M.L.S. Playoffs: Soon to Be Four By late Thursday night, the playoffs in Major League Soccer will be reduced from eight to the final four. After a hectic schedule that has seen some teams (D.C. United and Houston, for example) play as many as four or five league games in two weeks, there will be only a few days' break between the end of the conference semifinals and the conference championships. The final four will get an intermission between Games 1 and 2 because of FIFA's international break for games on Nov. 14 (when the U.S. plays at Russia) and then a two-week rest before the final on Dec. 1 at the home of the finalist with the best regular-season record. So far, the home teams have a 1-1-2 record before the return matches Wednesday and Thursday. Does home field really matter? No, only goals do. The teams scored a combined total of five goals, an indication of the caution endemic to the first leg ofa two-game series and a compressed schedule that has forced teams to play two games each week (with teams like Los Angeles and Houston also engaged in the Concacaf Champions League). The postseason format in M.L.S. now mirrors other cup competitions around the world with home-and-home, total-goals series, though the main difference is that away goals do not count double. We could debate that point until the next World Cup, but the fact remains the M.L.S. system is the M.L.S. system ... until it is changed again. If teams are tied on goals after 180 minutes, they play a full 30-minute extra time and then go to penalty kicks if still tied. ... FIFA on Wednesday will announce the draw for the final round of World Cup qualifying in the Concacaf region after the six nations involved (the U.S., Mexico, Jamaica, Costa Rica, Honduras and Panama) could not reach an agreement on their own. Matches will begin in early February with two games in March and the battle is probably about which lucky team will not have to come north to play the U.S. in cooler temps. Here is a quick and brief look back and ahead. Home teams listed first; all times Eastern Eastern Conference D.C. United vs. Red Bulls Game 1: D.C. United 1, Red Bulls 1 Game 2: Red Bulls-D.C. United, Wednesday, 8 p.m. The Red Bulls and D.C. United swapped home dates because of Hurricane Sandy, but probably will not be able to avoid still more bad weather with a nor'easter moving up the East Coast and expected to inundate the area on Wednesday. Coach Hans Backe's decision to start Sebastien Le Toux over the high-scoring Kenny Cooper (the team's top scorer and No. 2 in the league) paid paltry dividends in Game 1, and the enigmatic Rafael Marquez may or may not play, depending on a balky calf. D.C. had the better scoring chances in Game 1, a match in which both tallies were own goals. Thierry Henry suffered 90 minutes of frustration as he dropped deep into the midfield looking for something, anything. Teemu Tainio has given the Red Bulls some (more) bite in the midfield, but there is not much bark left in the offense with Tim Cahill, Dax McCarty, Tainio and Joel Lindpere (against D.C.) more adept at destroying than at creating. United will be without Andy Najar, the 19-year-old Honduran, whose tempestuous outburst (throwing the ball at the referee) cost him a second yellow card and will cost D.C. its outside right defender for the return match. United keeps hinting about the imminent return of last season's league M.V.P., Dwayne De Rosario, but it is hard to see DeRo stepping on a soggy field at Red Bull Arena for his first game back from a knee injury. If No. 3 D.C. is ousted, talk will center on the need to swap dates; if the Red Bulls win, well they were supposed to. If they lose, well they probably deserved to. And if Houston holds serve in Game 2, the Red Bulls would emerge at the top seed in the East, two steps from the championship game. Sporting Kansas City vs. Houston Game 1: Houston 2, Kansas City 0 Game 2: Houston at Kansas City, Wednesday, 9 p.m. The Dynamo played a tactically astute, and ultimately victorious 90 minutes against visiting Sporting Kansas City Sunday afternoon. 5 Dynamo, who needed to defeat Chicago in a wild-card game, hold perhaps the biggest advantage after smothering Kansas City, coming away with a 2-0 win. The Dynamo marked K.C.'s midfield maestro Graham Zusi out of the game, save for a second-half scoring opportunity that Zusi pushed wide of the goal. The Dynamo's BBVA Compass Stadium (which was not quite sold out) looks to be an inviting place, but with football lines on the field can we please dispense with this "soccer-specific stadium" mumbo jumbo. Western Conference San Jose vs. Los Angeles Game 1: Los Angeles 0, San Jose 1 Game 2: San Jose-Los Angeles, Friday 9 p.m. Defending champion Los Angeles lost Sunday night on a late free kick goal and travels to No. 1 San Jose, where the Earthquakes lost once in the regular season. Deep into added time at the Home Depot Center, the Galaxy defender Omar Gonzalez, planted in the middle of the defensive wall, left his feet as Víctor Bernárdez's free kick skipped right under him. Goalkeeper Josh Saunders should have done better, but he did not, and the ball squirted under him and into the net. Bruce Arena was not a happy camper. Then again, when is he? Seattle vs. Real Salt Lake Game 1: Seattle 0, Salt Lake 0 Game 2: Salt Lake-Seattle, Wednesday, 11 p.m. These two teams have had the most rest between the first and second games, having played last Friday on the wet artificial turf (with some football lines) at CenturyLink Field in Seattle. The surface made for an ugly affair as both teams struggled to control the ball and put more than two or three passes together. Salt Lake goalkeeper Nick Rimando kept his club in the game with a series to impressive saves then toughed out the game's final minutes after taking a knock in the head that left him with blood on his face and gloves, and delayed the restart for nearly 10 minutes. The Sounders hope to have leading scorer Eddie Johnson back after he was forced to miss last week's match with an adductor muscle strain. Conference Finals lower seed hosts first game Eastern Game 1: Saturday, 3:30 p.m. Game 2: Nov. 17 or Nov. 18, TBA Western Game 1: Sunday, 8 p.m. Game 2: Nov. 18, 9 p.m. hosted by finalist with best regular-season record Dec. 1, 4:30 p.m. Montreal, which did not make the playoffs after its first season in M.L.S., parted company with Coach Jesse Marsch. Both sides cited the proverbial philosophical differences that largely stemmed from the club's acquisition of several veteran Europeans who bristled under the direction of an American coach. ... Over the weekend. Commissioner Don Garber said the league is seeking an alternate site for M.L.S. Cup should San Jose emerge as a finalist in the Western Conference. For the first time in league history, the finalist with the best regular-season record will host the title match. The Earthquakes won the Supporters Shield as No. 1 over all during the regular season. The team plays, for the next season or so, at Buck Shaw Stadium, which has a capacity of about 10,000. Garber said the league has looked at Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto, Calif., but could have a conflict with a Stanford football game on Dec. 1, the day of the cup final. ... Concacaf and FIFA will hold the draw for the final round of World Cup qualifying in the Concacaf region in Miami on Wednesday. The draw will be streamed live at 8 p.m. Eastern on concacaf.com.