Another amazing stadium opens this weekend. (Wilf Thorne / Houston Dynamo)

All eyes this weekend will be on Houston. Major League Soccer get to open up yet another soccer specific stadium and BBVA Compass Stadium will certainly be a proud one to display to the world. The bright orange seats and the oven-like feeling inside will almost certainly give the Dynamo a tough home environment to deal with.

Aside from that Week 10 in MLS also has some other good games of note including a huge showcase game in Seattle between Real Salt Lake and the Seattle Sounders. That clash will open up the Western Conference race a bit and show who really is the top dog in the league.

There are plenty of talking points for the weekend so here are some items I will be keeping a close watch on.

1. BBVA Goodness. I said yesterday in my predictions of New York and Houston that the Dynamo would likely not come out on top. The club would have their mind’s elsewhere and mostly they would be on Saturday’s home debut at their new stadium. Houston comes into this match with a respectable road record of 2-3-2 after seven games. Good but not great and certainly better than previous clubs who’ve started out the season with long road stretches while a stadium is being finished.

The Dynamo need a spark though. They’ve been marginal in seven games and really were just playing like a road team throughout. Hopefully the home game, in front of their fans, in a new environment that they can call their own will be enough of a spark to see just how good this team really is.

2. Can the Impact stay hot? I said it earlier in the week in my weekly recap, Montreal is the hottest Eastern Conference team going right now. Yeah, going 3-1-1 in their last five tells you that Jesse Marsch is finally hitting some of the right buttons. The midfield is coming around nicely and the defense isn’t giving up a ton of ugly mistakes.

They host the struggling Galaxy in one of the final games at the Big O this season for them. Naturally this will be another big draw for the expansion city. David Beckham, Landon Donovan, Robbie Keane and company all come to town hoping to finally get going for good here this season.

Honestly, after nine games you have to think the Galaxy may be as good as they’re going to be here this season. They obviously have the talent to do some serious damage still in this league but something hasn’t clicked for them this season and I don’t see it happening on the road in a game like this. Montreal plays a physical brand of soccer, not one that LA will do well against unless someone sees an early red for the Impact.

3. Sporting to get back on track. Two straight surprise losses to Portland and Montreal have everyone really wondering about Sporting Kansas City. The club started out strong winning seven in a row before falling in their last two. Either clubs have figured out how to contain Sporting or maybe Peter Vermes’ side just hit a bit of a wall here. No matter which way you look at it if they go three in a row without a win, some serious questions will be raised about them.

They head to Chicago this weekend to face the Fire, a club that is still searching for an identity. The Windy City bunch are coming off a solid home draw to Real Salt Lake last night. Marco Pappa is looking dangerous by the minute for the Fire and defensively Frank Klopas’ side is getting better as well – last night’s shutout proved that.

4. Pioneer Cup weekend. This isn’t a major rivalry in MLS but FC Dallas and Columbus do play for a shiny trophy. The two Hunt Sports Group franchises are struggling big time though at the moment. Each side is dealing with a ton of injuries to key players and both come into this game searching just for points.

If anything this could be a game that comes down to the wire. Dallas looked strong last night against Seattle for the first 60 minutes or so but just failed to convert any chances. Columbus on the other hand has an offense that you really can’t write home about here so far this season. Six goals on the season puts them near the bottom of the league in that department. Dallas isn’t a ton better with 10 goals scored but something tells me after last night that they’ll have a better shot at things with Blas Perez back on the field.

5. Battle for the top spot. While San Jose may have something to say about things on Sunday with their game against Chivas USA, both RSL and Seattle will be dogging it out Saturday night to try and take hold of first place in the Western Conference and MLS. Each side are playing very well these days and the Sounders are certainly the hottest club in the league right now.

Sigi Schmid was wise and lucky enough to rest some key players last night in Dallas for Saturday’s game. He mentioned afterwards that getting Fredy Montero and Mauro Rosales some rest will certainly go a long way for this weekend’s result.

Defensively though should be a fun clash. Seattle is on a nice shutout run while Salt Lake proved in Chicago that they can win without Nick Rimando in goal.

6. New York looking for more. I have to give it up to the Red Bulls. Without Thierry Henry they continue to grind away at the 1-0 results (now three in a row). Dax McCarty has stepped up nicely as a leader in the clubhouse while the young defense in front of rookie keeper Ryan Meara continues to shine.

Hans Backe has finally gotten his side into position to succeed in my mind. At 19 points after 10 games, the credit goes to the unlikely sources like Meara and McCarty.

The Red Bulls have to deal with a Philly club that is still struggling to find a footing into this season. The Union have one of the worst attacks in MLS right now and defensively have struggled to stay in games. I’d imagine this one will be a physical affair, possibly one that sees a few cards. But given the style of play out of these two sides right now I really wouldn’t expect anything more than a 1-0 or 2-0 game here.

San Jose and Vancouver have the potential to be the matchup of the weekend. (Getty Images)

Whew. Last night was quite a night in Major League Soccer. One game had eight goals, while the other two combined for five. Crazy night really when you throw in the two Amway Canadian Championship to the mix.

Now it is time to focus on the weekend ahead, all clubs that were involved in games last night have second games this weekend. So lots of double-dips here in Week 9.

Nine games are on tap this weekend starting tomorrow night in LA with Chivas taking on the Chicago Fire all the way until Sunday evening in Frisco when FC Dallas hosts the Colorado Rapids. Busy, busy weekend ahead.

