Cosmos host Fort Lauderdale with major playoff implications

The Cosmos will host the first of two crucial home matches on Saturday, when the Fort Lauderdale Strikers come to town. The Florida based team currently sits just ahead of New York in the NASL fall table, and just behind the Cosmos in the combined standings.

The Cosmos currently sit third in the combined table with 29 points from 18 games. The Strikers sit just four points behind with only nine games left to play, so any realistic hopes they have of overtaking the defending champions likely require at least a point from Saturday's contest.

The Cosmos will be without Andres Flores, who has been behind most of the better attacks the club has had over the past several weeks. Flores is away with the El Salvador national team, and will also miss next weekend's match against the Atlanta Silverbacks.

They will have Danny Mwanga available, who looked good in his debut last weekend. The status of Marcos Senna is a little less clear, and if he's not fit enough to start against the Strikers, we'll likely see Joseph Nane and Danny Szetela partnered together again.

Opponent: Fort Lauderdale Strikers

Date/Time: September 6, 2014 at 7:00 pm ET

Venue: Shuart Stadium, Hofstra University

Streaming: NASLLive.com

TV: ONE World Sports