Up next for Chivas USA: Thursday at Chicago

AT CHICAGO

Time: 5 p.m.

On the air: TV: ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes; Radio: 690.

Where: Toyota Park, Bridgeview, Ill.

Records: Chivas USA 13-9-6, Fire 10-7-12.

Record vs. Fire: 0-1-0.

Update: In its next-to-last game of the regular season, Chivas USA finds itself poised to finish anywhere from first to fourth in the Western Conference. The team, tied with the Galaxy and the Houston Dynamo with 45 points, one point ahead of the Seattle Sounders, already has secured a playoff berth. But finishing first would give Chivas home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. Complicating matters for Coach Preki’s team, however, is the fact that tonight’s game is the regular-season finale for Chicago, which has to win or at least tie to secure its own playoff spot. The Fire defeated Chivas, 3-2, at the Home Depot Center in May, with Patrick Nyarko scoring the tying goal in the 89th minute and Cuauhtemoc Blanco grabbing the winner on a penalty kick six minutes into injury time. Chivas, unbeaten in its last six games, ends its regular season against Houston in Carson on Sunday.

-- Grahame L. Jones