Here are a few stories I will be following this weekend as MLS gets rolling further into a new month.

1. What do we know about the Fire? Honestly, the Chicago Fire may be the one club that I know the least about at this point. Blame the unbalanced schedule if you want but it is the truth. We’ve seen them the least (same can be said about Houston but that is for other reasons since their stadium is being built), and really there is so much to be asked of this club. Their young players, the speedy attack, their midfield. Each time I see them I like them a little more but I do feel that one big element is missing out of them. Someone that centralizes the attack or that main striker (no offense to Dominic Oduro or anything here).

They head to LA tomorrow to face a struggling Chivas USA club that can’t seem to get anything right at the moment, especially at home. Chicago has to come out early with their attack and dictate the pace from the start. Their open style of attack has to get an early start or the Chivas defense will get comfortable and possibly get a draw out of this one.

2. Any breakthrough for Toronto? Worst start in club history, tied for the worst in league history. The Reds have to have some bit of luck before long. Aron Winter probably doesn’t have a ton of time left either as his club didn’t exactly do well yesterday in Montreal in the opening semifinal leg of the ACC.

The attack is slowly coming together for this side, as we saw last week in Salt Lake but at some point a full 90 minute effort has to happen. So far this season they haven’t been able to put together more than 20 minutes of quality soccer at a time together. That has to change or else we could be staring at some very ugly history.

Toronto hosts D.C. United, a fiery offense lead by former Red Dwayne De Rosario. You know DeRo’s track record against his old clubs, so you have to expect a goal from him in this one. It is just a matter of can Toronto match him? I don’t know if they really can at this point.

3. Defensive battle in British Columbia. Vancouver and San Jose battle once again for the second time this season. Earlier San Jose dominated the Caps 3-1, showing that Vancouver’s defense was not as great as they had previously shown in the first four games (four shutouts in their first four games). Still the Caps have earned two more shutouts since that loss and are looking better and better. Offensively things are slowly working their way into form as Omar Salgado showed well last night in the ACC match with Edmonton. He, Sebastien Le Toux, Camilio, Eric Hassli, and the rest of that crew have to get going against the Quakes and their tough defense.

You have to love what the Quakes are doing at the moment, shredding everyone’s defense with their attack and coming up strong with their midfield and defensive group. Last night was a bit different though as D.C. United got three by this group, a first of this season. Still this one could become more of an offensive showing than a defensive one if things go the way they did last night. I’d love to see it really.

4. Stars lacking in MLS showcase game. No Thierry Henry or Rafa Marquez make the LA-NY game a little less interesting. The Galaxy held David Beckham and Robbie Keane out of last night’s loss in Seattle and given the form of these two clubs, I don’t think this is really a game the league can hang their hat on here this season. But hey, they’re going to try to. LA has to bounce back here after the loss in Seattle. They’ve not shown their offense as much as I would have liked to this season but going against a banged up Red Bulls squad, the time is now. I think an attack right down the heart of this Red Bull team is exactly what LA needs to do. Teams that have run at New York have seen great success this season and LA has just the attack that can do that.

5. The something has to give game in Portland. Between the Portland Timbers and the Columbus Crew, their meeting on Saturday night is in my mind the Something Has To Give Game. Neither team has shown well this season and for the Timbers, this game is an absolute must. While I don’t see John Spencer getting fired any time soon here, one has to believe another home loss would firmly place him on the hot seat.

Columbus on the other hand is still going through some growing pains in my mind. Talent is there but not enough of it to do anything of note this season.

This one really has to give something to one of these clubs in for form of points. Each need them badly as they are both tied with seven and are at the bottom of the league pile (just in front of Toronto of course). Kris Boyd has been good for Portland but at some point he has to show his worth with Kenny Cooper lighting things up over in New York.

6. 2010 MLS Cup rematch in Frisco. Yeah, I hate calling it that but for now on when Colorado and Dallas met, its a talking point. But really this one is about the return of Oscar Pareja to Frisco. Pareja was a major link for Dallas in the reserve game and into South America. So far he’s been able to use his connections in South America for the Rapids and slowly but surely they are paying off for him.

Neither club has done great so far this season but both are in the thick of things so there is something to be said about that. Colorado plays a little more open under Pareja while Dallas will try to play to their strengths on the wings with Brek Shea and Jackson.

This game has the makings of being fast and very open. A nice way to close the week out in my opinion.

RSL and TFC hope to end some winless runs this weekend. (Getty Images)

Midweek games here in Dallas never cease to amazing me at how much it breaks up my week. Normal weeks have me doing the same old thing but a game smack dap in the middle of the week is a nice break.

Last night’s RSL-FC Dallas game was a good one to get the new week started in Major League Soccer too. Even though both clubs were missing key players in big spots and neither truly looked like taking a hold of the game from the other, it got us going this week.

Now we head into the weekend where we see nine games on Saturday. You read that correctly, nine games. Big stinkin’ weekend.

Five of the nine are East v. West matchups while the others are good ol’ conference clashes. Unfortunately we don’t have any big time rivalry games to really get us in the mood this weekend but New England-New York on NBC will be solid enough to hold us over on the rivalry front.

With plenty of games there will be plenty to talk about as well. 

1. The Big O getting some Timber. It may not be the sexiest match on the weekend slate but Montreal hosting the Portland Timbers has plenty to offer. For one, the Timbers are finally off the mark after a four-game losing streak and are hoping to find their way offensively against a defense that has had plenty of issues against quality attacks. Kris Boyd is loving life in Portland according to some, and is finally getting use to MLS defenses.

