By THOMAS FLOYD

After much debate over who is the top team in MLS at this early stage in 2012, Real Salt Lake and Sporting Kansas City will resolve matters just as the soccer gods intended -- on the field.

The matchup between 5-1-0 Salt Lake and 5-0-0 Kansas City -- the league's final unbeaten team -- is the centerpiece of a packed MLS slate this weekend featuring nine games.

All time record: 1-3-0
At PPL Park: 1-1-0
At Columbus Crew Stadium: 0-2-0
Goals For: 4
Goals Against: 7

Did you know...

The Union have scored exactly one goal in each of their four meetings with the Crew.

September 17, 2011: Philadelphia Union 1–0 Columbus Crew

Click here to view the embedded video.

Photo by Michael Janosz/ISIphotos.com

By THOMAS FLOYD

Major League Soccer is officially back.

In 2012, the league will be bigger and -- if all goes according to plan -- better than ever. Running from Saturday's First Kick to December's MLS Cup, it will be the longest season in league history.

Photo by David Bernal/ISIphotos.com

By THOMAS FLOYD

Riddled by inconsistency, the Columbus Crew attack just never seemed to quite find the right rhythm in 2011.

Up front, Emilio Renteria's injury concerns and Andres Mendoza's erratic play limited Columbus' front-line cohesion.

How did Seven Nation Army take over Italy?

It's probably the most indie sports anthem ever, but if anyone was following the 2006 World Cup then they remember the simple, ever-so-catchy bassline of The White Stripes' Seven Nation Army. It ended up dominating the whole world of sports, but it became the beloved song of the Italian fans and players.

After losing a lot of their offensive firepower by parting ways with leading scorer and Designated Player Andres Mendoza, the Columbus Crew took a step in finding an attacking solution by signing Chilean midfielder Milovan Mirosevic on Wednesday.

Columbus had success with a Chilean signing a year ago, finding a stable right back in Sebastian Miranda.

The Columbus Crew were certainly a surprise team last season. After cutting ties with a number of veterans and going with a roster that looked lacking on almost every part of the pitch, head coach Robert Warzycha coaxed a great ...
Visit http://www.majorleaguesoccertalk.com for the rest of the story.

Photo by Kelley L. Cox/ISIphotos.com

With the MLS Eastern Conference as wide open as it was down the stretch last season, a roster tweak in the right direction could be all it takes to separate certain clubs from the pack.

In the opening month of the offseason, no teams did more to augment their rosters than the Philadelphia Union and Sporting Kansas City, two clubs that felt they had what it took to win the conference crown last season before ultimately losing out to the Houston Dynamo.

Photo: Nicolae Stoian

NBC Philadelphia has a segment on the danger of brain trauma posed by too frequent heading following the release of a study at the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) annual meeting.

You can read more about this story here.

Philadelphia Union

With the announcement on Tuesday that the Union will play its 2012 home opener on Sunday, March 18, the Goalkeeper writes, "I also would not be surprised if the Union's home opener is nationally televised.

Photo by Tony Quinn/ISIphotos.com

By FRANCO PANIZO

Andres Mendoza may have scored 13 goals in his first full season in MLS, but that didn't stop him from being let go by the Columbus Crew.

At times the subject of controversy due to his behavior, Mendoza was among the players whose options were declined by Columbus on Tuesday.

Houston's Danny Cruz could be an easy selection for the Impact tomorrow. (Getty Images)

I've already given a mock draft based on my predictions of each MLS club's protection lists and now that the real lists are out we can get a better sense of who could be actually taken tomorrow.

Every team released their protection lists yesterday evening with a few surprises listed Montreal should come away with a decent start to their expansion campaign.

Wednesday's MLS Expansion Draft provides the Montreal Impact a chance to build the foundation for its MLS roster, and the club will have some decisions to make based on how much it wants to spend and which direction it wants to go off the bat.

Designated Players Julian de Guzman, Andres Mendoza, Mustapha Jarju, Branko Boskovic, Frank Rost, Milton Caraglio, Omar Bravo and Jeferson are all free for the taking (although Rost is likely to return to Germany after a few-month stay with New York), giving the Impact the option to make a major investment immediately.

By Andrew Villegas The problem with the MLS expansion draft candy dish is that you have to wade through a hundred stale Tootsie Rolls (some of which cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, go figure) to get to that proverbial Snickers bar. This is the worst kept secret in American soccer. Teams stack the unprotected [.

Columbus goes into the offseason with some questions for their expansion draft lists. (Getty Images)

The Columbus Crew had many questions going into the 2011 season mostly due to the amount of veteran players that were let go by head coach Robert Warzycha. But as the season went on the Crew began to find their footing and were actually in contention to win the Eastern Conference.

