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MLS Week 34 Preview: Plenty to play for as 'Decision Day' wraps up 2016

Reuters

The 2016 season of Major League Soccer is set to conclude Sunday as all 20 teams compete over the course of one single afternoon with a simultaneous kickoff at 4:00 p.m. ET.

The Supporters' Shield, bracket rankings, Golden Boot, and postseason berths are all on the line, so here are three things to watch on "Decision Day" in MLS:

Battle for the Western Conference

FC Dallas takes on the LA Galaxy and needs a win or a draw to claim the Supporters' Shield, while the Colorado Rapids could sneak in and steal the trophy with a win over the Houston Dynamo and a Dallas loss.

Dallas has a clear advantage, but the loss of key playmaker Mauro Diaz to an Achilles injury makes defeating the LA Galaxy twice as difficult. Colorado's test is against the Western Conference's weakest side, so a win shouldn't be too hard to find.

Further down in the Western Conference, Real Salt Lake and the Seattle Sounders square off with both teams looking to clinch a playoff berth. However, if Sporting Kansas City defeats the San Jose Earthquakes and the Portland Timbers defeat the Vancouver Whitecaps, one of those two sides would be eliminated from playoff contention.

One spot remains in the East

Five teams have already clinched playoff berths in the Eastern Conference. The sixth and final spot is on the line this weekend as the Philadelphia Union take on the New York Red Bulls and the New England Revolution face the Montreal Impact.

A win or a draw for Philadelphia secures a spot no matter what, but a loss coupled with a New England win opens the door for a switch ... provided the Revolution can overturn a minus-13 goal differential.

Mathematically, it seems impossible that Philadelphia won't be in the postseason party, but there's still a Golden Boot on the line in the East: Red Bulls striker Bradley Wright-Phillips (23 goals) has the edge on New York City FC ace David Villa (22), and both have one last chance to add to their tallies.

Cascadia Cup concludes

It may not be the most pressing issue on the day, but Seattle, Vancouver, and Portland remain in contention for the 2016 Cascadia Cup with one final opportunity to collect three points. Here's how we stand:

Team Points W-L-D GD
Portland Timbers 9 3-2-0 +3
Seattle Sounders 9 3-3-0 -1
Vancouver Whitecaps 6 2-3-0 -2

Seattle has played all six of its fixtures thus far, but the Whitecaps could move into first with a comprehensive win over Portland, as the first and second tiebreakers (most points, most points in between tied teams) would be all square and goal differential would have to be considered.

Should Vancouver defeat Portland by at least three goals, the Whitecaps would claim the Cascadia Cup and eliminate the 2015 MLS Cup winners from the 2016 postseason (the first time both MLS Cup finalists have missed the playoffs the following year).

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