The Impact on the other hand have had a little time off here to get their act together. This group has the talent. After seeing them in person I can say there is plenty of it across the field but Jesse Marsch hasn’t found the right combination of that talent to get quality results out of the door. Either it is a combination of not having a big-time go to scorer or the fact that their midfield is probably missing a link on the creativity side or something else entirely, Marsch and the Impact still have a long way to go here.

2. Red Bulls down defensively. Just about every quality name that Hans Backe has on defense will be missing this weekend against New England. So what will he have to do instead? Hope to the soccer Gods above that Thierry Henry and Kenny Cooper can run up the score to make up for it. Rookie keeper Ryan Meara has been good but given how many goals he’s given up this season, I’d almost be wiling to go ahead and say he isn’t the answer for them yet. But at the same time it is hard to say it when his defense is just standing still so much when quality attackers come down on them.

The Revs have a chance here to get going offensively in a game like this. New York showed last weekend in D.C. that they aren’t good at handling quick attackers with decent ball skills. New England does have a few guys that know how to dribble and a couple that have really good pace. Backe has a lot of work to do if Saer Sene, Kelyn Rowe and Lee Nguyen come down on them with pace.

It isn’t at all out of the question that this could be a 4-3 game.

3. Quakes show on the road. All the talk earlier in the week was about the San Jose Earthquakes. Writers like myself wrote about what a pleasant surprise they are and just how good they’ve been this season. They hit the road this weekend to face a Philadelphia Union squad that may give them trouble. Confidence is slowly building with the Union after two straight wins. Frank Yallop’s group has been so strong defensively this season on the road but an East Coast trip is always tricky for Western clubs.

San Jose just needs to keep it simple and effective. While their style of play isn’t at all sexy, their results are speaking for themselves here. The run and gun attack with Chris Wondolowski is still as effective as ever and with a couple missing links on the Union this weekend (due to suspension), he may have a little more room to be his dangerous self.

4. Sounders back in action. Hey remember the Sounders? Yeah, it feels like it has been weeks since we saw this club play last. Their Week 8 opponent knows exactly how they feel. The Chicago Fire have been on and off a couple times this season but are finally getting into the meat of their spring schedule. Both Seattle and Chicago have only played five games thus far here.

One thing will be clear, whoever can take a hold of this game will get the points. Chicago loves to play an open style where they find Dominic Oduro in space to run at defenders. We saw how effective they were last week in Toronto when Oduro and Patrick Nyarko were open and were running at defenders. Grant it Toronto’s defense is no where close to the same quality that Seattle has in the back but the Sounders will have to stay grounded in the midfield and now allow the open space that the Fire will be searching for. On the flip side the Sounders need to get Fredy Montero and Eddie Johnson going here. While Johnson had been hurt to begin the season, he did play in their last game against Colorado. Each player needs goals here to get this team where most believe they can go, a MLS Cup.

5. Winless in three against winless in six. Yeah something will have to give Saturday night in Salt Lake. Either Real Salt Lake will end their three game skid (they did pick up a point in Frisco last night but no wins are no wins here) while Toronto is just hoping for points period here. At some point Toronto’s front office will have to look and decide if Aron Winter is the guy for the job. I thought he was, and so did plenty of other people. But when you don’t win a single game after nearly two months of play, plenty of questions have to be asked.

I don’t like the Reds chances though in this one. RSL looked hungry last night in Frisco and could have gotten three points easily. I don’t believe RSL has gone winless in four games under Kreis, and I wouldn’t expect it to happen this season either.

All eyes will be in SKC-RSL but SJ-NY could be just as good this weekend. (Getty Images)

Just as we mentioned yesterday, this weekend we have a full slate of games in Major League Soccer. Eight games tomorrow and one on Sunday to be exact. There are actually plenty of good games this weekend for a change, including one massive showdown in Kansas City.

One thing is for sure, after this weekend we should know a lot more about how the Supporters’ Shield race will lineup this season and whether or not teams like the LA Galaxy or Portland are actually going to be the thick of things like we had originally thought going into the season.

Here are my predictions for the weekend, feel free to leave your own at the bottom.

Saturday

Columbus Crew at Philadelphia Union – A national TV match for the league this weekend, no offense to either club but I don’t believe the league front office is too happy about this one being the showcase game for them this weekend with SKC-RSL only being on local TV. But anyways, this one will still be interesting as we’re still finding out what these two sides are really going to be here this season. Columbus looked decent up until their 4-1 loss last weekend against New York, while Philadelphia has been rather pathetic all season long. Something tells me the Crew put up a fight in this one but the Union squeak out a goal late to get three points.

WVH Prediction: Philadelphia 2, Columbus 1

D.C. United at New England Revolution – All the talk this week was about Shalrie Joseph’s retroactive suspension that was handed down to him. Whatever the case may be this one doesn’t have a ton of appeal to the casual viewer. New England has some quality about them that I got to see here in Dallas last week but I don’t think they match up very well against the likes of Dwayne De Rosario and company. Knowing these two clubs though this one will end level.

WVH Prediction: New England 1, DC 1

Colorado Rapids at Seattle Sounders FC – The Brian Mullan return to Seattle here is one of the league’s top story lines of the weekend. The Rapids are an interesting club as it is under Oscar Pareja and I’d expect them to give Seattle a handful. Seattle needs to get their offense going early in this one if they want to get the points. This one feels like it could remain close but I give the edge to the Sounders in this one.

