The 2018 MLS Cup playoffs continue on Sunday, when three more teams will reach the conference finals and three teams will pack up for the off-season. As a reminder, any game tied on aggregate at the end of regulation goes to the away-goals tiebreaker. If the away goals are tied there will be 30 minutes of extra time. The away goals rule is not active for extra time.

Sporting Kansas City opens the day at home against Real Salt Lake with the score tied 1-1. RSL’s goalscorer in the first game, Albert Rusnak, is suspended for the return leg due to yellow card accumulation, as he has earned two yellows in RSL’s two playoff games so far. Their last meeting at Children’s Mercy Park was a 1-1 draw on September 30th, the only result that would see 30 minutes of extra time.

The second game of the day sees a confident Atlanta United squad coming into the match with a 1-0 lead and a crucial away goal. Atlanta and New York City FC played a contentious first leg that saw a season-high 22 first-half fouls and 39 fouls over 90 minutes. MLS has sent veteran referee Mark Geiger to Atlanta for this match.

The final match of the Conference semifinals will see the Columbus Crew travel to New Jersey with a 1-0 lead over the Supporters Shield-wielding New York Red Bulls. The Crew would like to see a repeat of 2015 in this series. In that year they upset the Supporters’ Shield Champions New York Red Bulls en route to hosting MLS Cup. We won’t talk about what happened in that final game.

Playoff Seeds

Eastern Conference

1. New York Red Bulls
2. Atlanta United FC
3. New York City FC
4. D.C. United
5. Columbus Crew SC
6. Philadelphia Union

Western Conference

1. Sporting Kansas City
2. Seattle Sounders FC
3. Los Angeles FC
4. FC Dallas
5. Portland Timbers
6. Real Salt Lake

How to Watch

Sporting Kansas City v Real Salt Lake

Date/Time: Sunday, November 11th, 12:00 PM PT
Location: Children’s Mercy Park — Kansas City
TV: ESPN
Streaming: WatchESPN

• Sporting KC Injury Report: OUT: D - Jimmy Medranda (knee surgery), M - Cristian Lobato (quad injury)
• Suspended after next caution: F - Diego Rubio
• RSL Injury Report: OUT: D - David Horst (Achilles surgery); QUESTIONABLE: M - Jordan Allen (knee surgery), GK - Alex Horwath (Achilles surgery), D - Marcelo Silva (groin injury); PROBABLE: D - Tony Beltran (right knee surgery)
• Suspended: M - Albert Rusnak
• Suspended after next caution: D - Aaron Herrera, F - Jefferson Savarino, F - Corey Baird, M - Sunny, M - Kyle Beckerman

Atlanta FC v New York City FC

Date/Time: Sunday, November 11th, 2:30 PM PT
Location: Mercedes-Benz Stadium — Atlanta
TV: ESPN
Streaming: WatchESPN

• Atlanta United Injury Report: OUT: D - Sal Zizzo (right knee injury), D - Mikey Ambrose (right knee surgery), F - Brandon Vazquez (foot injury), D - Chris McCann (left quad strain); QUESTIONABLE: Jeff Larentowicz (muscular)
• Suspended: None
• Suspended after next caution: M - Eric Remedi, M - Hector Villalba, F - Josef Martinez
• NYCFC Injury Report: OUT: D - Cedric Hountondji (hamstring avulsion)
• Suspended: None
• Suspended after next caution: D - Maxime Chanot, D - Ben Sweat, M - Maxi Moralez, M - Alex Ring

New York Red Bulls v Columbus Crew

Date/Time: Sunday, November 11th, 4:30 PM PT
Location: Red Bull Arena — Harrison
TV: FS1
Streaming: FoxSportsGo

• New York Red Bulls Injury Report: OUT: M - Florian Valot (torn left ACL), D - Kyle Duncan (torn right ACL), M - Vincent Bezecourt (right MCL surgery), M - Ben Mines (broken left clavicle surgery)
• Suspended: None
• Suspended after next caution: M - Sean Davis
• Columbus Crew Injury Report: OUT: M - Mike Grella (left knee meniscectomy), M - Niko Hansen (right ankle)
• Suspended: None
• Suspended after next caution: M - Federico Higuain, M - Eduardo Sosa, D - Milton Valenzuela

Join the Discussion

This is your MLS Cup playoffs gamethread for Sunday before the International break. Watch with us.