The most highly-anticipated match of the English Premier League season is upon us, and so are some truly can't-miss MLS playoff series deciders.

Chelsea plays host to Manchester United on Sunday with a chance to open up a five-point lead atop the EPL standings, while six MLS teams head into action knowing that defending MLS champions Columbus has been eliminated from the post-season.

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The most highly-anticipated match of the English Premier League season is upon us, and so are some truly can't-miss MLS playoff series deciders.

Chelsea plays host to Manchester United on Sunday with a chance to open up a five-point lead atop the EPL standings, while six MLS teams head into action knowing that defending MLS champions Columbus has been eliminated from the post-season.

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Mayor Bill White has proclaimed today as Dynamo Day. Are you wearing orange?

Mayor Bill White today proclaimed that Friday, November 6th, will be recognized as "Dynamo Day" in Houston. In observance of the day, the mayor encourages Houstonians to wear orange, the color of the Dynamo.

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Two days until the Galaxy-Chivas USA Western Conference semifinal from Carson's Home Depot Center (4:30 p.m. ESPN2) and the Galaxy blog reports tickets are going fast and the club is considering opening up the grass berm.

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Suggested reading/listening/viewing:
*Reporter Phil Collin has more on the game here.

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Landon Donovan leads the Galaxy against rivals Chivas. (Getty Images)

One more weekend of action and we will be in the conference finals here. One club is already in and three others will move on this weekend. After last weekend's play the pressure is on a couple home teams to rebound while one just has to keep on doing what they do best in front of their fans.

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The second round of the MLS Cup Playoffs has the two higher seeds in each conference hosting their opponents from last week's match-ups. In the four matches from last week, the home teams either tied or won leaving the seeded favorites with work to do if they hope to advance to the conference finals.

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The regular season is over and the playoffs are the order of the day in Major League Soccer. Surprise qualifiers Real Salt Lake made themselves known in the first leg of their tie with Supporters Shield winners Columbus Crew, while all four conference semi-finals were even matches with little to separate the sides. Click to continue reading...

The United States
The 2009 MLS Playoffs got underway last Thursday when Seattle Sounders FC hosted Houston Dynamo before a crowd of approximately 36,000 soccer fans. Although the end result was 0-0, it was a thrilling match with both teams battling hard to find the goal. The teams meet for the second leg of their first round tie at Robertson Stadium in Houston, Texas at 2:00 pm local time this Sunday, and fans should expect a nail biter of a match. Click to continue reading...

Chingy --no, not this guy-- rates his mates and hands out his awards for this season. Little known fact about Brian Ching: he's from Hawaii. Click to continue reading...

Rejoice fanatics, rejoice! I thought ESPN might forget about us once the postseason came about but I guessed wrong. Which is a good thing because that means that we get more of the most attractive MLS highlights package around. I still think this would be amazing on ESPN2HD, you know on actual TV, but I guess we'll all just have to be patient little soccer-monks for a while longer before we get that kind of clout. Click to continue reading...

Here's the full list as released today by MLS:

Goalkeeper of the Year
Kasey Keller - Seattle Sounders FC
Donovan Ricketts - Los Angeles Galaxy
Zach Thornton - Chivas USA

Fair Play Finalists - Individual
Kasey Keller - Seattle Sounders FC
Pat Onstad - Houston Dynamo
Steve Ralston - New England Revolution

Comeback Player of the Year
Brian McBride - Chicago Fire
Ben Olsen - D.

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STARTERS
The USA U17's advanced to the Round of 16 in the World Cup and play on Wednesday against Italy.
dN
Word is out that UANL Tigres left fullback Edgar Castillo has been invited to join Team USA for the 2 games in Europe later this month. This will be his first time with the team. Click to continue reading...

Seattle's Kasey Keller is a finalist for numerous Major League Soccer awards, including goalkeeper of the year. (photo by Jonathan Ingraham/ColoradoSoccerNow.com)

Major League Soccer released the finalists for the league's 2009 awards today. The winners will be announced starting Wednesday and ending Nov.

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Landon Donovan, Shalrie Joseph and Jeff Cunningham are the finalists for MLS MVP honors and just three of the MLS players identified as finalists for season-ending awards by Major League Soccer.

Donovan is one of several members of the Los Angeles Galaxy to be selected as finalists for honors.

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Photo by ISIphotos.com

Landon Donovan, Shalrie Joseph and Jeff Cunningham are the finalists for MLS MVP honors and just three of the MLS players identified as finalists for season-ending awards by Major League Soccer.

Donovan is one of several members of the Los Angeles Galaxy to be selected as finalists for honors.

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The playoff version of the SuperClasico got off to a bang with a 2-2 draw. (Getty Images)

Some could say the results we saw in the first week of the playoffs were fairly expected. The SuperClasico ended in a draw that I think most folks expected to get; Real Salt Lake found a way to get a win over the Crew at home; Seattle and Houston battled it out to a scoreless draw; and maybe the only real shocker of the weekend was the Revs beating Chicago 2-1.

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Photo by ISIphotos.com

Home teams went unbeaten on the first weekend of the MLS Playoffs, setting up a quartet of nail-biters for the second legs of all four series.

The New England Revolution and Real Salt Lake held serve at home, posting key victories, while the Houston Dynamo and Los Angeles Galaxy were able to take draws in their visits to Seattle and, well, Los Angeles.

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Wow, close one! The fans in Seattle are phenomenal! Some of those shots of the crowd look more like a European club playing in Champions League!