WVH Prediction: Seattle 2, Colorado 1

Chivas USA at Toronto FC – Is the Toronto FC that we all expected to be this season ever going to show up here? Winless, pointless and just dreadful so far but they at least get a west coast team visiting this weekend. The only thing in that they get the one west coast team that can win anywhere in the Goats. This one feels like a draw, nothing more.

WVH Prediction: Toronto 1, Chivas 1

San Jose Earthquakes at New York Red Bulls – The Red Bulls have not looked well against good defenses this season and the Quakes have one of the better ones in the league so far this season. San Jose has to find a way to shut down Kenny Cooper and Thierry Henry in this one, which is always easier said than done. This will either be a game that we see New York continue their offensive scoring ways or they crash back down to reality. I don’t think either come out of this with three points.

WVH Prediction: NY 1, SJ 1

Montreal Impact at FC Dallas – Will there be any more lineup shuffles for Montreal in this one? Same goes for Dallas too. The Impact are coming off their first win in MLS but going on the road to Dallas is never an easy trip for an expansion club. Dallas typically does very well at home against expansion teams and this one should be no different with Fabian Castillo running all over the Montreal defense.

WVH Prediction: Dallas 2, Montreal 0

Real Salt Lake at Sporting KC – The game we’ve all been waiting this entire week for. The top two clubs in the league going head-t0-head here. Just a shame it isn’t on national TV. The collection of talent on the field for this one is ridiculous, which should make for an entertaining contest. While I tend to side with RSL in this one based on talent and coaching you have to think that Peter Vermes and his SKC squad do have what it takes to get three points. They have the momentum and if they can get a late goal again in this one, I see them moving on with three points. However, this one is too damn close to call.

WVH Prediction: SKC 1, RSL 1

Portland Timbers at LA Galaxy – It’s been a rough month or so for both sides. Neither team is where we thought they’d be so far. While I believe Portland will put a good fight into this game I just feel this is one that the Galaxy take control of from the start and get three simple points out of it.

WVH Prediction: LA 2, Portland 0 

Sunday

Houston Dynamo at Chicago Fire – Oh yeah, these two clubs. Both have only played three games so far this season. This one has a draw written all over it though based on the time off these two have had and the fact that neither have shown that they have a strong enough offense yet to make any serious headlines.

WVH Prediction: Chicago 1, Houston 1

Sporting KC and RSL square off in the biggest match of 2012 - so far. (Getty Images)

What else can you say about the upcoming weekend in Major League Soccer? It’s damn full. Nine matches, eight of them on Saturday. Tons of interesting matchups across the board that should have everyone’s attention.

This could be the start of where we begin to see how teams will go for the rest of the season. Six weeks in and we know a good amount about each club but it always seem that once those first few games are out of the way that teams begin to separate themselves from one another at this stage. This season should be no different really.

I have a few items I will be looking at heavily this weekend, and here they are:

1. Getting off the mark. For both the Philadelphia Union and Toronto FC, this is a big weekend. Both have win-able home games against clubs that they should beat. Toronto gets Chivas USA, a club making the cross country trip while Philadelphia welcomes in the Columbus Crew, a team fresh off a 4-1 drubbing last week from the hands of the New York Red Bulls.

Even though it is still early, this could easily be a make-or-break kind of weekend for Aron Winter and Peter Nowak. Both of their clubs have been dreadful thus far this season and neither have found their way.

Toronto has to find a way to get their offense going with Danny Koevermans, while making sure that this gritty Chivas team doesn’t make it three straight on the road. Saying that Chivas is a pushover can’t be true anymore after wins in Portland and Salt Lake this season but a long trip to Toronto could be tough for Robin Fraser’s club. Toronto has to find their game and take it to Chivas early or else they could be staring at yet another loss.

For Philadelphia – the plan is simple – find the attack and make it happen against the Crew. Whether it be Danny Mwanga, Gabe Farfan, or someone even like Freddy Adu stepping up…someone has to take over for the Union attack.

2. Reaction to Mullan. It has been nearly a year since the dreaded tackle from Colorado Rapids midfielder Brian Mullan on Seattle’s Steve Zakuani. With Mullan’s return to Seattle set for this weekend, the reception of the veteran wing could be some must-see TV. To me, I hope the Sounder fans keep it classy when dealing with Mullan. I’m not saying they should shower him with praises and roses or anything like that but I do hope that the faithful there realizes that holding a grudge against a player that has already been forgiven for too long could come back to haunt them.

My guess it will end up being mostly boos from the crowd each time Mullan touches the ball. Thankfully most fans do get bored with booing the same guy over and over for 90 minutes.

3. Can the Quakes quiet the Red Bulls? Who would have thought six weeks ago that this could be an interesting match? I certainly did not with the way the Red Bulls started the first two games of the year. Now as we enter Week 6 you have one of the top offenses squaring off against one of the best defenses.

San Jose has done well so far this season at quieting quality offenses like Seattle and Vancouver while finding ways to get Chris Wondolowski the ball. Their style and pace on the wings has come alive with Marvin Chavez and Shea Salines but for me what is so impressive is their defense. Victor Bernardez and Justin Morrow have quietly become a force in the middle of the defense. They’ll certainly have their hands full with Thierry Henry and Kenny Cooper, two of the hottest strikers in MLS.

