Let’s not waste any time here…

1. New England Revolution (33 pts., same) – Big week, SuperLiga final tonight, and Chicago at home on Saturday. Yeah the same Chicago Fire club that has thrashed them for seven goals this season. Wonder which game the Revs are more focused on this week? Both are big.

2. Chicago Fire (29 pts., up 1) – Think the Fire are ready to beat New England up once again? Especially away from Toyota Park? Another big win like that will give people reason to doubt the Revs again and to jump back on the Fire bandwagon. Only two clubs have more wins right now than the Fire, yeah those two clubs that they are chancing right now (Columbus and New England). Patrick Nyarko looked good up until that head-on-head clash with Chivas’s Claudio Suarez.

3. Houston Dynamo (26 pts., up 2) – Even without a full strength lineup they still played very well against Columbus on Saturday. Dominic Kinnear’s surging club has allowed only four goals in 10 games in all competitions. Better yet they’ve only lost four all year. Big week ahead though for this club.

4. Columbus Crew (31 pts., down 2) – Are we starting to see that end of summer funk by the Crew? One win in their last five isn’t good for a club that is so close to making a lot of things happen. Once Robbie Rogers and Emmanuel Ekpo return from the Olympics they should be fine. Thankfully they have a week off now to rest and get healthy again.

5. Real Salt Lake (27 pts., down 1) – The bump only because of no play for the week. They are now they only club with an undefeated mark at home. Sorry but no truth to the rumor that they want to take the same turf from Rice-Eccles (football lines and all) to their new stadium later this fall. Still, with that nice home mark they still must make believers out of me and everyone else when they are on the road.

6. DC United (25 pts., same) – I wanted to move them up, I did, but there was no where else for them to go but here for now. Nice home win for the Black-and-Red this past weekend. Jamie Moreno is having a stellar year right now with seven goals and seven assists. Sounds a lot like the year that Ben Olsen had a year ago for them. MVP-candidate maybe? I think so.

7. FC Dallas (25 pts., up 3) – Big movers here are the Hoops. They’ve found a way to win at the dreaded BMO Field in Toronto. Thanks largely to an elbow from Amado Guevara to Pablo Ricchetti’s face. That was a game changing moment, good for Dallas but bad for the homeside. Kenny Cooper continues his impressive pace.

8. Chivas USA (22 pts., same) – A tough road loss but some promise was definitely shown out of this club. Nice to see Maykel Galindo back on the pitch too. That has to be a positive sign for this club. Other than the Zach Thornton deal, is this club going to make any more moves here? They should.

9. Kansas City Wizards (22 pts., same) – Kind of in the same boat as Chivas, tough road loss but also needs to make some moves here to try and move up the standings right now. With no Josh Wolff their offense looked lost yet again. I said there was reason to doubt this club and they proved it yet again with their youth and inexperience.

10. Toronto FC (22 pts., down 3) – They pretty much just flipped places with Dallas in the rankings because of mental breakdowns late in the game. If they can’t win at home you can pretty much kiss their playoff hopes goodbye. I wonder what TFC fans think of Amado Guevara now. Also, are they ever going to move Jeff Cunningham and sign another striker? The clock is ticking away fast.

11. LA Galaxy (23 pts., same) – Can’t hold leads even to expansion clubs right now. Yikes.

12. San Jose Earthquakes (18 pts., up 2) – They deserve the move but sorry Quake fans this is as high as I can put them for now. But if that kind of play continues out of this bunch they could make some playoff noise.

13. New York Red Bulls (22 pts., down 1) – A week off should give us a better idea of where this club is going to. But by the looks of things before this past weekend’s break, its not going well. Big time clash with Atlantic Cup rivals DC this weekend. A win against them would easily ease some pains in the Red Bulls camp.

14. Colorado Rapids (21 pts., down 1) – This club has been too quiet during the transfer window. Why? Hard to tell but I would love to see them make the move that I suggested yesterday, Pablo Mastroeni for Carlos Ruiz. It probably won’t happen but damn it would be a big deal for each club if it did.

A pair of late second-half goals from Kenny Cooper led FC Dallas to a 2-0 win. Cooper is now tied atop the Budweiser Golden Boot standings with Landon Donovan with 13 goals on the year. A couple weeks ago Cooper was only on pace to net about 15 goals this season, now it seems like he could get 20 or even 25 at the current tear that he is on.

