Up next for Chivas USA: Sunday vs. Kansas City

When: 5

Where: Home Depot Center.

On the air: TV: Prime Ticket, KWHY. Radio: 690.

Records: Chivas USA 7-12-4; Wizards 7-9-6.

Record vs. Wizards: 1-0-0.

Update: Having achieved a noteworthy 4-2 penalty-kick victory over Chivas de Guadalajara of Mexico in a friendly Tuesday night in San Diego, Chivas USA returns to MLS play needing to defeat a team also fighting to reach the playoffs. Kansas City came into the weekend in fourth place in the Eastern Conference, one point behind Toronto FC and six points out of the eighth and last playoff spot, held by the Seattle Sounders. Chivas USA, in seventh place in the Western Conference, is eight points behind the Sounders, with only seven games left in the regular season. Coach Martin Vasquez’s squad is unbeaten in its last five home games, but Kansas City has lost only once in its last eight games overall, including a 2-0 victory over the Galaxy in Carson, where Chivas USA has never lost to the Wizards. All indications point to a tie, but Chivas won the season’s earlier encounter at Kansas City, 2-0.

— Grahame L. Jones