By ADAM TROXTELL

Sporting Kansas City can beat the Columbus Crew for a third time this season while also keeping up at the top of the Western Conference.

The Crew welcome Sporting KC (7:30 p.m., MLS Direct Kick) to MAPFRE Stadium looking for a boost of their own to stay ahead in the Eastern Conference playoff race. They’ll have to do what they haven’t all season, since they were blanked by SKC on the road and lost 2-1 the last time the teams met back in July.

D.C. United can gain a solid lead in the Eastern Conference with a good result against the San Jose Earthquakes at RFK Stadium (7 p.m., MLS Direct Kick). They are already five points clear of second-place New York Red Bulls, but the Big Apple club has three games in hand.

The Montreal Impact will look to boost their playoff chances against the Philadelphia Union (8 p.m., MLS Direct Kick). Elsewhere, a battle of the bottom dwellers takes place as the Chicago Fire host the Colorado Rapids (8:30 p.m., MLS Direct Kick).

In the late games, FC Dallas will try and halt a two-game skid on the road against the Vancouver Whitecaps (10 p.m., MLS Direct Kick). Finally, the Seattle Sounders head to Rio Tinto for their first matchup this season against Real Salt Lake (9 p.m., MLS Direct Kick).

SBI will be providing live commentary on tonight’s action, so please feel free to follow the action here. As always, you are welcome to share your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.

Enjoy the action (tonight’s SBI live commentary is after the jump):