There was really no doubt this weekend who was the best player and who had the best game. There were a couple others out there that had a solid weekend but none as good as Cooper’s two goals.

Now if Dallas can just hold on to him for another two weeks they could be looking at a playoff birth with Cooper.

Anyways, week 19 ended similar to week 18 with Cooper on top as the league’s Player of the Week.

Goal of the week was a little tougher to decide this week. Not that many goals to pick from here. Cooper had a nice one to put the game away for Dallas against Toronto but I felt Houston’s Brad Davis had a great strike in their 2-0 win over the Crew.

Five solid games though, with some surprising results to some. I think one thing is clear though, someone may be getting the boot out in LA this week (more on that in a bit). Also, some big changes need to happen up in Toronto.

Yeah, some clubs are rising while others are falling faster than anyone would have thought a couple months ago. Why is that? Simple, its called parity and this league is filled with it.

So what happened this weekend? Let’s get down to business and see…

DC United 2 – 0 Kansas City Wizards:

• Okay, so DC looks like they have ended their slight funk here now right? I think so, from what I saw they pretty much handled this game and never really looked like losing it for a second.
• What do we get out of this for KC? Its their first loss in eight matches (3-0-4 in the seven before Saturday). From what I said in the game preview, those draws will still give people a reason to doubt them. And it’s pretty true after watching this one.
• More amazing stats here, this was DC’s first shutout of the year. Yeah, I think sometimes we forget how overrated this club’s defense has been this year.
• The Ivan Guerrero addition looked like it has paid off pretty well for DC, I thought he played very well on the flank for the Black-and-White.
• The offensive issues for KC continues, Josh Wolff was out due to a hamstring injury. How long will he be out because this offense looked a bit off without him.
• KC did out shoot DC in this one, but its what they do with those chances is what sets them apart from other teams in this league right now.
• For all the flack that Zach Wells has got this year he finally looked pretty good in this one. Maybe it was the younger defensive line in front of him that helped out, or not. Whatever it was Wells looked better.
• Nice goals from Luciano Emilio and Jamie Moreno. Those two continue their solid pace here.
• How valuable has Moreno been to this club this year? Not only does he have seven goals but also has a nice seven assists. I love those kinds of stats on a player.

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Chicago Fire 1 – 0 Chivas USA:

• Early goals continue to haunt clubs, this time around its Chivas who gives up an early goal to rookie Patrick Nyarko. Chicago never looked back from that.
• For the most part I felt Chicago held a lot of possession, even with the lead and even without Blanco in the middle of the park (he was suspended for this one).
• Marco Pappa showed exactly why the Fire went out and got this kid on loan. Lots of good stuff from him early on.
• Chivas does have show some promise though in this one. especially when they were pressing late to get the equalizer.
• Jon Busch again made some key saves in the win.
• If I am a Chivas fan I am happy to see Maykel Galindo back on the pitch, no word yet on how his sports herna is doing but if it is fixed then things could be looking up offensively for Chivas.
• Chicago still showed how good their defense is here in this one, lots of close moments that were just stuffed out by Conde and Segares.

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Houston Dynamo 2 – 0 Columbus Crew:

• From the looks of it, it seems like Houston is really back here. They didn’t take the foot off the pedal for this one with Tuesday’s SuperLiga contest in front of them.
• I think what’s more impressive about this Houston club is the fact that they only have four losses this season. I know they have a league high eight draws but they aren’t losing much here.
• The heat may have been an issue but Houston were able to get through it.
• This one another one of those games for Columbus that they were in it but just weren’t lucky enough to put one home in the end.
• Houston probably was lucky at times for this not to be a draw but unlike the Crew, the Dynamo made the most of their chances.
• I wish both clubs were at full strength for this one, too many suspensions or international callups here but this one was still very entertaining to watch. I wouldn’t mind a Houston-Columbus MLS Cup if it came to it.
• Brain Ching looks much better with Nate Jaqua by his side, he is free to roam a little more and possess the ball a bit more. Which leads to more goals as we saw Saturday night.
• Kei Kamera may just be the Jospeh Ngwenya type trade that Houston was hoping to score here this year. His speed will be a killer thing off the bench here late this year.
• I love watching Guillermo Barros Schelotto play. His passion, intensity, and just overall skills are amazing to watch. Just too bad he doesn’t have enough help some nights to get the win for his club.

