SoccerBlogs

Who: Montreal Impact vs. Philadelphia Union

Where: Saputo Stadium, Montreal, QC

When: 7:00 PM ET

Channel: The Comcast Network

Commentators: JP Dellacamera and Alejandro Moreno

Meet The Opposition: Mount Royal Soccer

Bonjour, mes amis!

Game: Philadelphia Union vs. Seattle Sounders

Where: PPL Park, Chester, Pennsylvania

When: 4:00 PM

Channel: WPVI-TV 6ABC

Commentators: JP Dellacamera and Alejandro Moreno

Meet The Opposition: Sounder At Heart

The Philadelphia Union are playing host to a Seattle Sounders team currently last in the Western Conference in points per game.

By THOMAS FLOYD

While the calendar may say it's Memorial Day weekend, the pair of high-profile playoff rematches on the docket will be giving MLS fans a tantalizing taste of November soccer.

After having their 36-game home unbeaten run ended by Sporting Kansas City earlier this month, the Houston Dynamo will look to return the favor with a road result of their own at Sporting Park in a key clash for the crowded Eastern Conference.

By THOMAS FLOYD

WASHINGTON — As Chris Pontius wrapped up training at RFK Stadium on Tuesday, he got wind of the news that his D.C. United side will be gaining a new Eastern Conference rival come 2015.

Then he found out New York City FC will be owned by Manchester City and the New York Yankees.

Week 11 continues apace after the biggest slate of midweek matches so far this season. It all starts with the Chicago Fire playing host to the Philadelphia Union at 1:30 on NBC Sports Network. The weekend will wrap up Sunday night at 8:00, when you should absolutely take advantage of this weekend's free trial of MLS Live to watch the two-time defending Eastern Conference playoff champion Houston Dynamo host the two-time defending Eastern Conference regular season champion Sporting Kansas City.

By THOMAS FLOYD

For the crowded top of the Eastern Conference table, which features a four-way tie for first, a packed slate of midweek games should provide some of clarity to the muddled race.

All four first-place teams are in action Wednesday night, with two of them — the New York Red Bulls and Montreal Impact — going head to head.

By DARRELL LOVELL

The struggling United attack will get a lift this weekend as captain Dwayne De Rosariois primed to return to the lineup. The club's attack has been anemic so far in 2013 scoring just two goals in five games. With Nick DeLeon on the shelf as well, getting De Rosario back is the boost that will, hopefully for D.

By THOMAS FLOYD

We're barely a month into the 2013 MLS campaign, but it's already time for Round 2 of one of the league's most heated rivalries.

After playing to a 1-1 draw three weeks ago at Rio Tinto Stadium, Real Salt Lake and the Colorado Rapids will write the next chapter of the Rocky Mountain Cup story Saturday at Dick's Sporting Goods Park.

The New England Revolution host Western Conference leaders FC Dallas this weekend. Hopefully the conditions at Gillette will be better than last weekend windfest, which made any type of passing game near impossible.

The Revolution go into this game in a tie for sixth place in the Eastern Conference with 4 points from 3 matches, while FCD sit atop the Western Conference with 9 points from 4 matches after beating RSL 2-0 last weekend.

The Dyanmo got the weekend to rest up before heading to Torreón, Mexico for their upcoming return leg vs Santos Laguna, but that doesn't mean there wasn't plenty of action to keep an eye on.

In an effort to keep our readers up to date around MLS, we offer you these snippets of information on the other Eastern Conference clubs in action this past weekend.

DeAndre Yedlin was a MLS darling after his performance in week one, drawing rave reviews for his pace and tackling (if not for his crossing). We're talking Rookie of the Week from Soccer By Ives, and a member of the Starting XI at MLSsoccer.com. It's hard not to take notice of the hair.

His performance wasn't enough to avoid a surprising week one loss to a team that might make some noise in the Eastern Conference.

It's here. It's finally here. No more meaningless games filled with mass substitutions and players I've never heard of. No more "hot stove" transfer news, no more combines, no more drafts.

It's go time.

The 2013 New England Revolution will begin the quest to improve on last year's performance on Saturday night against hated rivals Chicago Fire, and I, for one, couldn't be more ready for this season to get started.

Just like any other season opener both teams will look to have a fast and strong start to the game and to the season. A win for either team could have a positive effect on the rest of the 2013 campaign, as it's always nice to get off on the right foot.

Both teams ended their 2012 seasons in different fashions.

By IVES GALARCEP

The 2013 MLS season kicks off in 24 hours and The SBI Podcast wraps up part two of our preview of the upcoming season by breaking down the MLS Eastern Conference.

Co-host Garrett Cleverly and I discuss all 10 teams in the East, and break down their chances of making the playoffs, or winning it all.

