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As the Eastern Conference playoffs kick off this evening, attention will turn over to the Western Conference over the weekend.
The west was certainly the tighter of the two conferences in the regular season, with a handful of teams all vying for home-field advantage in the postseason. Let’s dig into how the opening round might shape up.
LAFC vs Vancouver Whitecaps
Vancouver made quite the statement Wednesday evening when they stormed into Providence Park and put five past Cascadia rivals Portland. But they will face a much sterner test in LAFC in the opening round of the playoffs.
The SoCal club suffered a minor blip in September when they failed to win in five straight games, but they turned that around to close out the season with six consecutive victories to steal top spot in the west on the final day of the season.
It’s a true battle of talismanic attacking forces, as Vancouver’s Ryan Gauld and Brian White will have to somehow try and out-gun Denis Bouanga, Olivier Giroud, and Mateusz Bogusz.
OneFootball Prediction: LAFC win in two games
LA Galaxy vs Colorado Rapids
The Galaxy suffered the ultimate heartbreak on Decision Day when first place in the Western Conference was ripped away from them by a 101st minute Houston Dynamo goal. Greg Vanney’s side will have to make a choice from here — use that as motivation to make a deep run in the postseason, or let a potential emotional hangover curtail them.
With the likes of Riqui Puig, Gabriel Pec, and Marco Reus running the show for the Galaxy, they certainly have the star-power to go deep, but they will need to be able to grind out results at some point.
Meanwhile, the Rapids were a pleasantly solid team throughout the regular season, thanks in large part to the phenomenal work from Chris Armas to rebuild a bleeding squad. If their Leagues Cup showing was any indication of how they can scrape results in knockout competitions, the Galaxy will need to be at their best.
OneFootball Prediction: LA Galaxy win in three games
Real Salt Lake vs Minnesota United
The Loons might just consider themselves a Cinderella story this season. Under rookie head coach Eric Ramsay, Minnesota showed signs of being a truly formidable side in stretches, going unbeaten through most of April and May, and they ended the regular season five-game unbeaten run.
Real Salt Lake, on the other hand, were one of the best teams in MLS until hitting a blip in the summer. The form of superstar Chicho Arango was the driving force for RSL, and despite finishing the season in a dry spell, the former LAFC man ended the campaign with 17 goals and 12 assists.
The Western Conference is very tight in the middle of the pack, and this series should prove to be one of the tightest, though two potential games in Utah may just be too much for a Minnesota side still developing.
OneFootball Prediction: Real Salt Lake win in three games
Seattle Sounders vs Houston Dynamo
It’s a classic MLS fixture and should be the most closely-run of all the Western Conference series.
Seattle finished the regular season in fine form, going unbeaten in their final seven games thanks to the uptick form from Jordan Morris, Paul Rothrock and a stout defense. The Sounders are always one of the toughest outs in the MLS Cup Playoffs, no matter what happened in the regular season.
Houston however, are another side that finished strong, winning just over half of their remaining 16 games to race into the playoff picture after a frankly dismal start to the season. The summer signing of Ezequiel Ponce, who finished with five goals in just 10 games, was perhaps the catalyst to the turn around.
There are very few lower seeds with a great chance of advancing in the opening round this season, but Houston might have the best chance of them all.
OneFootball Prediction: Houston win in three games