The Colorado Rapids' hopes of defending its MLS title are still alive, and the club can thank Omar Cummings for that.

Cummings scored his first goal in nearly three months to help lift the Rapids to a 1-0 win over the Columbus Crew in a wild card playoff match at Dick's Sporting Goods Park on Thursday night.

In "the other wild card" game, two offensive lineman type soccer clubs come together, again.

Reigning champs Colorado have swept the flakes off their pitch to host Abercrombie FC, the Crew(necks.)

Kimura (left), if you didn't know, is Japanese....ironically...

First, some odds:

• 25 to 1: Will Hesmer scores or gets an assist

• 30 to 1: Marvell Wynne, own goal.

Columbus hopes to knock off Colorado tonight. (Getty Images)

I hate being quick with playoff previews but this one will have to end up being the case. Time has not been on my side today.

Tonight is the second wild card game of the 2011 MLS Cup Playoffs. Last night the New York Red Bulls upset FC Dallas on the road and tonight the Columbus Crew hope to do the same against the defending MLS Cup champion Colorado Rapids.

By AVI CREDITOR

The Colorado Rapids and Columbus Crew have taken different roads to get to this point, but ultimately they're right back where they were a year ago.

Colorado eliminated Columbus in the Eastern Conference semifinals last season en route to capturing its first MLS Cup.

Photo by Howard C. Smith/ISIphotos.com

By THOMAS FLOYD

All eyes will be on Harrison, N.J., tonight for the New York Red Bulls' critical meeting with the Philadelphia Union.

A Red Bulls win or draw will clinch the final playoff berth for New York and eliminate the Portland Timbers and Chicago Fire.

Call it a sentimental pick if you like, but it was tough to give this week's SBI MLS Player of the Week award to anybody but Seattle goalkeeper Kasey Keller.

Not only did Keller help draw a crowd of more than 64,000 to CenturyLink Field to see the final regular season home game of his illustrious career, but the 42-year-old goalkeeper made a plethora of clutch saves with his Seattle Sounders trailing San Jose.

FOXBOROUGH, MA - In their final home game of the season, The New England Revolution did not go out with a bang, but rather a disappointing fizzle. Despite a decent first half, the Revs came into the second half of the game down just a goal but reverting back to their same old ways-poor passing, scrappy challenges, and mental lapses galore.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Revolution's disastrous season hit a new low on Saturday in their home finale with the team's 3-0 loss to the Columbus Crew guaranteeing the Revs would fail to reach seven wins for the first time in team history.

With nothing to play for but pride, the Revolution (5-16-12, 27 points) looked to take the early initiative to give the crowd of 16,285 something to cheer about in the last home match of the season.

By IAN HOLLIDAY

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The Columbus Crew came into Gillette Stadium Saturday night knowing all it needed to secure a fourth consecutive playoff berth was a win over the last-placed New England Revolution. Ninety minutes and one of its more dominant performances of the year later, the Crew had done just that.

By FRANCO PANIZO

Another opportunity for D.C. United to make up ground in the playoff race. Another loss.

Thee days after dropping a decision to the Philadelphia Union, D.C. United lost again, falling 2-1 to the Columbus Crew at Crew Stadium on Saturday.

The decisive goal came in the second half on a beautiful diving header from Eddie Gaven, who made his return for the Crew after being injured for nearly two months.

KC's games are really starting to get a deja vu felling to them, because so often the script is the same. Go at the opposing team, pressure early (some times get a goal, sometimes now), start to see back a little bit, defensive error gives opponent a great opportunity (that they may or may not put away).

Photo by Howard C. Smith/ISIphotos.com

This year's race for the MLS Golden Boot is congested, unclear and littered with a few surprise candidates. With about a month remaining in the 2011 MLS season, there's no better time to break down the prime contenders and see who will emerge from the pack with the most goals.

Week 27 of MLS action certainly cleared up the race of the playoffs. Teams were clearly fighting for their lives. Real Salt Lake showed impressive resilience in against Sporting while Portland humbled the dismal Revolution. Chicago pulled out a win despite a valiant comeback by Chivas. Here's your Week 27 Recap.

On a chilly night in Chester against a listless first place Columbus Crew team, a goal from the resurgent Sebastien Le Toux was all the Philadelphia Union needed to earn their first victory since July 17. In an effort to breathe life into his team, coach Peter Nowak rang in the changes, most notably bringing 16-year-old Zach Pfeffer into the starting lineup for his first MLS start.