The Red Bulls come into this match scoring 13 goals in the last three games, with Cooper and Henry doing most of the damage. So far this year the Red Bulls have been quieted by good defenses in Dallas and Salt Lake, while running all over Colorado, Montreal and Columbus. How they handle another quality defense like in San Jose will answer a lot about this team. If they can run up the score yet again this weekend, New York will certainly be a force to deal with for the rest of the season. If not, then we’ll know their kryptonite.

4. What formation does Schellas Hyndman put out this weekend? For most of the season FC Dallas manager Schellas Hyndman has used the 4-1-4-1, a trusty formation that really works best with a healthy David Ferreira. But last week against the New England Revolution, he switched it all up going to a 4-4-2. The speed of the wings with guys like Brek Shea and Carlos Rodriguez doubled with the speed of Fabian Castillo up top made it tough for the Revs to deal with at times. This move was made to counter suspensions to Jair Benitez and Daniel Hernandez but with their returns you have to wonder what Hyndman will go to next.

Typically Hyndman doesn’t like to make too many changes from game to game if he doesn’t have to but with the injury to Ricardo Villar, he may have to make a switch again when they host the Montreal Impact on Saturday. Replacing Villar in a 4-4-2 setup isn’t that difficult, seeing how he wasn’t that involved in last weeks game. But in the 4-1-4-1 setup, it proves to be a tougher challenge.

5. Battle at 15 points. Real Salt Lake head to the midwest to battle Sporting Kansas City, in the battle of the top two sides in the league. Each team has 15 points so far and SKC is undefeated after five games. Two extremely strong teams here, really no edge either way in my book as to which way this one leans.

Sporting will want to assert their speed and skill up front early in this one but so far this season they haven’t seen a defense quite like RSL. Jason Kreis’ club always plays tough against quality offenses like Sporting’s and this one will certainly come down to who blinks first.

I’m sure somewhere some executives at MLS are wishing this has been a national TV game for the league. IT would have been a great one to showcase.

6. Dreadful Timbers and Galaxy square off. John Spencer said recently that this last month has been hell, well I am paraphrasing him with that. I’m sure Bruce Arena is thinking the same thing about his club’s performances over the last six weeks as well. Both sides only have a win to bank on up to this point and neither look like the clubs most expected them to be at the start of the season.

Both teams need points but more importantly each need a big performance out of their defense in this one. Neither has shown up well this season and while you could make the point about their offenses not stepping up to the plate as well, it is the defenses that really win in this league.

7. Oh yeah, Houston and Chicago. Man I hate the unbalanced schedule for reasons like this one. Both the Houston Dynamo and the Chicago Fire have been on and off all year not because of poor play on the field but because of the schedule. Both teams have played just three games so far. Yes just three. How insane is that?

Hopefully this match will shed a little more light on just how good the Fire will be this season. I think what we’ve seen so far is they have some quality around the pitch but someone else has to step up offensive other than Dominic Oduro. The same can be said in a way for the Dynamo as their offense has to have some form of life here too.

LA hopes to stop Kei Kamara and Sporting KC this weekend. (Getty Images)

Happy Good Friday to you all here. Major League Soccer is off for the day but tomorrow will be full of action as Week 5 finishes up with seven games – including two big rivalry games.

So far Week 5 has already given us two Western Conference wins over Eastern Conference sides. Neither were too pretty by Real Salt Lake or FC Dallas but three points are three points.

Here is how I see things shaking up for the weekend, feel free to leave your picks below as well.

Toronto FC at Montreal Impact – Neither club had a good midweek match on the road but you’d have to think Toronto will be emotionally drained coming into this one after losing in the CCL semifinals the way they did on Wednesday down in Mexico. The Reds hit the road for this one and honestly, it sets up nicely for the expansion Impact. If Jesse Marsch can find a way to get his offense going in this one with Justin Braun (who’s had some success in the past against TFC) or with guys like Justin Mapp, they could sneak out with some points. I would call this an upset but neither team are playing that well here. I’m going with the Impact to get their first win.

WVH Prediction: Montreal 1, Toronto 0

New York Red Bulls at Columbus Crew – This one will certainly be watched by many. Can the Red Bulls keep up this amazing run with their attack? Thierry Henry and company haven’t really faced a good defense in the last two weeks (Colorado was missing players and Montreal is well…and expansion team). Columbus is a little more tough in the back and will pose a different challenge to the Red Bulls. Shutting down Henry will be one thing but also containing Kenny Cooper and the rest of the Red Bulls midfield will be another thing. I think Columbus keeps it tight but it is hard to go against a team that is scoring as much as the Red Bulls are.

WVH Prediction: New York 2, Columbus 1

LA Galaxy at Sporting KC – This one thankfully is on national TV. KC goes for their fifth straight win to open the season out while the Galaxy are just hoping for something positive here. This one will not be easy for the Galaxy on the road, in the Blue Hell of LIVESTRONG Sporting Park. KC’s speed and skill up front will cause a lot of problems for the Galaxy. If LA can somehow get their offense going with David Beckhanm, Landon Donovan, Robbie Keane and Edson Buddle all being on the same page than it could be close. I’m going with form though over stars, KC has proven a lot over the last four weeks and I think they get number five.

WVH Prediction: SKC 1, LA 0

Vancouver Whitecaps at San Jose Earthquakes – Two extremely tough defenses square off in this one. They’ve combined to give up ONE goal this season. Yes just one, it was San Jose back in week 2 on a PK. Both teams have quality players in the attack but the defenses will be on display in this one. The shorter field favors San Jose more but Vancouver has the talent to handle it. This one feels like a draw.