JM

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Catching these four match-ups in the middle, so each will be half analysis/half prediction...
Seattle Sounders FC v. Houston Dynamo (0-0 aggregate)
After tying 0-0 in Seattle for the first leg, the finale will take place Sunday. The story of the first game was 90 minutes of physical brawling, I think the second leg will be the opposite: some entertaining soccer. Click to continue reading...

There are a few things we learned from the frustrating result Thursday. In ways they will influence how we watch and appreciate the Sounders performance on the road next Sunday. In other ways, they may be the same learnings that Sigi had in watching the film twice before an 11:30AM practice Friday. Click to continue reading...

The Seattle Sounders vs Houston Dynamo playoffs got the MLS playoffs to a raucous start with their edge of the seat performances even it ended in a goalless draw. Seattle also boasts the highest home attendances in the MLS. It all looks promising.

Except as this article points out, there is enough deadwood in the MLS.

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STARTERS
What does Dan Loney thing of the LA v Chivas playoff series: "Ideally, this would be a Loser Leaves Town match. If the Galaxy wins, Chivas moves. If CUSA wins, Beckham never returns. I could handle that." Read the whole thing here. Pure genius.
MLS PLAYOFF NEWS
I cocked this one up pretty bad - I woke up this morning and realized that I had forgot to link to the only MLS Playoff Preview you need to read - from Paul Demko at Bunky County. Click to continue reading...

One hell of a soccer match took place in Seattle last night. The MLS playoffs got off to a flying start as the Houston Dynamo and Seattle Sounders battled to a scoreless draw at Qwest Field in front...

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Fredy Montero hopes for better success in front of goal in Houston

The Seattle Sounders and Houston Dynamo played a highly contentious match on Thursday evening to a 0-0 draw. A capacity crowd of 35,807 at Quest field in Seattle saw a match that contained 6 yellow cards (3 for each side) and countless missed opportunities on both sides.

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photo courtesy Joshua Trujillo/seattlepi.com

What was Pat Onstad thinking? How could he lose his cool so suddenly in the most important game in the Dynamo's season? A dangerous cross came through the penalty area, just out of his reach, and continued over the byline. Sure, replays show Fredy Montero obstructing the goalkeeper, but not in any way dangerously.

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When you say to the uninitiated that you just watched a really exciting nil-nil game they tend to look at you in manner that suggests you are not all there; for them it's like going to Vegas and not gambling. But if you know what's what, a scoreless draw is akin to two blind-folded guys fighting; they may never land a punch but the near misses are what make it entertaining. Click to continue reading...

In an ill-tempered but entertaining affair last night at Qwest Field in Seattle, the Seattle Sounders and Houston Dynamo battled to a 0-0 draw in the first leg of their home and away MLSÂ Western Conference Semifinals series. The teams will meet again in Houston on November 8th to determine who plays the winner of the L. Click to continue reading...

The playoffs opened up last night in front of a raucous 30,000 + fans at Qwest Field in Seattle last night, but the expansion Sounders went home disappointed as they failed to find the back of the net in their 0-0 draw with the Houston Dynamo.

With the tie, Houston now only has to win at home when the series resumes on November 8th to advance to the Western Conference Finals.

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Blood, noise, yellow cards and a disputed whistle outnumbered scoring chances as expansion Seattle made its MLS postseason debut with a scoreless tie against the more experienced and bullish Houston Dynamo on Thursday night.
Seattle couldn't take advantage of dominating possession, or the energy created by 35,807 fans at Qwest Field. Click to continue reading...

Houston and Seattle played a classic match last night on national television. The unsporting Freddy Montero was unable to hand the physical pounding Dom Kinnear and the Houston defenders had in store for the much hyped, but little regarded (at least in Colombia) forward. Montero's solution: whine and go to ground easily.

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In a match that featured intense physical play, defensive dominance and a near-brawl, the Seattle Sounders drew 0-0 with the Houston Dynamo on Thursday night at Qwest Field. Seattle defender Patrick Ianni, a last-minute replacement in the starting lineup, came closest to scoring by hitting the crossbar, but the home side also needed a few clutch saves by Kasey Keller to salvage the draw.

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There was plenty of huffing and puffing in Seattle Thursday - here former Galaxy striker Nate Jaqua and Houston's Geoff Cameron challenge for the ball - but no-one blew anyone's house down in the scoreless draw. (AP Photo) The first game of the MLS playoffs are over and neither Chivas USA nor the Galaxy are any closer to knowing who the winner of their semifinal will face in the Western Conference Championship.

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So let's start the discussion. Here are some of my initial thoughts from tonight:
1. The Onstad Bump: After the game, Alexi Lalas showed the smarts that made him the GM he was when he said that Onstad should have gotten a red card for that contact. "99 times out of 100, that's a straight red," ranted his Gingerness. Click to continue reading...

The Major League Soccer playoffs began on Thursday, October 29, 2009 with the Seattle Sounders FC hosting the Houston Dynamo. It was a sold-out and very loud crowd of 36,000 at Qwest Field in Seattle for the match. Here's a full recap of the match along with video highlights.

Seattle Sounders FC draw with the Houston Dynamo 0-0 Video Highlights (will be added later)

1st Half

Houston had the first great chance of the match as Stuart Holden sent a corner into the box and Andrew Hainault headed the ball just wide of goal.

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Major League Soccer's playoffs begin tonight -- in less than ten minutes, as a matter of fact -- with the Sounders hosting Houston Dynamo, or Dynamo Houston. Here are the other matchups: East: Columbus vs. Real Salt Lake Chicago vs. New England West: LA Galaxy vs. Chivas USA When I look at the playoff matchups, any of the eight teams can appear at MLS Cup next month, and it's possible to see a path to a league championship for all eight sides. Click to continue reading...