It's a light weekend in MLS with just three games amid international fixtures, but there's much at stake throughout the games as most of the league prepares for next weekend:
Villa, Rooney meet alongside depleted rosters
In the game of the weekend, D.C. United play a rare road game since Audi Field opened as they travel to the Bronx (4:55 pm ET | Univision - full TV & streaming info). The key storyline is David Villa vs. Wayne Rooney, incredibly for only the second time in their careers, but both teams will be far from full-strength behind their captains.
Yamil Asad and Oniel Fisher are injured, while Paul Arriola (United States), Zoltan Stieber (Hungary), Junior Moreno (Venezuela) and Darren Mattocks (Jamaica) are among those gone on international duty for United. City are in a similar predicament: Alex Ring is suspended; Jo Inge Berget and Jesus Medina are injured; Maxime Chanot (Luxembourg), Rodney Wallace (Costa Rica), Ismael Tajouri-Shradi (Libya) and Ebenezer Ofori (Ghana) are some of those playing international matches.
Between the two sides, there are a ton of 2018 minutes missing. But that doesn't take away from the importance for both sides, with United chasing the playoffs and City chasing early-season form amid a rut.
Rooney and VIlla will be there; ditto for Lucho Acosta and Maxi Morales. This one will still be fun.
Kansas City aim to retake second place in the West from LAFC
Hosting out-of-form Orlando City SC (8:30 pm ET | TV & streaming info) while the Western Conference's current top two sit out this weekend, SKC has a fantastic chance to overtake LAFC and gain ground on conference-leading FC Dallas.
But it's not a foregone conclusion. As Matt Doyle pointed out in his guide to the weekend, this has the chance to fall into the "That's so MLS" category of unexpected results. Kansas City would be wise to learn from Dallas' own shock home loss a month ago. Unbeaten at home up until then, FCD hosted bottom of the league San Jose and lost 3-1. As the cliche goes: anything can happen.
For Orlando, it's Dom Dwyer's first game against SKC since being traded during last season as James O'Connor has begun shifting his focus toward 2019.
Timbers, Rapids finish the weekend in Portland
Unlike D.C. and NYCFC, Portland aren't too harmed by the international fixtures this weekend as they face Colorado (10:30 pm ET | TV & streaming info). The only starter they'll be without Jamaican international Alvas Powell.
After a four-game losing streak, the Timbers have steadied the ship with a win over Toronto and a draw with New England in their last two games. Portland can jump level with Real Salt Lake in fourth place in the West with a game in hand should they be victorious Saturday night, and they still play RSL twice down the stretch.
Kellyn Acosta will be missing for the Rapids, who will be looking to rebound after their 6-0 Rocky Mountain Cup loss to RSL. Like Orlando, Colorado's focus should be on building momentum for 2019.
