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Houston aims to improve wild card position vs. L.A.

Oct 23, 2011 - 12:55 AM Houston, TX (Sports Network) - By the time the Los Angeles Galaxy roll into Robertson Stadium for their clash with the Houston Dynamo on Sunday, the playoff picture will be much more clear for the home side.

With a playoff berth already secured, the Dynamo are now simply looking to improve their position in the table. A top-three finish would be ideal, thereby skipping a tricky wild card game, but that is only one scenario that could potentially play out.

Houston finds itself in an interesting position where it could finish anywhere from first place in the Eastern Conference to tenth place overall. Concluding their regular season one day later than the rest of Major League Soccer allows the Dynamo to know exactly what result will put them in the top three.

The Dynamo are coming off of an impressive 2-0 road win against the Portland Timbers on Oct. 14, which oddly enough did not qualify them for the postseason.

Houston only clinched after last weekend's remaining games, as Sporting Kansas City topped Red Bull New York, the Columbus Crew up-ended the New England Revolution, and the Chicago Fire earned a last-gasp win over D.C. United to put the Dynamo through.

"It feels great to be in the playoffs, but it's different," said Dynamo midfielder Brad Davis. "We'll have to give everything we've got these next few weeks.

"It's great we got into the playoffs, but now the next step is to win MLS Cup, and if we play the way we did [against Portland], I think we can do some good things in the postseason."

Los Angeles, the first team to clinch a playoff berth this season, enters the match with nothing at stake.

The Galaxy have already claimed the MLS Supporters' Shield with the best record in the league.

With a first place finish, Los Angeles is guaranteed home field advantage throughout the postseason, which is crucial given that the Galaxy are unbeaten at home this season with a 12-0-5 record (41 points).

"It's nice," Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena said. "I don't really pay attention to those kinds of things.

"It's certainly important. It was obviously the most important factor probably in winning the Supporters' Shield. If you generate that many points at home and get a fair amount on the road, it's a simple formula that adds up to being on top in the end."

Houston will be looking to avenge its previous match against Los Angeles this season, as Landon Donovan scored the only goal of the match from the penalty spot to give the Galaxy a 1-0 win at The Home Depot Center.