LA will face Real Salt Lake, who snuck into the Conference final on the back of a 0-2 defeat in Seattle. It was a disappointing end to Kasey Keller's soccer career as Sounders could not quite come back from the 3-0 shellacking they received in the first leg.

Real Salt Lake were as limited in their ambition at CenturyLink Field as they had been ambitious and expansive at the Rio Tinto Stadium. Which way Sunday's game with LA goes may depend upon which Real turn up. On Wednesday night Seattle outshot Salt Lake 15-1 in the first half and could so easily have tied the series within 45 minutes but for pieces of defensive magic such as this by Tony Beltran:

Salt Lake's first shot on target didn't come until the 80th minute - a strong save by Keller - but as the minutes slipped away Sounders became frantic and sloppy chasing the equaliser.

RSL may have their first choice center back pairing - Jamison Olave and Nat Borchers - back by Sunday, which would give them more solidity, but it is hard to see the Beckham dream being denied now, especially with Juninho back after suspension.

Prediction: LA take home advantage

Sporting Kansas City vs. Houston Dynamo
(Eastern Conference Championship, 5pm EST, Sunday)

The Eastern Conference championship will pit the formidable home record of Sporting KC against the MLS Cup pedigree of Houston Dynamo.

Dynamo advanced more easily than expected after Philadelphia failed to channel their inner Rocky. Houston - champions in 2006 and 2007 - have an impressive 6-1 playoff record at their Robertson stadium. Pity then that they are leaving a tight little ground where the crowd is on top of the opposition for a new city centre stadium next season. Pity too that they will be playing away in the Conference final. And not just playing away, but at a fortress as imposing as their own.

While Sporting KC's new stadium was being built at the beginning of this season the team went on an epic road trip, frontloading most of the schedule and lying at the bottom of the table at the end of it. But since coming home, Kansas City have surged up the table, into the playoffs and now the Conference championship. Their passage through the latest stage was the simplest of all the teams in the final four.

As they cruised past the defending champions, Colorado Rapids, the standout moment came from their rookie of the year contender CJ Sapong.

Just how strong must those neck muscles be?

The biggest threat to Sporting KC will surely come from Brad Davis's set piece delivery. Union had been warned in the first leg when Davis collected his 17th assist of the season with a beautifully delivered free-kick from wide of the area. Sure enough, assist number 18 came from... a free kick just outside the area. KC have been given notice.

The recipient was much-loved Hawaiian Brian Ching. He will surely fancy a trip to the MLS Cup final, not least for the opportunity for some Californian surfin'.

If we're looking for pointers, the last team to defeat Dynamo were... Sporting KC, who won 3-0 in early September. Neither side has lost since then.

Prediction: KC's great run at Livestrong goes on

And finally

Could someone please explain the sense in this playoff system? Single leg wildcards followed by home-and-home (let's not get into why "home-and-away" makes more sense) ties, followed by a single game for the Conference championship. And after all of these games have been packed into 12 days, a two week wait for the MLS Cup final.

Still, if you want to see something even more surreal than the playoff schedule, then check out the way that the MLS Save of the Season competition is organised.

We will have live mbm coverage of both games on Sunday.

Follow @GdnUSsports for all Guardian coverage of US sports.