Best in the West title up for grabs as short-handed Whitecaps visit St. Louis City

VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Whitecaps hope there are still many games left to be played this year.

Just six contests remain on the Major League Soccer team’s regular-season schedule, but on Saturday the ‘Caps became the first Western Conference club to clinch a playoff spot.

“It’s a good box to check, but job’s not done,” forward Emmanuel Sabbi said after training on Tuesday. “We have to — hopefully, by God’s grace — get No. 1 (in the conference) and clinch that, and then look to move on game after game. But it’s one game at a time.”

The next game comes Wednesday when the Whitecaps (15-7-6) visit scorching St. Louis City (14-6-8).

Vancouver heads into the matchup sitting first in the MLS Western Conference standings.

Locking up the top spot over the final games of the regular season is forefront in players’ minds, Sabbi said.

“We know it was a battle for us last year. We didn’t clinch that, and it became difficult for us to go away and come out with wins,” he said. “We know we can do it, but it’s better if we get that first spot, so we know it’s home field advantage.”

St. Louis is a single point behind Vancouver in the standings — and charging hard.

City enter Wednesday’s game on a four-game win streak and are unbeaten in an MLS-record 20 games across all competitions following a 6-2 drubbing of the L.A. Galaxy on Saturday.

“They are good tactically, they are strong physically, they have great running capacity, they play with high intensity, they have a good idea of what they want to do when they have the ball, and they have very good structure also in the pressing,” said Jesper Sorensen, Vancouver’s head coach. “So it’s a good team.”

St. Louis’s streak includes a 3-1 victory over the ‘Caps at BC Place on Sept. 5.

That game saw Sabbi score in the second minute before City replied with three goals before halftime.

“They kind of took over after we had the early goal,” Sabbi said. “They started playing their game and we didn’t meet the standard that we normally give. And they took it to us and ended up getting a victory at our home.”

Asked what Vancouver will need to do this time out to earn a different result, defensive midfielder Andres Cubas was succinct.

“Tackles,” he said.

The ‘Caps can’t give a talented opponent room to make manoeuvres, he added.

“I think the more important is if we are able to keep the ball, don’t let them play easily,” Cubas said. “I think this is going to be the main thing to win this game.”

The best-of-the-West tilt comes amid a minor slump for the Whitecaps.

Vancouver has just one win over its last five league games (1-2-2), but it is coming off a gritty 1-1 draw with Los Angeles FC on Saturday.

The ‘Caps played much of the game short-handed after centre back Tristan Blackmon — the league’s reigning defender of the year — picked up a red card in the seventh minute for levelling Canadian midfielder Jacob Shaffleburg on what could have been a breakaway.

Blackmon isn’t the only key piece who will be missing from Vancouver’s lineup in St. Louis.

Midfielders Thomas Muller and Jeevan Badwal and defender Sam Adekugbe are all out with hamstring injuries, while Kenji Cabrera (foot) and Belal Halbouni (knee) remain sidelined with long-term ailments.

“That’s just what you have to expect in this game, right? Sometimes you miss guys,” Sorensen said.

“So what is important is that we have a good idea and feeling of what we want to do and how we want to do it, no matter if we miss a guy or two or maybe even five or six, right? So that’s the most important thing.”

Vancouver’s players know they’re in for a “tough game” in St. Louis, Cubas said.

“But I think we are also a good team,” he said. “We prepare well for this game. We know we have to do something else than what we did the last time we played with them. That was a difficult game. We have to go and give our 100 per cent to win this game. And trust in what we can do.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 13, 2026.