A real wackiness is setting in on this year's Golden Boot chase in Major League Soccer. With six regular season weeks remaining, the league's top goal scorers presently are all lesser likely candidates in their own way.

If you asked supporters at their respective clubs, or fans who follow MLS action closely, for assessments of these guys individually, you'd probably get replies that fell somewhere between "just OK" and "fairly unsatisfying.

Columbus seemed to be cruising for a win on Wednesday night at Crew Stadium, ahead 2-1 late even though they'd been down a man since the 11th minute. Emmanuel Ekpo had been ejected for a straight red card foul - elbowing Adam Moffat - and the Dynamo were up a goal when Je-Vaughn Watson scored in the 34th minute.

By JOSE M. ROMERO

The Houston Dynamo was in the driver's seat at halftime, leading 1-0 over the Columbus Crew with a man advantage after Emmanuel Ekpo was sent off for popping the Dynamo's Adam Moffat in the face with a high elbow in the 11th minute.

The Dynamo, leading at halftime after Je-Vaughn Watson's impressive header off a service from Jermaine Taylor in the 34th minute -- over big defender Chad Marshall, no less -- was 45 minutes from picking up three big road points and strengthening their position in the chase for an MLS playoff wild card spot.

By DAVE GUBALA

Toronto FC defeated the Columbus Crew for the very first time in franchise history in a six-goal thriller and were able to lift the Trillum Cup on Saturday night at Crew Stadium.

It was a back and forth game from the very start.

Tommy Heinemann reduced Toronto's lead to one in the 67th minute but the Crew were unable to respond as Julian de Guzman netted a third goal in the 87th minute.

That is one cup-worthy bloom
COLUMBUS (6th) VS. TORONTO (16th)
　
CREW STADIUM - SATURDAY 7:30PM
TV: GOLTV RADIO: FAN 590
　
THE KICKABOUT:
- With true rival Montreal Impact entering MLS in 2012, is this the last "The New Soft" Derby (opposite of The Old Firm) that holds much meaning for supporters?

Sometimes statistics lie. Saturday's Seattle Sounders-Columbus Crew match is a perfect example. If you just ignored that little score detail, you'd see that the Crew actually dominated the Sounders, outshooting them 19-13, holding 53 percent of possession and even outpassing the Sounders 79-76. This is one of those matches where watching the highlights gives you a much better picture.

The Columbus Crew finished ahead of the Philadelphia Union on Saturday night, but did so by the slimmest of margins.

A questionable penalty call against Philadelphia defender Sheanon Williams helped give the Crew a PK, and Union goalkeeper Faryd Mondragon looked to save the ensuing penalty only to see it trickle past him and into the net to help give Columbus a 2-1 victory at Crew Stadium on Saturday night.

Andres Mendoza converted a 51st minute penalty after a Sheanon Williams hand ball in the area and the Columbus Crew held out for a 2-1 win over the Philadelphia Union. The Crew's win gave them a six-point lead atop the Eastern Conference, although the Union still have played one less game. The Union's winless streak was stretched to five games.

Benny Feilhaber gave the New England Revolution a first half lead, but the Revs suffered a second half collapse, falling 3-1 to the Columbus Crew at Crew Stadium on Saturday night.

Benny Feilhaber's goal wasn't enough for the Revs on Saturday. (Photo by CHRIS ADUAMA/aduama.com)

The loss sends the Revs (4-11-9, 21 points) to eighth place in the nine team Eastern Conference and 16th overall in the 18 team Major League Soccer.

Brian Mullan hasn't had much to celebrate individually this season, but that all changed in a big way Friday night.

While Mullan's tackle that broke Steve Zakuani's leg will likely remain his defining moment of the season, his long-range goal against the Columbus Crew was the defining moment of the match, unlocking a scoreless game and lifting the Colorado Rapids to a 2-0 victory at Dick's Sporting Goods Park.

Columbus' Strategy Coach Roberto Warchyza employed the exact same 4-5-1 formation on Wednesday night that he used Saturday night in the Crew's scoreless draw at home against the Earthquake. Gehrig and Ekpo both played centrally in the midfield. Gehrig sat deeper than Ekpo especially when the crew moved up the field in attack.

BY ADAM SERRANO

Sean Franklin scored his first career MLS goal as the LA Galaxy dispatched the Columbus Crew, 1-0 in front of a crowd of 24,709 at the Home Depot Center.

The Galaxy may have extended their unbeaten streak to 13 games, but Los Angeles lost David Beckham for their next match against Vancouver Whitecaps due to yellow card accumulation.