Last year's record: 10 - 18 - 6 (eight out of 10 in the Eastern Conference, 16 out of 19 in Major League Soccer)

Key additions: Conor Casey, Sebastien Le Toux, Pat Anding

Key losses: Gabriel Gomez, Peter Nowak, Carlos Valdes

Projected starting lineup: (4-3-3 / 4-3-2-1) Zac MacMath / (r-l) Sheanon Williams, Jeff Parke, Bakary Soumare, Gabriel Farfan / Brian Carroll (CDM), Amobi Okugo, Michael Farfan / Le Toux, Jack McInerney / Casey - Bench: Chris Konopka (goalkeeper), Antoine Hoppenot, Roger Torres, Michael Lahoud, Raymon Gaddis, Chris Albright, Danny Cruz

The Eastern Conference's final playoff spot, no.

It's that time of year again, guys. Temperatures are trying to warm up, birds and flowers seem to be beginning their return to life, and all around us are the signs that spring is in the air. With spring, of course, comes the return of MLS play. At this point in the year, everyone's still in contention (yes, even Toronto FC and Real Salt Lake), and nobody should have to think about pressing that panic button for a few months.

Springfield MO Soccer -

Sporting KC visits DC United today at 4:00 PM. Join @417Loyal and @SoccerOzarks as we cheer on the boys from our local home base.

by Ben Garland

The last time that Sporting KC and Handball DC United met Sporting stole a win late after Soony Saad put a ball in position for Claudio Bieler to score the match winner in the 89th minute.

Happy United Day, ladies and gentlemen. D.C. United are hoping to end their horrible skid today ... against probably the best team in the Eastern Conference. Yikes. Hopefully all of the positive things everyone around the team have been saying actually lead to some positive results.

Tale of the Tape: D.

Wednesday night, D.C. United hosts the two-time defending Eastern Conference (Playoff) Champion Houston Dynamo at RFK Stadium. It will be the second meeting this season between two of the more decorated sides in MLS history - though the Dynamo have certainly had more recent success than the Black-and-Red.

If you thought that the past two games looked like the D.C. United team that battled its way into the playoffs in September and October last year, you would, of course, be right. But with the return Dwayne De Rosario, hopefully the team can conjure up a more potent offensive threat, one that saw United score the second most goals in the Eastern Conference last season.

I said last week that there would be volatility in the Power Poll this early in the MLS season, but wow, did I never expect some of the results we saw this weekend. Should be lots of churn in this week's edition, but I suppose that's up to all of you. Here's a little cheat sheet of this week's results before we get to the voting.

The Portland Timbers will face each Eastern Conference team only once during the season, which is unfortunate as there are some fun teams to watch. There are also a couple of teams, *Cough* Toronto FC *Cough*, who might not be so fun to watch. As a reminder is how the standings ended up at the end of 2012:

Last week we saw the Timbers take on the New York Red Bulls and come away with only a single point to their name. It was enough to put them over some key teams such as the Seattle Sounders, but it fell far below of the expectations the Timbers fans have for their home openers.

Today, the Timbers will take on another Eastern Conference rival in a must-win game.

We have the best defense in the league! That's the mantra that New England Revolution supporters have to repeat over and over. After all, the offense is nothing to brag about. One goal over the course of four games is pathetic. Sure, the defense has only allowed a pious two goals for the season, but in a league where the first tie-breaker is "Goals For", and not "Goal Differential", it leaves New England in the precarious situation of looking up at the rest of the Eastern Conference.

The New England Revolution earned a hard-fought point tonight against Eastern Conference rivals Sporting Kansas City as they were able to deny the sky blues too many chances and ultimately and keep a clean sheet. Dominating possession, but failing to put anything significant on frame, the Revs settled for the draw and will now try to learn from their shortcomings as they look onward to their 2013 campaign.

After a rough start to the season last week, the Chicago Fire returned home to face a team widely considered to be one of the lesser teams in the Eastern Conference. It seemed like a perfect opportunity to get back on the right track.

For some reason, things didn't turn out quite that way.

The Fire fell 1-0 to the New England Revolution on Saturday night in front of 13,242 fans at Toyota Park in the club's home opener.

The New England Revolution's season opener against the Chicago Fire this Saturday is nearly upon us. With every new season comes hope, possibility and wild speculation. A positive performance tonight could springboard the Revs into the 2013 season, raise the morale of the collective and fill some seats.

Springfield MO Soccer -

less than 48 hours from the start of the 2013 Sporting KC season in Philadelphia. After 2 straight regular season Eastern Conference titles, and a US Open Cup title, expectations for Sporting KC have been raised.

Via downthebyline.com: Last night during the jersey unveiling at Sporting Park, Robb Heineman said that "we gotta win MLS Cup this year.

TBG: It's only two months into the season, but the Eastern Conference appears to be tiered with New York, Houston, Kansas City, and Montreal on top, Philadelphia and Columbus in the middle, and New England, Chicago, Toronto, and D.C. on the bottom. Do you believe the Fire can break through that bottom pack and contend for a playoff spot this year?

The big talk this off-season across MLS was the number of teams looking for head coaches three of them being in the Eastern Conference. Surprisingly not all of the teams who axed their coaches were bottom feeders and not all teams held onto their top players.

Chicago Fire

The Chicago Fire made it into the first round of the playoffs only to be knocked out by the Dynamo.