Major League Soccer has dubbed the final match day of its regular season “Decision Day,” because that’s when the final places in the league’s 18-team playoff tournament are decided.
Only two of those spots remain unclaimed, but that hardly makes this Decision Day anticlimactic. LAFC and the Galaxy both go into their finales Saturday with a chance to finish first in the Western Conference and secure home-field advantage through the first three rounds of the postseason, greatly easing their paths to a possible MLS Cup appearance.
The Galaxy (19-7-7) top the standings with 64 points and will clinch their first conference title in 13 seasons with at least a draw in Houston. A loss, however, opens the door for LAFC (18-8-7), which can jump over its rival by beating San José at home and making up a two-score deficit in goal differential, the key tiebreaker.
“We don’t spend a whole lot of time discussing scenarios. For us, the important thing is doing what we can and focusing on that,” said LAFC’s Steve Cherundolo, who is bidding to become the first coach to take his team to three consecutive MLS Cup finals since New England’s Steve Nichol from 2005 to 2007.
The home-field advantage will make that task much easier since LAFC’s 10 home wins in MLS play trail only the Galaxy’s 13. On the road, LAFC is a mediocre 8-6-3.
The Galaxy’s home-road split is even more pronounced: Greg Vanney’s team hasn’t lost in 16 games at Dignity Health Sports Park but is 6-6-4 away. Still, that’s a far cry from last season when the team won just eight times, finishing 13th in the 14-team conference table.
“We changed the group quite a bit from last year. We brought in guys that make a difference,” midfielder Edwin Cerrillo said of a team that added eight starters since the beginning of the 2023 season.
Although the Galaxy go into Decision Day in the lead, they also face the bigger challenges. Not only will they be on the road, but they’ll also be facing a Houston team fighting for a favorable postseason seeding and be without suspended midfielder Marco Delgado and likely winger Joseph Paintsil (hamstring). Another midfielder, Marco Reus, will have limited playing time because of a hamstring injury.
“Here we are, with everything in front of us to play for,” Vanney said. “We want to go win this game to give ourselves the home field through as much of the playoffs as we can. We’re going there to get a result and try to solidify our position.”
LAFC will be playing at home against the worst team in the league, one that has conceded an MLS-record 75 goals. But the black and gold, who will be playing for the 99th time since the start of the 2023 season, will be looking inward, midfielder Timothy Tillman said.
“If we don’t do our job, then it doesn’t matter what the Galaxy does,” he said. “If we do a good job then everything’s in our hands.”
The only playoff berths unsettled heading into Decision Day are the final two spots in the Eastern Conference, currently occupied by D.C. United and Montreal. Both Philadelphia and Atlanta, which are three points back, can advance with wins if D.C. and Montreal lose.
The playoffs open Tuesday with wild-card games between the eighth- and ninth-place finishers in each conference. The first round, a best-of-three series, begins Oct. 25.