This weekend's Heineken Rivalry Week meetings will draw more attention, but there are plenty of interesting narratives brewing ahead of a busy slate on Wednesday night.
Eight teams will take the field for four MLS matches, while rivals Toronto and Montreal will meet at Stade Saputo for the first leg of the Canadian Championship final. The storylines, as always, abound. Let’s dive in:
Montreal Impact vs. Toronto FC | Canadian Championship final
Wednesday, 7:30 pm ET | TSN and RDS in Canada
Ignacio Piatti and Blerim Dzemaili are on a tear, and the Impact – now unbeaten in five straight across all competitions – are rolling in the attack. But, as we saw in Saturday’s 3-3 draw at Orlando, there are still some defensive questions about Mauro Biello’s outfit. The Impact have conceded the second-most goals per game in the East, something that could be fatal against a Toronto team that’s finally playing with all three of their Designated Players.
But with a home match against New England looming on Friday night, there are questions about what sort of lineup head coach Greg Vanney and TFC will field on Wednesday. The safe money is that he runs out his regulars and rotates his squad in league play, but he could elect to use some of that vaunted depth and play a bit conservatively in search of a road result on Wednesday. If the XI is at all weakened, Montreal – who would force a playoff vs. TFC for a CONCACAF Champions League berth with a series win – must take advantage.
D.C. United vs. Atlanta United FC
Wednesday, 7:30 pm ET | MLS LIVE
#SadStats are back in D.C.
United’s attack has left much to be desired season, with Saturday’s 2-0 loss at Toronto marking the tenth time the Black-and-Red have been shut out in 15 games this year. They haven’t scored a goal from the run of play in 665 minutes, and have found the back of the net just 10 times this year, easily the worst in MLS.
The good news for D.C. supporters? They’ll have a fresh face to cheer on up top on Wednesday. United acquired former Colorado Rapids forward Deshorn Brown from the Tampa Bay Rowdies on Tuesday afternoon, sending Houston a package of allocation money to trade up to the No. 1 spot in the Allocation Ranking and sign the Jamaican international. Brown is proven scorer in MLS, Norway and China, and, according to D.C. head coach Ben Olsen, will be available on Wednesday night.
He’ll likely be needed. With 31 goals on the year, Atlanta – who surprisingly lost 3-1 to D.C. at home on April 30 – are the highest-scoring team in MLS. They got even more dangerous this past week, when the healthy Josef Martinez bagged his first MLS goal since returning from injury in a 3-1 win vs. Columbus.
Minnesota United FC vs. Portland Timbers
Wednesday, 8:00 pm ET | MLS LIVE
Spring has turned to summer in the Twin Cities, and Minnesota’s brief renaissance has turned into a depressing run of losses. The Loons are struggling heading into Wednesday’s match against Portland, losing four of five in MLS play and five of six across all competitions.
Last week was particularly rough. The expansion side got stomped 4-0 at Sporting KC in Open Cup action midweek, then were thoroughly outplayed by Real Salt Lake in a 1-0 loss that would’ve been much worse if not for some big saves by Bobby Shuttleworth and help from the woodwork.
If there’s a silver lining in Minnesota’s recent downturn, it’s that most of it has come on the road. Four of their five losses in their current slide were away from TCF Bank Stadium, where the Loons are a semi-respectable 4-3-0 this year. They should have at least a decent shot in Minneapolis on Wednesday, especially against a Timbers side that’s 2-5-1 on the road this year, just lost 2-1 at Colorado on Saturday and could rest some starters ahead of Sunday’s rivalry date with Seattle at Providence Park.
Colorado Rapids vs. LA Galaxy
Wednesday, 9:00 pm ET | MLS LIVE
Since he went on his memorable tirade extolling the virtues of the human spirit over those damn statistics, Pablo Mastroeni and the Colorado Rapids have been on a tear. His rant came after the first match in what’s turned into a four-game winning streak across all competitions, with the Rapids getting late goals from Alan Gordon to win two of those matches and erasing a 2-0 halftime deficit to emerge victorious in the third, a US Open Cup contest.
The streak has seen the Rapids return to the formula that served them so well in 2016, with Colorado content to defend deep, rely on solid goalkeeping from Tim Howard and steal a goal – or two – on the break. They’ll look to continue that on Wednesday at home against LA, who they eliminated in the 2016 MLS Cup Playoffs.
It won’t be easy. After stealing a point with a late goal of their own against Houston on Saturday, LA are unbeaten in their last seven MLS matches and last eight in all comps. They will, however, be without a number of key players – Gio dos Santos chief among them – due to international duty and injury on Wednesday. We’ll see if the Rapids can take advantage, or if star midfielder Romain Alessandrini can carry the Galaxy to a result in the altitude.
Seattle Sounders vs. Orlando City SC
Wednesday, 10:30 pm ET | MLS LIVE
How soon is too soon to start worrying about the Seattle Sounders? The defending MLS Cup champs showed everyone last year that a poor start doesn’t necessarily ruin a season, but things can’t be all that comfortable at CenturyLink Field at the moment. Brian Schmetzer’s bunch lost 2-1 at NYCFC in their last outing, and have strung together back-to-back wins just once this year. The attack isn’t clicking, and the defense has been ravaged by injuries.
We’ll see what kind of squad Schmetzer rolls out after Seattle’s lengthy trip back from New York over the weekend and with Sunday’s match at Portland on the docket, but Orlando could be just what the doctor ordered for the Sounders. The Lions are in a mini-rut at the moment, losing 3-1 to NASL side Miami FC in the Open Cup last Wednesday before drawing Montreal 3-3 at home on Saturday. The defense is leaky, and, with a cross-country flight of their own in the books and another trip on tap ahead of Saturday’s important East clash at Chicago, Jason Kreis could rest some starters at CenturyLink.