WVH Prediction: San Jose 0, Vancouver 0

Seattle Sounders FC at DC United – The mini Open Cup rivals square off in RFK Stadium. I have to admit this is one of the more intriguing matches of the weekend card. DC looked great last week in their 4-1 win over Dallas while Seattle dropped a game at home to San Jose. The Sounders need to find their offense in this one or else DC will have an advantage with their guys up front. This one looks like it has a draw written all over it given  but I wouldn’t be shocked to see another DC win here.

WVH Prediction: DC 1, Seattle 1

Colorado Rapids at Real Salt Lake – Oh the Rocky Mountain Cup. I do enjoy these matches as they are intense. No doubt RSL will want to play better than they did on Wednesday at home. Its possible they were looking ahead to this match more and nearly overlooked Montreal. The two games in a week thing shouldn’t hurt RSL that much for this one. They are the deeper squad as it is. Colorado has played well this season and has proven they can score goals in bunches. This will be a midfield battle which I think gives the edge to RSL. Typically in this series the home team comes out on top so I’m going that route.

WVH Prediction: RSL 2, Colorado 1

Chivas USA at Portland Timbers – Two teams in desperate need of points already. Chivas is the lowly bunch in the West while Portland cannot afford to drop any more points at home. The Timbers have the better attack going into this one and defensively should be able to shut down the Goats. Chivas does have one win away from home this season and their only goal did come on the road. I don’t see that same magic/luck happening in Portland though.

WVH Prediction: Portland 2, Chivas 0

Agudelo was scheduled to undergo surgery on Monday.

It’s pretty likely that even when Agudelo returns to action for the Red Bulls that he’ll find himself back on the bench. Kenny Cooper and Thierry Henry are clearly the best choice at the moment for the club in the attack and Agudelo has never truly been in the good graces of manager Hans Backe.

It will be interesting to see if – and when he returns – as to just how much Backe will play him. One has to think that by that time the club should have Luke Rodgers back from his visa issues which means he’ll clearly be further down the depth chart. Not a good situation for a young striker that clearly needs playing time to progress here (gosh never thought I’d be writing that about an US player in MLS).

Houston and Seattle battle it out tomorrow night. (Getty Images)

We are chugging along here in the first month of the 2012 season. The third week of the season brings another full slate of games and talking points. There are a few decent games this weekend with a couple more that could end up being decent as well when it is all said and done.

Nine games on the menu this weekend across three days – only the LA Galaxy are off this weekend.

Below are some points I’ll be keeping an eye on this weekend.

1. West meets East. Six of the nine games this weekend feature a East v. West battle. Big games between Seattle and Houston and then Sporting KC and FC Dallas headline the weekend. Big thing to keep in mind is of those six games, four of them are in Eastern Conference venues. It will be interesting to see if the Eastern clubs can turn the tide at home after going the first two weekends without much to show for against the West. 

2. How good is Houston? Two road games in a row and two wins in a row have the Dynamo off to a rocking start. But how good is Dominic Kinnear’s club really at this point? The two 1-0 wins have come against one of the worst clubs in the league (Chivas) and a team that is decent (San Jose). Also, the Orange haven’t exactly lit up the boards with their offense as they’ve only chipped in two goals on the season, one being from the penalty spot last week.

Houston heads to Seattle for a big primetime battle with the Sounders tomorrow night. Seattle looked good in their home opener last week against Toronto as David Estrada ran all over the Reds with a hat trick. Toronto is a different defensive club than Houston is here. The Dynamo use the defense to their strength and will need to push around the Sounders early and often to get them off their game.

3. About those Quakes. San Jose takes their 1-1-0 record to the road to battle Toronto FC in their home opener. So far we’ve seen the Quakes play decent in a win over New England but then stumble against Houston last week. We know Chris Wondolowski can score but so far no one is really feeding him the ball. But they may be in luck as Toronto sweeper Torsten Frings is on the mend for a few weeks. Without him in the midfield, expect Toronto to be a little different and likely a bit weaker. If San Jose is indeed better this year, this will be a  game that they can prove it to us. On the road, in a tough environment, against a pretty decent team.

4. The questions in Philly. We’ve heard all week about stuff going on with the Philadelphia Union. Peter Nowak is playing things very oddly and in a way that can be easily made fun of too by folks in the press and online. This Union squad has talent, make no mistake about it, but right now they seem to be lacking some heart across the field. You’d expect a guy like Danny Califf or Carlos Valdes to step up and be the true veteran leaders that they are, but that hasn’t exactly happened yet in their two losses (for a variety of reasons no less). Offensively speaking the Union haven’t got it going so far this year and not having Freddy Adu isn’t making it easier.

The Union head to Chicago for their home opener. The Fire looked decent in Montreal last week but still have some question marks of their own. We don’t know how good this club really is or will be yet but we do know one thing, Dominic Oduro is certainly trying to make us realize that he isn’t going to be a one-hit wonder.

5. Turn the heat up in New York. We’ve talked about it this week, the heat under Hans Backe’s butt has to be getting warmer and warmer here. The Red Bulls opened the season with two straight road losses and losing their home opener is definitely out of the question. The panic button hasn’t been pushed, not yet at least. They get a Colorado Rapids squad that will be missing a key midfielder in Jeff Lawrentowicz, who got red carded late in Philadelphia last weekend. That’s a huge blow for a club on the road seeking a third straight win.

