Senior editor Ridge Mahoney previews this weekend's MLS playoff action:

Revs face formidable Fire power

Friday, Nov. 14, 8:30 pm ET/5:30 pm PT
CHICAGO vs. NEW ENGLAND
TV: Fox Sports World, Fox Sports En Espanol, Fox Sports Net (Chicago), CN8 (New England). DIRECTV: 794; DISHNET: 465.
Key Players Out: Chicago – GK Henry Ring (shoulder surgery), F Dipsy Selolwane (national team duty – Botswana); New England – M/F Chris Brown (broken foot); F Taylor Twellman (foot stress fracture).
Referee: Terry Vaughn.

The Revs won the season series 2-1-1 and outscored the Fire, 10-5, but that edge stems from a 5-1 thumping at Gillette Stadium Aug. 30 that was Chicago's fifth game in 14 days. The Fire isn't likely to be legless tonight at Soldier Field.

Left back Joey Franchino is out with a strained quadriceps, which leaves Revs' rookie Marshall Leonard in the firing line. His strength and quickness will be needed, for the Fire has used Andy Williams to good effect on that side during the playoffs and Evan Whitfield loves powering up the sideline.

Chris Armas has flourished in a comeback season but Revs midfielder Jose Cancela may be his sternest test to date. The Uruguayan playmaker is tenacious as well as talented and if he can fend off the tackles of Armas and Jesse Marsch long enough to flight balls to Steve Ralston, Pat Noonan, Brian Kamler and Dario Fabbro, the Fire back line will be scrambling. Jim Curtin is a force in the air yet must be sharp with his feet to stop the Revs smooth, quick combination play.

New England is unbeaten in its last nine games yet four of those were against the MetroStars.

The Fire has the more potent attack with DaMarcus Beasley tearing through defenses as Ante Razov and Damani Ralph work and move. The Revs' Shalrie Joseph will need all of his speed and fight to clean up the central midfield so defenders Carlos Llamosa and Rusty Pierce can track the twin strikers. Help from Cancela in the defensive third will be greatly appreciated. If the range and quickness of keeper Adin Brown can defuse the Fire, the Revs will pull off the upset.

This Chicago team has invited comparisons to the 1998 expansion squad that went all the way and the 2000 Fire that fell in the final to Kansas City. Those teams had a tendency to squander chances; the 2003 version is more efficient, a quality that is absolutely vital against a crisp, cohesive opponent.

Quakes have momentum vs. Wizards

Sunday, Nov. 15, 10:00 pm ET/9:00 pm CT/7:00 pm PT
SAN JOSE vs. KANSAS CITY
TV: HDNet, Fox Sports World, Fox Sports En Espanol, Metro Sports (Kansas City).
DIRECTV: 794; DISHNET: 456.
Key Players Out: San Jose – Brian Ching (R Achilles rupture); Kansas City – None.
Referee: Kevin Stott.

In 200 minutes of play at Spartan this season, the teams combined for two goals and two ties. KC scored on a Pat Onstad spike into his own net; the Quakes tallied on a crisp Brian Mullan finish of a sublime Landon Donovan pass.

San Jose won both meetings in Kansas City and in the last encounter Donovan lit up the Wizards with a hat trick in a 4-1 romp. Since then, the Wizards have rebounded.

Chris Klein has joined Preki as a second attacking midfielder and Diego Gutierrez is anchoring a three-man back line with Jim Conrad and Nick Garcia.

Another key slot is who plays on the left side of midfield for Kansas City — Eric Quill, Stephen Armstrong, Carey Talley — and gets the job of shutting down Mullan. Klein will also help scrape up balls in midfield while providing support for Preki; if the naturalized American maestro has a good night, it's good night, Quakes.

In the quarterfinal against Colorado, the Wizards defense buckled a few times but surrendered only one goal. Another was wrongly disallowed. Yet KC did a decent job containing the Rapids' flank attacks, at which the Quakes excel. But John Spencer and Mark Chung were relatively quiet; Donovan and Jamil Walker will be buzzing.

Wizards keeper Tony Meola hasn't quite returned to his amazing form of 2000 but that's too much to expect anyway. He and counterpart Onstad, as usual in a one-off showdown, must be sharp and sure on every ball. A dropped cross or a loose rebound could be the difference.

Has San Jose truly shaken off the malaise that plagued it in the first three games of the four-match set against Los Angeles? The Quakes have lost four times at home this season and despite rallying against Los Angeles gave up four goals in the two conference semifinals.

''I said at the beginning of the playoffs I'd rather play LA than Kansas City,'' said Donovan, ''because they're playing really well right now. I think we'll be fine. If anything it's momentum.''

NOTE: Semifinals will be decided in one game; 30 minutes of golden goal overtime and penalty kicks will be used for tiebreaker if necessary.