With their offenses struggling, wins have been hard to come by for Toronto FC and the Kansas City Wizards.
Still, there's a sense both units could be on the verge of breaking out of their respective slumps.
Toronto and the Wizards hope to carry some momentum from positive performances this past week into Saturday night's match in Kansas City.
Thanks to a solid first two months of the season, Toronto (6-5-5) is third in the Eastern Conference with 23 points. It's done little to solidify itself as a playoff contender, though, with its play for much of the last two months.
The stretch started with a scoreless tie against the Wizards on June 5. Toronto most recently played to a 1-all draw against FC Dallas last Saturday, and is 1-1-4 in its last six games, scoring just four goals.
"Right now as a group we are having a tough time finding more than one goal and hopefully we will get to a point where things will change for us and we will click going forward," coach Preki told Toronto's official website. "Sometimes as a goal scorer you go through these stretches when things don't go your way and then you get a lucky goal and things change for you."
As bad as it's been going for Toronto, which is tied for the final playoff spot, Kansas City's offense has been worse. The Wizards (4-8-4) have tallied two goals in their last five MLS contests, going 1-3-1.
Although both offenses have been sputtering, the clubs have reason to believe things could improve.
Toronto captain Dwayne De Rosario scored for the MLS All-Stars in Wednesday's 5-2 loss to Manchester United. It was an encouraging performance for De Rosario, who is third in MLS with eight goals, but hasn't scored in six league games.
"To score a goal against probably one of the best teams in the world is something I will always remember," De Rosario said. "It was fantastic."
The Wizards enter this game in a similar emotional state after defeating Manchester United 2-1 on Sunday in a friendly. Captain Davy Arnaud and Kei Kamara scored first-half goals for Kansas City, which hasn't played a league game since tying Colorado 1-1 on July 17.
Although it was obviously inspirational to defeat mighty Manchester in front of 52,342 fans - the largest crowd to see a soccer match in Kansas City - the Wizards remain seven points out of the final playoff spot.
"It's a great accomplishment for our team, for our organization,'' coach Peter Vermes said. "But in the end, it's an exhibition. And what matters most for us is the league, and trying to win an MLS championship. Look, they've played in Champions League finals. We're not there yet. By any means.''