New York has to play their style of game. Direct, with pace on the wings with Dane Richards and Joel Lindpere. So far neither one of them has been involved much in their two losses. Without their services on the wings, Thierry Henry has been forced to sit further back into the midfield to get the ball. That cannot happen for a player like Henry. Having Rafa Marquez back in the lineup should help though, if he can be the defensive force in the midfield, it may allow pressure off the defense and some better service. At least one would hope that will be the case. If not, Backe and this club will be forced to answer a lot of tough questions.

6. Dallas travels with a slew of missing players. We’ve talked about wondering just how good a couple clubs are, well Sporting KC fits that mold. They’ve done well in their two wins to start the season, one on the road in D.C. and the other at home against a 10-man New England. Now they’ll host a FC Dallas squad missing Brek Shea, Fabian Castillo and likely David Ferreira. That’s a ton of offense for Schellas Hyndman to be missing, not to mention newcomer Carlos Rodriguez, who has been filing in on the wings will be out with the Panama U-23 national team. Ouch.

To me this one is simple, if KC plays to their strengths up top with Kei Kamara and CJ Sapong, then this one will be their’s without a doubt. Dallas has a strong defense for sure this season with the return of George John and newcomer Hernan Pertuz looking good but without the wing play in the midfield, Dallas will struggle in this one.

Sporting KC will look to extend their Eastern Conference lead this weekend. (Getty Images)

The weekend is finally here, though I’ll be honest this week flew by for me. Major League Soccer has a full slate of games this weekend with seven on Saturday and two on Sunday. Only the Columbus Crew are off this weekend (just something we’ll be living with this season due to the unbalanced schedule).

Last week didn’t yield any draws (shocking right?) but I think this weekend will return to the old habit from last season.

I had plenty of talking points yesterday for this weekend. Now it is time to pick who will win.

Saturday

Chicago Fire at Montreal Impact – Montreal opens up their home slate in what could be one of the higher attended games this season. Its possible that 60,000 could be on hand for this game between them and the Fire, who were off last weekend. The Impact didn’t look particularly great in week one in their loss at Vancouver but given the large crowd and the emotions of playing their first home game in MLS, you have to expect they’ll be fired up for this one. Expect the Fire to be balanced and controlled in this one but at the same time Montreal will let their emotions carry them to a point.

WVH Prediction: Montreal 1, Chicago 1

Houston Dynamo at San Jose Earthquakes – This one takes place at AT&T Park, normally a baseball venue. Both teams are used to smaller spaces so this one could be physical. Houston struggled offensively in week one but I’d expect their defense to carry them a bit in this one. If they can get Brad Davis back into the swing of things it will put a ton of pressure on the Quakes back line. San Jose was decent in their week one win over New England but I don’t think a ton of people were particularly impressed with them. Seeing them against a strong defense like Houston’s will be fun to watch. This one feels like it will end level though with not a ton of surprises.

WVH Prediction: San Jose 1, Houston 1

New England Revolution at Sporting Kansas City – KC did just enough to win last week on the road in DC while the Revs couldn’t get much going offensively in San Jose. I’d expect more of the same out of these two in this one as KC was very strong last year in LIVESTRONG Sporting Park. As long as they maintain the high tempo and press the defense of New England this one should be an easy three points.

WVH Prediction: SKC 3, New England 1

Portland Timbers at FC Dallas – FCD has a ton of injuries going into this one but the biggest loss will be Brek Shea, who is away with the U-23 national team. Dallas should be alright as Dallas loves to spread out the field and look to make Portland chase the game. Timbers will have to rely on their bread and butter, set pieces, to score in this one. This one feels like a draw though given Dallas’ roster issues and Portland’s inability to win on the road (at least that’s how they were last year).

WVH Prediction: Dallas 1, Portland 1

New York Red Bulls at Real Salt Lake – One thing to keep in mind is RSL rarely loses at Rio Tinto and they rarely lose to New York in Salt Lake in general. With the defensive and midfield issues the Red Bulls had against Dallas last week, I don’t think they’ll be able to handle a much better RSL team in this one on the road. RSL will force Thierry Henry into the midfield like Dallas did last week and that will be all they need to get easy turnovers from the other Red Bulls.

WVH Prediction: RSL 2, New York 0

Toronto FC at Seattle Sounders FC – Both had games in the midweek in the CCL, each ended in different results. There is little doubt in my mind that Toronto will have a let down in this one as Seattle will want to quickly get over the 6-1 loss at Santos. Both teams will be looking at their benches more for this one and that advantage still has to lean on Seattle.

WVH Prediction: Seattle 2, Toronto 1

Vancouver Whitecaps at Chivas USA – An interesting game to look at here. Chivas was dreadful in their opener last week while Vancouver ran all over an expansion team. Chivas can make things difficult in the offensive end for the other side but Vancouver has a ton of scoring threats that should be able to sneak through them. The Caps are looking for their first road win in MLS and I think they’ll get it here since Chivas won’t have any of their main scoring threats for this one (Juan Pablo Angel is likely out with concussion-like symptoms).

WVH Prediction: Vancouver 2, Chivas 0

Sunday

Colorado Rapids at Philadelphia Union – The Union have to defend better in their open opener than they did in Portland on Monday. I do believe this one could get clogged up in the midfield though as Colorado takes their new formation to the road. Defensively they looked good last week but given the Crew’s lack of attacking options, I think Philly will provide a stiffer test.

WVH Prediction: Philadelphia 1, Colorado 1

D.C. United at LA Galaxy – Forth game in two weeks. Yadda, yadda, yadda. Honestly, LA at some point has to show their true grit, and I think they do it in this one.

