Major League Soccer doles out its rewards for playoff seeding in twos.

The first two finishers in each conference get first-round byes. The third and fourth seeds get home-field advantage in the single- elimination play-in round. And the fifth and sixth finishers at least get a chance to play on.

Two clubs straddling one of those key dividing lines – the fourth-place Seattle Sounders and fifth-place Sporting Kansas City – meet at 2 p.m. Sunday at Sporting Park, separated by a single point in the standings.

With three wins in their last four games, the Sounders’up-and-down season has begun pointing up again. With most key players once again available, Seattle is coming off a pair of 3-0 wins against Vancouver.

Recent results have gone the other way for SKC, which is 1-5-1 over its last seven games.