MLS Playoff Preview

WESTERN CONFERENCE:
Chivas USA vs. Kansas City Wizards
The Western Conference champions, Chivas USA, plays the fifth-placed team from the East in a tie that looks simple enough on paper. Few predicted Chivas USA would win the conference this season, but win it they did, showing solid defense and dominating their home schedule, going a league best 10-1-4 at the Home Depot Center. The season ended on a down note, however, with the two scoreless ties and a defeat in their last three games, and the loss of key forward Ante Razov to an injury which will keep him out of the entire postseason. Razov scored 11 of Chivas USA's 48 goals this season, and his absence will be keenly felt. Even without him, Chivas USA should have enough to beat the Wizards. Kansas City started the season tremendously well, but lost its luster in the second half, and backed into the playoffs, relying on results elsewhere as it lost three of its last five games. A porous defense, which had not kept a clean sheet since July 14 before Saturday's 2-0 win over FC Dallas, could still struggle even without Razov roaming around for Chivas USA. Chivas USA will need a plan to defend against Eddie Johnson, the Kansas City striker who is hoping a good playoff campaign can earn him a move to Europe, but I'm still backing Preki's men to come through in this one.

Houston Dynamo vs. FC Dallas:
The other semifinal in the West sees the teams from Texas go head to head once again, and Houston has to be the clear favorite here. Here's why. - The Dynamo boast the best defense in the league, built around center backs Eddie Robinson and Ryan Cochrane. - Houston has already beaten FC Dallas three times this season, with the other game between the two ending in a draw. "(Regular season results) go out the window and everyone starts from square one," said Dynamo coach Dominic Kinnear. Maybe so, but which end of a 3-0-1 record would you rather be on? - Dallas is desperately short of form, and won only once in its last eight games of the regular-season. The Hoops have not scored in 11 games, a club record. Houston is not the team against which to correct such a skid. - Dallas' star man, Denilson, has been so short of form that he was dropped for the last game of the season, the 2-0 loss to Kansas City. "I went for four guys across the middle of the field who I thought would get the job done," said coach Steve Morrow when asked about Denilson. "It's as simple as that." And Houston will beat Dallas. It's as simple as that.

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EASTERN CONFERENCE
DC United vs. Chicago Fire:
Time to predict an upset. This Eastern Conference semifinal matches the Supporters' Shield winner, United, with a Chicago team that only made sure of its postseason place with a victory over Los Angeles Galaxy on the final day of the season. So why am I backing Chicago? This Fire team is a long way from the one that was last in the Eastern Conference a few months ago. Since the arrival of star signing Cuauhtemoc Blanco, coach Juan Carlos Osorio, and striker Paulo Wanchope, they have been transformed into a team that might well have given United a run for their money at the top of the conference had they been together from the start. They finished the season on an eight-game unbeaten run that propelled them back into playoff contention long after they had been written off. Contrast that with a United team that lost two of its last four games, including a home loss to the Columbus Crew on the final day of the season. In head to head games with United, the Fire lost the first one but have played to scoreless draws in the last two meetings. That sounds about right. This will be close, very close, but I can see Chicago keeping its run going.

New England Revolution vs. New York Red Bulls: These East Coast rivals never get tired of playing each other. Which is good because they get to meet two more times this season. It should be a riveting encounter, with two of the highest-scoring strikers, New York's Juan Pablo Angel and New England's Taylor Twellman going up against each other. I struggled to pick a winner here. New York, with its balanced roster of youth and experience, seems better equipped, but this is New England's time of year. The Revolution have made it to the final in each of the last two seasons, only to come home empty-handed on both occasions. A glance at both team's recent record offers few clues either. New York finished the season in uninspired form, winning only two of its last eight games, but New England was little better, losing two of its last three. New England topped the regular-season series, winning two and drawing one, but all three games were close. Still, I have to go with New England. It's little more than a gut feeling. There's not much between these two, and I expect the games to be decided by a mistake. New York's defense is more likely to make it.