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San Jose Earthquakes 3 – 2 LA Galaxy:

• Oh how people doubted this prediction that San Jose would win, but with the way LA had been playing lately and the moves that San Jose was making this just smelled like an upset.
• Lots of action from end to end on this one. But who saw that ending to this one?
• The Arturo Alvarez pickup for the Quakes is going to prove to be a big one, I think he will love being back in San Jose and it definitely showed early in this one.
• Same goes for the Darren Huckerby signing, he nets his second goal this weekend.
• Give the Galaxy a bit of credit though, they got their way back into this one but again we see their defense be the reason for another loss here.
• Both Donovan and Buddle added to their season totals, and Carlos Ruiz was nowhere to be found (yeah he came on late and did nothing in the final 15 minutes).
• So when is LA going to fix their defense? Last week their excuse was the heat, this week it was what the early start time or the crappy field? Something has to get fixed or this club will miss the playoffs.
• San Jose is quickly becoming one of those clubs that no one wants to play right now.

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FC Dallas 2 – 0 Toronto FC

• Kenny Cooper scored again…and again for another Dallas win.
• This game was 10 minutes from being just a 0-0 draw before all hell broke lose. One elbow to Pablo Ricchetti’s face by Amado Guevara put Cooper at the PK spot for the game’s first goal.
• Minutes later Marco Velez lost his temper and put his team down yet another man.
• And even the Toronto trainer got the boot. Damn what is going on with this club?
• Cooper’s second was very pretty, if not the prettiest from this weekend. A nice long-range shot that was low and too hard to get for Toronto keeper Greg Sutton.
• I thought this game was very evenly played by both clubs up unto that 80th minute elbow in the box.
• Was that a good call on that Guevara red card? Yes and no, it really was a gutsy call by the official.
• First home loss in league play since last September by Toronto. Blame it all on the lack of composure here.
• The lack of offensive options for Toronto right now is just troubling. Will they make a move or not here?
• For Dallas I wonder if this recent play is a product of playing two clubs not doing well as of late or a product of Schellas Hyndman’s system finally working and paying off? Its a bit of both really.

All five matches have a bit of importance to them as some contenders will go head to head. Clubs will be looking to inch up the standings a bit. The biggest question may be, can Columbus win in Houston to surpass New England atop the standings? That’s one of the few questions that will come out of this weekend.

Let’s get down to business here.

Kansas City Wizards – at – DC United: One club hasn’t played well at home in recent weeks (both in league play and out) and the other hasn’t lost since mid-June. Its one of those classic, something has to give kind of games.

The Wizards kicked off the season with a home win against DC in a game that showed DC had a long way to go and that there would be reason to hope and believe in KC this season. Fast forward to August (yes we are in August now believe it or not) and both clubs are sort of in a similar spot. One should be doing well and the other is still trying to make us believe in them.

Injuries in the midfield have caught up to DC yet again this summer. Their lack of quality play in the midfield spurred the trade for Ivan Guerrero earlier in the week. I wouldn’t be shocked to see him get some playing time in this on the flank for the Black-and-Red. Attacking KC on the wings is the best way to beat them I believe, most of their losses have been against good wing attacking teams.

Give the Wizards some credit though, no losses in a seven game span isn’t easy to go, but having four draws in that time will give people a reason to still doubt this club. They need to attack early and often at RFK. Going to DC isn’t exactly their favorite place to play but they have gotten wins there before.

I think this one will be another draw for the Wizards. DC is still solid at home for the most part and I see guys like Fred and Luciano Emilio getting back on track here after their fallout from SuperLiga. KC does have enough offense to beat a pretty overrated DC defense right now (who will miss their best defender Gonzalo Martinez to suspension).

Emilio for DC and Lopez for KC.

WVH Prediction: DC 1, KC 1

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Chivas USA – at – Chicago Fire: A couple of clubs looking to get closer to the top of their respective conferences with a win faceoff in the Windy City. Both however will be without some key players so it will be interesting to see how this one pans out.

Chicago will miss Blanco and Diego Gutierrez who are both out on yellow card accumulation. Chivas will be missing Sasha Kljestan who is with the Olympic team for another couple weeks. It seems like without Blanco and Kljestan, this game has lost a little bit of luster.

