Sporting Kansas City are making a late attempt to qualify for the wildcard round in Major League Soccer, and they are aiming for another win at Children’s Mercy Park in Saturday night’s match against Minnesota United.

Although a guaranteed playoff spot is out of reach for the Wizards, the Missouri team can still finish in ninth place, but to eliminate their next opponent, they will need an eight-point lead in the closing rounds of the regular season.

Game Preview

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Sporting KC still has a lot of catching up to do to make it to the wildcard round, but with the late-season surge, they are increasing their chances significantly.

Peter VermesThe men of scored their eighth win of the season on Wednesday night, moving up to 31 points in the standings. They remain 12th in the standings and still have an outside chance of ousting Dallas, Austin and this weekend’s opponents.

However, the Wizards are eight points behind Minnesota and have played a game more. To reach ninth place, the next team would have to collapse late in the season and Sporting would have to have a perfect record and finish ninth in the Western Conference.

The outcome remains to be seen, but the US Open Cup finalists are not throwing in the towel, even though their inconsistent away results may ultimately prevent them from staying hot on Minnesota’s heels.

The Wizards secured 13 of a possible 15 points on home soil, while they have only picked up four points in their last 12 games outside of Kansas, highlighting the inconsistency.

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Saturday’s game offers Vermes’ men a chance to narrow their gap to five points (compared to Minnesota’s four) with three games remaining, although the visiting team will be looking to rebound from its recent 2-1 loss to Cincinnati.

Eric RamsayThe team should not be ashamed of losing to the second-placed team from the East and second in the overall standings, even though they went into this duel with a two-game winning streak.

After the 2-1 home loss, the Loons face an uphill battle in their final five games to clinch the coveted playoff spots. With 39 points, they are four points behind the Portland Timbers and six points behind Houston in seventh place.

After Minnesota’s home and away form has fluctuated throughout the year, the team has enjoyed more away games of late, recording wins over bottom-placed San Jose Earthquakes (2-1) and St. Louis City (3-1) following a 1-1 draw with Houston Dynamo in mid-July.

This will be encouraging for travelling fans who have seen their team lose two games in a row on home soil, but win just one of six at Allianz Field and now fall to five defeats. They will be hoping to get a positive result in their fourth straight away game.

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Team News

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Jacob Davis returns for Kansas City after a suspension that ruled him out against Colorado Rapids.

However, the home team is expected to play without Nemanja Radoja due to a groin problem, while Joaquin Fernandez is in jeopardy because of a similar problem.

Fresh from a brace against Pids, Alan Pulido will try to be just as decisive this weekend when the Wizards play in front of their fans.

Although he played for Puerto Rico during the international break in September, Zarek Valentin is unlikely to make his four MLS appearances for Minnesota this weekend due to a foot injury.

Anthony Markanichwho was one yellow card away from a suspension, sat on the bench against Cincinnati and was not used, which meant that the left-back was available for action.

Kelvin Yeboah has scored in three of the Loons’ last four league games, although mostly from penalties, and the striker could add to his four league goals since returning from a stopover at Genoa.

Possible starting lineup for Sporting Kansas City:
Pulskamp; Shelton, Castellanos, Fontas, Ndenbe; Rodriguez, bass song; Russell, Pulido, Afrifa; Agada

Possible Minnesota United starting lineup:
St Clair; Diaz, Boxall, Tapias, Rosales; Dotson, Harvey; Hlongwane, Lod, Pereyra; Yeboah

We think: Sporting Kansas City 2-1 Minnesota United

Although Minnesota took seven of nine points away from home, a home win for Kansas City is hard to imagine given their five consecutive games without defeat at Children’s Mercy Park.

A narrow win would therefore be a safe bet for the club, as they want to reduce the gap to the visiting team to five points.

Click here to see a data analysis of the most likely outcomes, scores and more for this match.

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