2022 qualifying schedule, Vermes will be calling upon some of his other players to break out of their current scoring funk.
They may be struggling to score, but they are rarely walking away from their games empty-handed, suffering only two defeats in league play since the middle of May, tied with Nashville SC for the fewest over that span.
Sporting ended the month of August unbeaten, only the fifth time that has ever happened in their club history, and they have been dynamite on the road lately, unbeaten in their last six games, which is one shy of tying their franchise record.
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Team News
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Brian Rodriguez put on a virtuoso performance for LAFC last weekend, with a spectacular solo goal, notching a brace in their draw with the Galaxy, but he will not be available for this match after being called up to the Uruguay squad for their World Cup qualifiers, while Diego Palacios is also on international duty with Ecuador.
Defender Julian Gaines has yet to feature for the Black-and-Gold since signing with the club last month as he is suffering from a pelvic stress fracture, while their leading goalscorer, Diego Rossi, has been loaned out to Turkish club Fenerbahce.
Kwadwo Opoku and Erik Duenas are out with left knee injuries, Eddie Segura has a right knee issue, Carlos Vela is nursing a right quad strain, Alvaro Quezada has a chest problem and Mohamed Traore remains questionable with a left knee issue.
KC will be without their leading goalscorer Daniel Salloi who was called up to play for his native Hungary in their qualifying match on Thursday against England, while Gadi Kinda is with the Israeli national team for their qualifier versus the Faroe Islands.
The Wizards are still missing Felipe Hernandez for personal reasons, while Jaylin Lindsey and Nicolas Isimat-Mirin remain out with hamstring injuries.
Goalkeeper Tim Melia has not conceded in his last three road fixtures and is third in MLS with a 0.88 goals-against average, while Johnny Russell moved into a tie for ninth with teammate Graham Zusi in regular-season goals for the club, scoring his 29th last Saturday, while Zusi surpassed Davy Arnaud for second most shots in franchise history, as he has 453 now all-time in the regular season.
Los Angeles FC possible starting lineup:
Romero; Blackmon, Murillo, Fall, Ibeagha; Blessing, Atuesta, Cifuentes; Edwards, Jennings, Arango
Sporting Kansas City possible starting lineup:
Melia; Zusi, llie, Fontas, Martins; Barber, Espinoza, Duke; Russell, Pulido, Shelton
We say: Los Angeles FC 2-2 Sporting Kansas City
Neither side have been spectacular over their past few games, and with each team missing some of their top individual players, it could be hard to see anyone else step up and produce a moment of magic to break a deadlock between the two of them.
Top tip
Joel Lefevre
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Los Angeles FC win with a probability of 52.7%. A draw had a probability of 24.1% and a win for Sporting Kansas City had a probability of 23.24%.
The most likely scoreline for a Los Angeles FC win was 1-0 with a probability of 10.97%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.7%) and 2-0 (9.31%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.43%), while for a Sporting Kansas City win it was 0-1 (6.74%). The actual scoreline of 4-0 was predicted with a 2.2% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Los Angeles FC would win this match.
