With little to choose between the teams over the course of the campaign so far, St Louis City and Sporting Kansas City will do battle at CITYPARK on Sunday as the MLS regular season draws increasingly closer to its end.
This weekend's meeting will be the third edition of this fixture since the turn of the year, and both teams will be keen to come away with maximum points this time around having played out stalemates in the earlier two clashes.
Match preview
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A week on since suffering a disappointing 3-1 defeat, St Louis City wasted no time getting themselves back to winning ways courtesy of a 2-1 triumph over San Jose Earthquakes at PayPal Park on Sunday.
John Hackworth's men made yet another flying start and were up by two inside the first 13 minutes following strikes from Cedric Teuchert and Marcel Hartel, although Jeremy Ebobisse did pull one back five minutes from the interval.
Teuchert has really come to the fore since making his debut, as his most recent opener saw him break the deadlock within 10 minutes for the third time in the last four games off the back of early strikes against Minnesota United and Los Angeles Galaxy.
St Louis City's victory last time out means they have now picked up eight points from the last 15 available—twice as many points as they managed from the previous five league matches.
However, Sunday's hosts still have a near-insurmountable deficit to make up in the race for playoff contention, with 11 points separating them from ninth-place Minnesota heading into the final four games.
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Sporting Kansas City missed out on the opportunity to end a seven-year trophy drought following a 3-1 defeat to Los Angeles Galaxy in the final of the US Open Cup on Thursday morning.
Having endured a largely underwhelming league campaign to date, Peter Vermes's men could really have done with a piece of silverware, but it was not to be, with Omar Campos and Kei Kamara netting in extra time after Erik Thommy had cancelled out Olivier Giroud's opener in normal time.
That was a third defeat in four matches for the Wizards, who are on the verge of being mathematically ruled out of playoff contention as they currently sit level on points with St Louis City ahead of the trip to Missouri.
Just under a year since the teams met in last season's playoffs, both of Sunday's opponents could now see their postseason hopes extinguished this weekend, highlighting their fall from grace.
Team News
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Henry Kessler is still out of contention for St Louis City with a concussion, while fellow defender Joakim Nilsson continues to nurse a torn hamstring.
Tomas Ostrak and Celio Pompeu also miss out through ankle and foot injuries respectively, but the latter is closing in on a return to action for the home side.
Chris Durkin lasted just 24 minutes last time out as he had to come off with a knee problem, which will see him miss this weekend's encounter.
Nemanja Radoja remains a guaranteed absentee for Sporting Kansas City here after picking up a long-term groin injury in August's Leagues Cup clash against Toluca.
Thirty-year-old German Erik Thommy has scored three times in his last three outings for the away side and is definitely one to keep an eye on.
Jake Davis is ineligible to feature as he serves a one-game suspension, opening the door for Memo Rodriguez to return to the starting lineup.
St Louis City possible starting lineup:
Burki; Horn, Hiebert, Yaro, Totland; Watts, Hartel, Teuchert; Thorisson, Alm, Joao Klauss
Sporting Kansas City possible starting lineup:
Melia; Shelton, Rosero, Voloder, Leibold; Rodriguez, Walter; Afrifa, Thommy, Salloi; Agada
We say: St Louis City 2-1 Sporting Kansas City
With two of the division's poorest defences going head-to-head, we anticipate an open and entertaining affair in this one.
That said, we are also leaning towards a narrow victory for the home side come the end of the 90 minutes.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
