MLS & CONCACAF Champions Cup previews, May 31-June 2

The MLS weekend gets off to a rare early start on Friday night at half-past-midnight (all times BST) as New York City FC look to extend a great string of results when Western Conference basement dwellers San Jose Earthquakes come to Yankee Stadium. The Pigeons have won their last four - and seven of their last eight - to climb up to third in the Eastern Conference as Nick Cushing's side play with increasing swagger. Quakes, meanwhile, have slumped right back to a run of winless games after a brief respite saw them win two in a row a few weeks back. Saturday's games start with four 0.30am kick-offs, the pick of which looks to be the visit of St Louis CITY to Fort Lauderdale, where an Inter Miami side stung by their midweek home defeat to Atlanta United await. CITY really haven't got going this season after a cracking debut campaign but they have inspiration and finishing in Indy Vassilev and Joao Klauss, as well as a strong backline. Whether that will be enough to keep Lionel Messi and company at bay is anyone's guess...

DC United were on the wrong end of a 4-2 defeat in Quebec in midweek, a situation not helped by Matti Peltola's red card. Still, Christian Benteke added another two goals to his considerable 2024 haul and visitors FC Toronto will be wary of his threat. The Reds drew 0-0 in Philadelphia on Wednesday but were without Lorenzo Insigne, who was back in Italy for the birth of a child. If he makes it back for Saturday's game it could be a close one and even without him Toronto have enough of an attacking threat of their own that this could be a cracker. Mind you, I said that before that 0-0 draw, too. Their respective midweek opponents will clash at Subaru Park in a game which, until CF Montreal's comprehensive win over DC United on Wednesday, would have looked like a gimme for Philadelphia Union. The Canadien side's arousal from their slumber, however, puts a different spin on things. The final early(ish) kick-off sees New York Red Bulls look to continue the form that's seen them in the top four for pretty much all of the season so far. The visit of Orlando City should pose few problems for Sandro Schwarz's side but the Lions do have a habit of getting an unexpected win here and there.

There are three 1.30am starts, with Los Angeles Galaxy's visit to troubled Chicago Fire looking like (another) make or break game for Fire coach Frank Klopas. Galaxy sit second in the Western Conference and have continued to look impressive even without close season capture Joseph Paintsil, while Chicago are all at sea, producing little and seeing their crowds dwindle alarmingly to 75% of last season's figures. Minnesota United were beaten 2-0 at Los Angeles FC in midweek and will hope that the visit of a floundering Sporting Kansas City will provide them with a quick opportunity to get things back on target. The issue for Eric Ramsay at the moment is how to accommodate both Teemu Pukki and Tani Oluwaseyi in a system that favours one up front, but it's a nice problem to have and one that Sporting coach Peter Vermes would love. Instead, he has a misfiring side that is propping up the Western Conference, despite the obvious talents of Alan Pulido, Johnny Russell, and the rest. The final 1.30am start sees Nashville SC welcome the almost moribund New England Revolution to the Music City. Interim coach Rumba Munthali will be hoping to extend the Coyote's unbeaten run under him against a visiting side that has just seven points from thirteen games so far this season. Something has to change for the Revs, and quickly, if Caleb Porter is to keep his MLS Cup-winning reputation intact.

Western Conference leaders Real Salt Lake seem to have made a habit of falling behind of late, only to rally late and earn points from games that looked lost. They'll hope that Austin FC, who lost at home to Portland Timbers in midweek, will give them the opportunity to break that run, but it's hard to know which Austin will turn up, so dependent are they on how Sebastian Driussi performs in the playmaker role. That's a 2.30am start and there are two more games an hour later, both of which see Texan sides visit the West Coast. Los Angeles FC welcome FC Dallas to Exposition Park knowing that, if results go their way, they could be top in the West come Sunday morning, but Dallas will be wary of repeating Wednesday's 3-1 loss across the city at LA Galaxy and could lock up in search of a point. Their Texan rivals Houston Dynamo are at Portland Timbers, with both sides looking to capitalise on midweek wins. Dynamo saw off Colorado Rapids at home, while Timbers won away at Austin FC, and it's hard to pick a winner here, especially given Portland's inconsistency under Phil Neville.

The first of two TV games this week (and thus available for free on AppleTV rather than through MLS Season Pass) is the 3.45am Saturday night kick-off between Vancouver Whitecaps and Colorado Rapids, two sides who are sitting well-placed for a run at the play-offs. Ryan Gauld bagged a brace in midweek and definitely leads from the front for Caps, but Rapids are having a weird season that brings surprise wins in unexpected places. One thing's for sure - there won't be 50,000 in this week. The weekend's final game in MLS (and also on AppleTV) is the Sunday night clash between Atlanta United and Charlotte FC, a 9.45pm kick-off from Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The Five Stripes were shock winners at Inter Miami in midweek, arresting a run of nine games without a win, largely thanks to the efforts of Thiago Almada and Saba Lobjanidze, while the Crown saw their 523-minute stretch without conceding a goal ended by NY Red Bulls' Emil Forsberg. Charlotte 'keeper Kristijan Kahlina will be hoping to get another run of clean sheets started but that United attack can be irresistible at times...

On Saturday night at Estadio Hidalgo in Pachuca, Columbus Crew aim to become only the fourth US side to lift the CONCACAF Champions Cup in its 62-year history, having already become only the eighth US side to make the final. After winning away in Orlando last week, they took the midweek off and will have Cucho Hernandez raring to go, having missed much of the recent campaign in order to preserve him for the final. CF Pachuca, their opponents in the final, finished seventh in the second-half of the Liga-MX season, having only placed eleventh in the first-half, and so look like they're there for the taking, but cups are won on the pitch, not on paper. It's a 2.15am kick-off and live on Fox Sports in the US, if you can work your way around such things...