Breaking Down What's at Stake on MLS Decision Day

The final day of the Major League Soccer season is here.

Decision Day is split into two time windows. The Eastern Conference teams will play first at 3:30 p.m. ET, and then the Western Conference sides will do battle at 6:30 p.m. ET.

The Supporters' Shield is the biggest prize that will be handed out Sunday. The Philadelphia Union and Toronto FC are fighting for the trophy traditionally handed to the team with the most regular-season points. If the two teams are tied, wins and goal differential are the first two tiebreakers.

In the East, five teams are still alive for the conference's extra Nos. 9 and 10 seeds, while the eight playoff spots in the West are set.

The final standings will be determined by points per game, which will affect the teams in the West who still have seedings to decide since there is discrepancy in games played caused by COVID-19-related cancellations. Three franchises can make a claim for the No. 1 seed, while another threesome will be battling for the right to host a home playoff game.

Philadelphia fell to the Columbus Crew in its first opportunity to secure the Supporters' Shield last Sunday. The Union's second shot comes at home against the New England Revolution, a team they have played four times already in 2020.

Jim Curtin's men can win the Shield with a win or tie against the Revs combined with a Toronto loss or tie against the New York Red Bulls.

If the Union and TFC both win, Philadelphia would earn the Shield on goal differential. The Union sit at +22 compared to TFC's +8, a difference that was carved out by the Union's 5-0 thrashing of the Reds at Subaru Park on October 24.

Toronto can hoist the Shield by producing a better result than the Union.

Unlike Philadelphia, Toronto has not faced its Decision Day opponent on multiple occasions in 2020. It drew 1-1 with New York in their lone meeting of the year on October 14.

Orlando City and the Columbus Crew can't win the Shield, but they can finish off strong regular seasons Sunday.

The Lions sit in third place with 41 points, and the only thing left to be decided for them is their seeding and home-field advantage. They could finish either third or fourth.

Columbus needs to beat Atlanta United, whom it has three straight league victories against, to lock in a top-four position.

If that occurs, the Crew would force New York City FC, New England and the New York Red Bulls to battle it out to secure a top-six finish and avoid the play-in round. The No. 3 seed will take on the No. 6 seed and the No. 4 seed will play the No. 5 seed in the conference quarterfinal round. NYCFC is locked into the No. 5 seed, but the Revs could fall out of the No. 6 position with a loss and a wins by either the Red Bulls or Nashville SC.

If there is no drama with the Shield and the final home playoff berth in the East, you can look to the mess at the bottom of the East playoff places for the high-stakes action.

Montreal, Chicago, Atlanta, Inter Miami and D.C. United are all still alive for the final two playoff positions. Whichever two teams emerge with the final playoff positions will head on the road November 20 for the East play-in round. With the No. 9 seed facing No. 8 and No. 10 playing No. 7.

Montreal and Chicago have the simplest playoff scenarios in front of them. If both teams win, they will be the last two postseason entrants.

The Fire, however, have failed to win in their last four games against their opponents, NYCFC. For Montreal, a loss or tie against D.C. United, whom it defeated in the sides' lone 2020 meeting, opens up a realm of clinching possibilities for other teams:

• Atlanta can secure a playoff berth with a win over Columbus combined with an Impact loss or tie.
• If Inter Miami takes down FC Cincinnati, it gets in through a loss or tie by both Montreal and Chicago.
• D.C. needs to defeat the Impact and then hope for a combination of Chicago-Atlanta, Atlanta-Miami or Chicago-Miami losses or ties.

Atlanta is 2-5-2 on the road and has a three-game league losing streak against Columbus, and Miami faces the worst team in MLS, FC Cincinnati.

Sporting Kansas City, Seattle and Portland are still in contention for the Western Conference's No. 1 seed.

Sporting KC is in the driver's seat for the position, and it needs a victory over Real Salt Lake to secure that spot.

The Timbers, who won the MLS is Back tournament, are next in line for the No. 1 seed.

If Sporting KC does not win, Portland can earn the top spot with a victory over Los Angeles FC.

Seattle needs both Sporting KC and Portland to drop points and a victory of its own over the San Jose Earthquakes to finish first.

Finishing first is imperative in this competition since there is a possibility one of the three teams plays LAFC in the first round. The Black and Gold are currently the No. 6 seed and could finish seventh.

FC Dallas has a firm grip on the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference, and it needs a win or draw against Minnesota United to avoid a drop.

But that will be a hard task since the Loons are also in the mix for the No. 4 seed alongside LAFC.

If Minnesota wins, it would finish with 1.61 points per game with 34 points from 21 games. FC Dallas and LAFC will finish with an additional game played than the Loons.

If Minnesota beats FC Dallas and LAFC takes down Portland, the Loons would hold the advantage on points per game and land the No. 4 seed.

A draw between Minnesota and FC Dallas would put the Loons at 1.52 PPG and FC Dallas at 1.59 PPG. If that result occurs and LAFC wins, FC Dallas would hang on to the fourth spot.

Not only should all three teams be fighting for a home playoff game, but avoiding having to play the No. 3 seed is vital too so they do not see Sporting KC, Seattle or Portland until the conference semifinal round.