Whitecaps expecting biggest BC Place crowd of the season this weekend
The Vancouver Whitecaps are going to be feeling the full effects of home-field advantage in their upcoming match against LAFC.
The team is expecting their largest crowd of the season as they face one of the best teams in the MLS with crucial playoff positioning at stake. BCLC is giving away free rally towels to the first 10,000 fans to arrive at BC Place.
“It has been an exciting season for our club, winning trophies, scoring plenty of goals, and most of all showing that we can compete with any team in MLS,” said Axel Schuster, Whitecaps FC sporting director. “We are thrilled to have our supporters and city behind us as we prepare for the postseason with a huge match against the defending MLS Cup champions.”
The Whitecaps are heading to the MLS Cup Playoffs for the sixth time since they joined the league in 2011. Their seeding for the postseason is highly dependent on the result they earn against LAFC, as well as the outcome of a few other games around the MLS.
The Whitecaps are currently in sixth place in the Western Conference with 47 points. With this, they have already guaranteed at least one home playoff game.
MLSSoccer.com
The top four teams will have home-field advantage for the first round of the playoffs, hosting the first game and a potentially decisive game three.
To finish in one of the desirable top-four positions, the Whitecaps will need a few things to go their way. To start, they need a victory to earn the full three points against LAFC. They will then need at least two of the following three scenarios to come true:
- Houston Dynamo lose or draw at Portland Timbers
- Real Salt Lake lose or draw at Colorado Rapids
- Seattle Sounders FC lose at St Louis City FC
All of these games, including the match between the Whitecaps and LAFC, will kick off at 6 PM PT this Saturday, October 21. The best-of-three round-one playoff matchups start on October 28.