Chivas USA will play its final regular-season match against the Houston Dynamo on Saturday, Oct. 25, at 7:30 p.m. at The Home Depot Center, before heading to the MLS Cup Playoffs for the third straight season. Houston has already clinched first place in the Western Conference, and the Red-and-White have secured the second spot and will face either the Colorado Rapids or Real Salt Lake in the first round of the playoffs, starting Nov. 1. The Oct. 25 game is Fan Appreciation Night for the Red-and-White, with prize drawings, raffles, and giveaways held throughout the night. The first 7,500 fans will also receive a regulation-size Chivas USA soccer ball. For more information, or to purchase tickets, please call 1-877-CHIVAS-1 or visit cdchivasusa.com.

You can watch the game preview here:

Los jugadores de Chivas USA aseguraron que el rival de la primera ronda de la Liguilla será de alta exigencia, ya sea Real Salt Lake o Colorado, aunque confiaron en poder vencer a ambos posibles rivales en la postemporada.

“Sin menospreciarlo, creo que Colorado es un equipo con un gran futbol pero creo que Salt Lake hace mejor las cosas, pero igual creo que estaremos listos para enfrentar al equipo que nos toque”, aseguró el joven pero experimentado carrilero izquierdo Francisco “Panchito” Mendoza.

“No nos importa realmente a quién le juguemos. Creo que Colorado y Real Salt Lake son dos equipos decentes, tuvimos grandes partidos como locales y visitantes ante ellos”, indicó por su parte Sacha Kljestan, el habilidoso mediocampista estadounidense.

Referente al encuentro del próximo sábado ante el Dynamo de Houston, Mendoza sostuvo que será “una lucha por el orgullo”.
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“Lo tomamos como un clásico. Creo que lo único que se juega es el orgullo, el ganar para entrar bien en los playoffs. Es un partido complicado, de mucho choque, créeme que será un partido de mucho roce y de buen futbol”, dijo el mexicano, quien ha disputado varios encuentros de mucha garra ante los actuales campeones de la MLS.

With second-half goals from midfielder Keith Savage and forward Anthony Hamilton, Chivas USA defeated 2-1 the Colorado Rapids Reserves in a match played Sunday afternoon on Field 6 at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. The win improved the Chivas USA Reserves’ record to 4-3-3 (W-L-T), while the Colorado Rapids Reserves dropped to 4-5-2.

However, it was Chivas USA who got on the scoresheet in the 47th minute of play, when Daniel Paladini crossed the ball from the right side to Keith Savage, whose low shot beat Sam Reynolds. The home team added a second goal on a set-up by Roberto Nurse, who headed the ball and passed it to Hamilton. The 23 year-old forward shot from close-range to put the score 2-0 at the 73rd minute of play.

Colorado never gave up and scored three minutes later. On a corner kick from the left side, Cesar Zambrano connected a volley from teammate Facundo Erpen that hit the lower corner of the net.

The Chivas USA Reserves will have two home games this upcoming week. The Red-and-White will face the San Jose Earthquakes Reserves on Oct. 23 and the Houston Dynamo Reserves on Oct. 26. Both games will be at The Home Depot Center. The Colorado Reserves will face the Real Salt Lake in Colorado on Oct. 26. For more information on Major League Soccer’s Reserve Division, please visit http://web.mlsnet.com/mls/reserve/.

For several reasons, including injuries, red-card suspensions, and the departure of goalkeeper Brad Guzan, Chivas USA has used a total of 26 different groups of 11 starters in its 28 MLS games. The team used the same starters on 5/24, 5/31, and 6/5, but other than that, each game has seen a different starting 11.

This season, Chivas USA Head Coach Preki has handed a first MLS start to no fewer than eleven players: goalkeeper Dan Kennedy, defenders Bobby Burling and Eric Ebert, midfielders Kraig Chiles, Dejair, Jorge Flores, Daniel Paladini, Keith Savage, and Raphaël Wicky, and forwards Justin Braun and Roberto Nurse. All – except Flores who came in as a substitute in one match in 2007 – have also made their MLS debuts this season.

In fact, Chivas USA could field a full team of players who have made their first MLS start this season, with each player in a position they have played in either a First Team or Reserve Team game during the 2008 season:

————BRAUN———–NURSE———-
———————DEJAIR——————-
CHILES——————————-SAVAGE
———————WICKY——————–
PALADINI—-BURLING—EBERT—-FLORES
——————-KENNEDY——————-

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MLS has just confirmed that Chivas USA will host the second leg of its first-round playoff matchup on Saturday, November 8, at 7:30 p.m. PT.

The first leg of the series will be away, against an opponent to be determined in the final two weekends of the season, on the weekend of Oct. 31-Nov. 2.

More on the playoff game, including ticket information, will soon be available at www.cdchivasusa.com.

Today’s practice was the first for Chivas USA at The Home Depot Center since the team clinched a spot in the playoffs with the 1-0 win at San Jose on Saturday. We caught up with Alecko Eskandarian after practice today to ask the former MLS Cup MVP (2004) about the team’s stretch run, the upcoming home games, his season, and the playoffs:

Dentro del Rebaño: There are two games left in the regular season. What does the team have to do against Colorado and Houston on the next two weekends?
Alecko Eskandarian: We have to work on our good habits. It’s easy for teams for relax but for us we have a bigger goal in mind. So in order to reach our ultimate goal we have to work and really focus on the little things and keep focused for the playoffs.

DdR: With six wins in the last seven games, and on the first four-game winning streak in Red-and-White history, is there a worry about becoming overconfident?
AE: There is no chance of being overconfident against the other teams. I don’t think we’re the type of guys that will take things lightly, because we have veteran guys and good young guys and we’ve been through a lot this year. So we’re not going to get ahead of ourselves just because we’ve had a couple of good games. We have to keep working hard and try to reach our ultimate goal.

DdR: This recent run (undefeated in the last eight games, securing at least second place in the Western Conference, four straight wins) has been great for the club. Why do you think the team has done so well lately?
AE: Overall, winning solves everything. Once you start winning a couple of games, everybody starts feeling good about themselves, confidence grows, training is better. Winning is the cure for everything.

DdR: You were hurt for most of the season, but since coming back from injury, you’ve scored four goals and the team is 6-0-0 with you in the starting lineup. Did you think all along that you were going to finish the regular season like this?
AE: To be honest, I did. That’s what kept me going. The whole time I was injured, I kept thinking that I hopefully I could comeback by this time; I would come in and I look at the schedule and would set my own goals… that I would score these many goals. As a forward that’s what I tried to do, to challenge myself. There are more things that I want to accomplish, I’m not satisfied yet.