WVH Prediction: LA 2, DC 0

Just an incredible scene last night in LA. I won’t go into the sad facts of Seattle down in Mexico but let’s all tip our hats to Toronto FC for being the only MLS side left standing in the CCL after last night. Wow. I never thought I would type that little bit of info.

Now LA, Toronto and Seattle have to move on to another weekend of league play. For LA and Seattle, home games should be a little bit of comfort after losing in the CCL. Though for LA it seems that home is not where the heart is as they’ve lost two in a row at the HDC. Weird times indeed.

We have a massively large weekend ahead of us with nine games on the menu – seven of them set for Saturday. The lone team not included for those keeping score at home is the Columbus Crew.

There certainly are plenty of good talking points going into the second weekend of the season so here is what I’ll be watching out for.

1. The Big O. Montreal is planning and hoping to blow the roof of the Olympic Stadium. Over 50,000 are expected to be on hand and the Impact are hoping to make it closer to 60,000 by kickoff. Yeah you read that correctly, 60,000. The Impact host a hungry Chicago Fire team that had last weekend off. You have to figure the Fire are ready for this one, even though they’ll face a monster crowd at the Big O.

Montreal is looking for their first MLS goal as well. Last weekend they struggled on offense against an up-and-coming Vancouver defense. I’d expect an even tougher task against a Chicago defense that is stronger this season. Second-year defender Jahil Anibaba is a guy that will dictate a lot in the defensive third. 

2. Is San Jose for real this season? One of the bigger questions to come out of week one surrounded the San Jose Earthquakes. They pretty much dominated the New England Revolution in the season opener and got yet another goal from Chris Wondolowski. But is this club legit? I know it is too early to tell but momentum is one thing and so is confidence. A win like last weeks had to give Frank Yallop’s side a good bit of confidence going into a tough week two match with the Houston Dynamo.

One interesting nugget to point out is this one will be at AT&T Park, not at Buck Shaw Stadium. Yay for the Quakes getting a game to boost their season attendance numbers. But I digress, back to the point at hand.

Houston will certainly bring a stiffer challenge to the team from the Bay Area. Defensively the Dynamo are as strong as they come in MLS and if Brad Davis can get things going for the Dynamo on offense, the Quakes will certainly have their hands full. If anything, this game will show us what this San Jose squad is truly made of this season.

3. Dallas depth to be tested. One thing Dallas fans will constantly hear this season is how weak their midfield depth is, and for good season. Brek Shea will be gone with the U-23 national team for Olympic qualifiers and Fabian Castillo could be out with a knee injury. So who is left for Schellas Hyndman on the wings when they host the Portland Timbers on Saturday evening? We’ll likely see newcomer Carlos Rodriguez on one side, and if Castillo can’t go, look for Generation adidas player Andrew Wiedeman to be on the other. Wiedeman had a strong preseason for Dallas but a lot of those goals he scored did come against college sides. Translating that kind of play against higher level competition will be tough.

Portland will bring a squad that has a ton of confidence after their season opening win over Philadelphia. But the best way to get by Portland has always been on the flank, if that part is cut off for Dallas it will turn into a battle in the middle. The advantage could go to the visitors then, who only won two games away from home last year.

4. Trouble brewing for NY? Let’s just say it, without a quality defense, this New York side is going to struggle a lot this season. Thierry Henry can only do so much in the attacking third. Last Sunday in Dallas, Henry got absolutely no help from his midfield. I don’t think it will get any easier this weekend for him in Salt Lake. RSL’s midfield is easily one of the best in MLS and they proved it last weekend on the road in LA.

New York will have to get their act together in the defensive third however. Rookie keeper Ryan Meara did well in his debut last weekend but his defense gave up two real silly goals. RSL is much stronger in the attacking end than Dallas and you have to believe Jason Kreis will be eating up the film he saw from Sunday’s game in Dallas. Look for him to add a ton of pressure on the back four of New York, particularly against Roy Miller and Markus Holgersson. Neither one of those two had a good game in Dallas and were the weak link in the back.

5. The high and low at Qwest. On one end you’ll have a team riding high after a huge CCL win and the other will be hoping to forget what happened down in Mexico. Seattle got spanked around by Santos last night. The first half was close but the second half was just down-right ugly.

I’d expect this one to be a bit close as Seattle will have to get their legs underneath them a bit after making the long trip back to the Pacific Northwest while Toronto will be coming off an incredible high of winning in LA. I’ve been raving how much I like Toronto this winter and this is a game that they can use to prove themselves even more. Yes the LA series was a big stepping stone for Aron Winter’s club but doing the same against a tough Western conference side in league play is just as important.

6. Will LA bounce back? Let’s point out one thing, now that LA is out of the CCL they can at least get back to concentrating on the MLS regular season slate for a while. LA fans should be able to rest easy knowing that fact. They host a D.C. United squad on Sunday in a match that should be a tough one for the Galaxy. Teams are obviously finding ways to win at the HDC this season and you have to think this will be a big opportunity for Ben Olsen to get on board with winning there.

Olsen has to get his offense going though, particularly with Dwayne De Rosario, who was neutralized pretty well in the season opening loss to Sporting Kansas City last week. Juninho and guys in the midfield will have to lock down DeRo, while hoping David Beckham, Landon Donovan, Edson Buddle and Robbie Keane can carry the offensive load against a young defense from United. It is as simple as that, those four have to carry the load while this defense of LA’s gets settled here this season.