Previewing the best matchups in MLS Matchday 6

The March men's international window is wrapping up today, meaning it's almost time to turn our attention back to the 2026 MLS regular season, with the Concacaf Champions Cup quarterfinals also fast-approaching in April.

There'll be plenty of CCC coverage to come, but for now, here are the best matchups that are catching my eye during this weekend's slate of MLS action.

Real Salt Lake vs. Sporting Kansas City

Saturday, 1:30 pm PT | Apple TV | America First Field

This whole Real Salt Lake thing is becoming a problem for everyone else in the Western Conference. They have some of the most exciting and talented young players in the league in Diego Luna, Zavier Gozo and Aiden Hezarkhani. They have a new Designated Player that looks like incredibly dynamic in Morgan Guilavogui. They have a veteran, MLS-proven coach in Pablo Mastroeni. And after looking at some of their club social media content, they also appear to be fun, swaggy and likable.

It's deeply unfortunate to see, and now they've got a home matchup with a Sporting KC side that has one of the worst rosters in the league, which should allow all that up-and-coming talent to go to work.

San Jose Earthquakes vs. San Diego FC

Saturday, 7:30 pm PT | Apple TV | PayPal Park

Aside from the in-state rivalry implications, you've got two of the hottest teams in the West facing off at PayPal Park.

The 'Quakes have been one of the league's biggest surprises to start the season. Bruce Arena has this team humming, with four wins in their first five games. Remarkably, they've still only conceded one goal all year – to Paul Rothrock in Seattle's 1-0 victory in San Jose a couple weeks ago.

It's been a great start, but they're still in the phase of looking good, but not being fully proven as a genuine trophy threat. That's why this matchup with a high-flying San Diego side is so intriguing. If San Jose can come out of this one with a win, it might be time to elevate them from "fun story" to "actual contender" status.

San Diego had an unceremonious exit against Toluca in the CCC Round of 16, but they still have the look of a team ready to challenge to repeat as the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. Mikey Varas' side has already racked up 13 goals, good for second in the West, trailing only the Vancouver Whitecaps (14).

Vancouver Whitecaps vs. Portland Timbers

Saturday, 7:30 pm ET | Apple TV | BC Place

It's interesting times for the Portland Timbers. Coming off a 1-1 draw against the LA Galaxy where they got a red card, they're now in 14th place in the West with a 1W-3L-1D record and a -5 goal differential. They need a win badly to salvage the vibes, and now they have to go to BC Place for a Cascadia rivalry match with a Vancouver side that's already established as one of the best teams in the league. The Whitecaps have also beat Portland handily in the playoffs in each of the last two seasons, so the recent history doesn't favor Phil Neville and his group.

Vancouver, meanwhile, have cooled down a bit after a historically hot start. They got bounced by Seattle in CCC, then got uncharacteristically shut out at home by San Jose. That means they'll be hunting for a bounce-back, so they should be going for the jugular to try and compound Portland's misery. Sign me up for that.

Atlanta United vs. Columbus Crew

Saturday, 4:30 pm PT | Apple TV | Mercedes-Benz Stadium

Both of these teams look bad and are fully on Downfall Watch, but that sometimes results in the most exciting games. The winner here will be able to tell themselves that they just started slow and are now ready to get the season rolling. The loser will be in spiral mode, and we're starting to get to the point in the season where that can be hard to fully dig out of.

A step backward for Columbus could have been expected after the departure of Wilfried Nancy, but they're off to an especially rough start under new boss Henrik Rydström, going winless through five matches (0W-3L-2D). They look like they're in real danger of going from an Eastern Conference frontrunner to a cellar dweller in just one year if they don't right the ship fast.

Atlanta gave some reason for hope in Matchday 4 when they blew out the Philadelphia Union. But they followed that up by getting Eric Rasmay'd in a 0-0 home draw vs. D.C. United, opening themselves up to allegations that the performance against Philly was just a case of beating up on a bad team. They wouldn't escape those allegations by beating Columbus, but any type of positive result would mark a three-match unbeaten streak, which would give Tata Martino something to build on.

Chicago Fire FC vs. Nashville SC

Saturday, 5:30 pm PT | Apple TV | Soldier Field

Nashville are among the most watchable teams in the league on a weekly basis. Hany Mukhtar looks as good as ever. Sam Surridge looks like a Golden Boot frontrunner. And the Cristian Espinoza signing is already looking like a ceiling-altering move. The former Quake has looked electric to start his Nashville tenure, and even had the series-clinching goal in the Coyotes' epic CCC upset of Lionel Messi and Inter Miami. Buy all the Nashville stock you can as a Supporters' Shield and MLS Cup contender. I also wouldn't sleep on them in their CCC quarterfinal series against Club America, the winner of which takes on the winner of Seattle/Tigres.

Chicago have been erratic, and haven't really lived up to a lot of the preseason predictions that had them taking a step forward in year two under Gregg Berhalter. But the Fire are usually entertaining to watch even when they're not playing well, which is something I appreciate. As the home team here, they should come out looking to show they belong against a favored Nashville side, which will hopefully lead to some fireworks at Soldier Field.