"Five Things" is a season-long series presented by the Children's Mercy Sports Medicine Center that highlights the top storylines and players to watch ahead of each match. To visit the series archive, click here.
An unprecedented MLS regular season campaign will continue in earnest on Friday when the top two teams in the Western Conference square off at Allianz Field in St. Paul, Minnesota. First-place Sporting Kansas City (4-1-0, 12 points) and Minnesota United FC (3-0-2, 11 points) have struck up a compelling regional rivalry in recent years and will now battle for early control of what figures to be a wild and unpredictable conference race.