The Fire honestly need to win this game. Sure they’ve played well as of late, no losses in their last five, but four of them have been draws! At some point they have to break the mold and get back on the winning way here before some other teams in the east catch up to them or the teams ahead of them (New England and Columbus) continue to break away from them.

This seems like a good weekend for the Fire to break that mold. As much as I think Chivas will be riding a good buzz from their play in SuperLiga, I just think they’re missing some key pieces in the attack that could make a difference against this tough Chicago defense. Chicago won’t put up a lot of goals in bunches against Chivas but I do seem them putting a couple by this Chivas defense this weekend at home.

Justin Mapp and Chris Rolfe will haunt Chivas all night.

WVH Prediction: Chicago 2, Chivas 0

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Columbus Crew – at – Houston Dynamo: May be the best matchup of the weekend. The Crew are a win away from putting themselves into first place of the overall league table. While Houston is a win away from getting closer to western leaders Real Salt Lake.

Houston is coming off some strong play in league and out of league play. They advanced to the SuperLiga finals this week after knocking off DC on the road last week. Does this mean the Dynamo have finally gotten their championship form back? I think so, especially because of Nate Jaqua who has looked really good so far for the Orange.

The bad part about this game, both clubs are missing a lot of their attack. Houston will be without Stuart Holden and Patrick Ianni who are with the Olympic team and Dwayne De Rosario who is out on suspension. Columbus is also missing Emmanuel Ekpo and Robbie Rogers to the Olympics along with Frankie Hedjuk and Steven Lenhart to suspensions.

Never fear though, this one should still be a good one. These two clubs always play each other close, in five meetings all-time each club has scored five goals each, each club winning one and draw the other three. I don’t see that changing tomorrow night.

I still expect a close, low scoring game out of these two clubs. Houston plays well at home and Columbus knows how to play well on the road. Smells like another draw to me for this weekend. With all the players missing for each side it just seems to look that way.

WVH Prediction: Houston 1, Columbus 1

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LA Galaxy – at – San Jose Earthquakes: The Quakes are making a push here. Loads of moves in the past couple of weeks. They host an afternoon tilt with their California Classico rivals LA, a club you’d expect to be making more moves right about now but haven’t really.

I think the early kickoff will be tough again on the Galaxy. They sort of used the heat excuse in Dallas for the loss last weekend and I bet if they lose this one it will be due to the early start time. They should still be able to beat this expansion club, even on the road with their offense.

I like the new additions to San Jose but I still wonder if they are enough for these final 12 games to get them into the playoff picture. Right now they are only seven points out, but the thing is I doubt many clubs take them that serious just yet. A win over their rivals would do just that.

After watching the Quakes over the last couple of weeks I think they can get it done on Sunday. A win would put them within striking distance of a playoff spot and really make things interesting not only out west but in the overall table in MLS.

Huckerby nets another as the Quakes stun the Galaxy in Oakland.

WVH Prediction: San Jose 1, LA 0

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FC Dallas – at – Toronto FC: A year ago Toronto totally dominated Dallas at BMO Field by a 4-0 scoreline. Don’t expect that to happen this year considering how poorly Toronto’s offense has been as of late. Dallas seems to have got their mojo back a bit with an impressive win last weekend against LA.

But let’s not forget one thing here, Toronto hasn’t lost in league play at home all year and even better have only given up two goals in those nine games at BMO Field. As much as I like Dallas’s offense right now with Kenny Cooper and Dominic Oduro, I just don’t like them at BMO Field against a pretty decent Toronto defense.

Two things will happen in this one, Toronto will break out of their funk with the debut of Chad Barrett or they will continue in their funk with either their first home loss or another draw. Dallas just has to show up and play their game like they did a week ago at home. Control the flanks, keep the possession and attack early and often.

I think this one could be an exciting game if Toronto can get in it and make some offense happen for once. The Reds are missing some key parts like Maurice Edu and Danny Dichio. Those losses may be tough to overcome as we’ve seen in the past weeks.

A draw sounds good based on how Dallas plays on the road and just how tough it is to play in BMO Field. Dallas is a young team still and young teams typically fall on the road but I think they will continue their momentum from last week and at least get another draw.

Cooper still continues his pace but Dallas’s defense will get the best of them yet again.

WVH Prediction: Toronto 1, Dallas 1