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Three Big Storylines:
- Friday Night MLS on Univision has had what can conservatively be termed a challenging slate of games. That turns around this week with a great matchup between traditional California rivals the LA Galaxy and San Jose Earthquakes in the California Clasico. Additionally Steven Gerrard is expected to make his MLS debut. With Chris Wondolowski, Cordell Cato, Alan Gordon, Omar Gonzalez and Gyasi Zardes away on Gold Cup duty, Lampard's addition will bring some much needed star power back to the lineup.
- Frank Lampard is almost back from injury for NYCFC but will miss one more game in this weekend's match against a struggling New England Revolution. Andrea Pirlo is not expected to make his debut until next weekend against Orlando City. So assuming Lampard and Pirlo are still fit by next weekend they will likely make their MLS debut together, after signing almost a year apart.
- Cascadia Cup action returns to the MLS calendar when the Portland Timbers host the Vancouver Whitecaps (Root Sports in the Northwest, 7:30 PM Saturday). With the Timbers splashing the cash for a new Argentine DP signing in Lucas Melano the hopes are high in Portland for a late season push. However the Cascadia Cup might be beyond the Timbers at this point with only four points from four played, they will be eliminated from contention with a loss. Vancouver survived their World Cup imposed road trip with a three game winning streak in the midst of a five game road trip, but have lost two in a row including last weekend at home to Sporting KC.
| Cascadia Cup Standings | Games Played | Points |
| Seattle Sounders | 3 | 6 |
| Vancouver Whitecaps | 3 | 4 |
| Portland Timbers | 4 | 4 |
From a Sounders Point of View:
This part of the column is starting to become redundant. The Western Conference is historically close at this point in the season with the leaders, Seattle Sounders, on 32 points and sixth place just above the red line Sporting Kansas City on 30 points. But Sporting KC lead all of MLS at 1.76 points per game. Most importantly, the Sounders just need to keep accruing points. Three this weekend would be ideal.
As painful as it sounds, we are cheering for the Earthquakes to beat the Galaxy, but a draw would be fine. If the Montreal Impact could steal a point at Sporting KC, that would be great. The only cross conference matchup is Supporter's Shield leaders DC United (35 points from 21 played) visiting FC Dallas. Both teams dropping points would be good, so a draw would be fine.
National TV Listings:
LA Galaxy v San Jose Earthquakes
Friday, 8:00 PM
TV: UniMas*
Streaming: Univision Deportes
*SAP Button will have English commentary
Columbus Crew v Chicago Fire
Sunday, 2 PM
TV: ESPN2
Streaming: Watch ESPN
Adrien Healey and Taylor Twellman on the call.
This is your Sounder at Heart MLS Week 20 Gamethread. Watch with us.