This could be a fun week in Major League Soccer. Two clubs could clinch playoff tickets while three others could be eliminated all together.

Seattle Sounders FC will clinch a berth in the MLS Cup Playoffs IF:

• Seattle defeats or ties host Vancouver on Saturday OR
• Seattle loses to Vancouver AND
  • Two of the following occur: Houston ties or loses; Colorado loses, Portland loses

Real Salt Lake will clinch a berth in the MLS Cup Playoffs IF:

• RSL defeats host New York on Wednesday AND
  • Houston ties or loses OR Colorado loses
• OR RSL defeats host D.

FC Dallas scored an early goal to take control of their CONCACAF Champions League match against Tauro FC, but never could find a second goal, leaving the door open for the visitors to grab a valuable draw.

That's what Tauro did, when Luis Moreno converted a penalty kick drawn after a clumsy Ugo Ihemelu challenge just before halftime.

Hosts and tournament favorites New Zealand domininated reigning Asian champions Japan by a score of 83-7 to emerge winners in both team's second Pool A match of the 2011 Rugby World Cup in Hamilton on Friday. A win against France on September 24th will seal a quarter-final berth for the All Blacks. Japan must win [.

They're up for grabs now! Wenger, right at the end. An unbelievable climax to the transfer window

I can safely say I can't recall the like. What began with the low of an abject eight-goal capitulation at Old Trafford has ended with the high of five new faces to bolster the ranks.

While Kyle Walker has, as many people expected, moved ahead of Vedran Corluka to become Harry Redknapp's first choice right back, the versatility that the Croatian defender provides meant that it was always unlikely that Corluka would move on during the summer transfer window.

In the main, ‘Charlie' is a popular figure with the fans and many were dismayed to see Alan Hutton get a run in the side last season although that dismay was largely down to the Scot's own performances.

This is probably the hardest team to predict so far this season as we have been promised as many as ten changes for tonight's match against PAOK.

"We've got a lot of senior players injured," said Harry Redknapp. "William Gallas, Michael Dawson, Danny Rose, Steven Pienaar, Tom Huddlestone, Sandro, Aaron Lennon, Rafa van der Vaart, all not fit.

Seattle-DC could prove to be one of the better match-ups this weekend. (Getty Images)

A big weekend is in line for Major League Soccer here. The playoff races are heating up and teams know now more than every what they need to do in order to reach the post season like the LA Galaxy. Seattle can clinch a berth this weekend with a win and some help from other clubs but other than that expect more of a mess in the standings come Monday when all the games are finished.

The Importance of Juan Mata - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Juan Mata's £23.5million transfer seemed to happen on a breeze. With the perpetual summer transfer saga of Luka Modric, hype was outwardly reserved. However, now with the foliage on the floor and the Premier League blooming, Mata's importance to the Chelsea team has been keenly signified.

No Starting Place Guaranteed Warns Dalglish

Kenny Dalglish has warned the likes of Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher, that no player will be picked for sentimental reasons alone. The Liverpool manager, who has a legendary status at the club, fully understands the impact that Gerrard and Carragher have had over the years, but insists that won't be enough to guarantee them a starting place.

Rodolfo Borrell has called for Liverpool Reserves to produce their best display of the season when they face Wolfsburg in a crucial NextGen Series encounter in Germany tonight.
The Reds needed a late own goal to salvage a point when the two sides locked horns at Anfield last week, leaving Group 2 wide open.

Photo by Howard C. Smith/ISIphotos.com

Perhaps no point better illustrates how enigmatic the New York Red Bulls' season has been other than the fact that the team could still conceivably win the Eastern Conference or finish outside of the playoff picture altogether.

Wednesday's tie against the San Jose Earthquakes was touted as a must win, so to many Timbers fans taking only a single point against one of the league's bottom teams felt like a crushing defeat. Luckily, all is not lost. The Timbers, thanks largely to some fortuitous results around the league, still moved up into tenth place and are in possession of the final playoff spot.

Yep, the 1-1 draw in Kansas City tonight was very, very good to the Seattle Sounders. According to the notes in today's preview the result was enough to qualify for the MLS Cup Playoffs.

If Sporting KC and Philadelphia play to a tie on Friday, Sounders FC will be assured of a spot in the MLS Cup Playoffs.

As the regular season winds down I'm going to be posting a weekly summary of the some of the data and predictions we're generating, which should give you some context going into each week of games.

Previous Week

This week saw the LA Galaxy continue to pull away from the pack at the top of the table.

... which is always nice Arsenal secured a 2-1 win over Olympiakos in last night's Champions League match, with Champions League debutant Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain opening the scoring. He cut in from his right-wing berth before arrowing a shot into the bottom corner. The 18-year-old seemed to think his performance compared well to all his previous [.

Shelvey Set for Blackpool Loan

Liverpool have finally been able to agree a deal to send Jonjo Shelvey on loan to Blackpool, according to Sky Sports. The prospective move comes around 3 months after the switch was initially mooted as part of the Reds' capture of Charlie Adam .

A season-defining September match, three points towards a berth in the MLS Cup Playoffs. The Philadelphia Union, behind a clinical strike from their second round draft pick, stated their intentions for the Eastern Conference, defeating DC United 3-2. Michael Farfan, ...
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