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Sandy • Of the 27 possible scenarios surrounding Real Salt Lake, Seattle Sounders, Sporting Kansas City and Portland Timbers entering the final week of the 2016 regular season, how many are in play for RSL?

Captain Kyle Beckerman is choosing not to delve into those what-ifs. "Not a clue," he said.

Only three of the six Western Conference playoff slots are settled in Week No. 34. FC Dallas and the Colorado Rapids remain jockeying for the top spot out West, while the L.A. Galaxy have solidified its hold on the third seed. After that? It's a series of coin tosses depending on the outcomes of this weekend's results.

RSL enters as the No. 4 seed, one point ahead of Sunday's opponent, fifth-place Seattle. Two points behind RSL is Sporting KC, in sixth place, at 44 points. The reigning MLS Cup champion Portland Timbers also sit at 44 points, but are on the outside looking in due to the goal-differential tiebreaker.

"I think looking past our game? It doesn't make any sense," right back Tony Beltran said. "We have to worry about us. We still have the opportunity to control our own destiny. Whether we win, tie or lose, it's on us no matter what anyone else does."

Thirteen of the 27 potential scenarios has RSL as the No. 4 seed, meaning the club would host a midweek first-round playoff match at Rio Tinto Stadium either Oct. 26 or 27. Only one scenario completes what would be a thorough collapse down the stretch — an RSL loss in Seattle coupled both with a Portland win in Vancouver and a Sporting KC win over San Jose at home.

A draw against the Sounders puts RSL anywhere from the fourth to sixth seed depending on the other results Sunday afternoon. RSL coach Jeff Cassar will keep his approach to this game close to the chest saying, "We're going to play the right kind of game to give us the chance to achieve [a win or draw]."

Beckerman cautioned that if his team is going to simply defend and aim for one point it could prove costly.

"We're not going to go in there just to tie — we're going to go there to win the game," he said. "That'll be our mindset. That's the only way you can go. If we go in there trying to get a tie, it's going to be dangerous."

Schuler a shoo-in?

Did Chris Schuler's second start of the year Sunday against Sporting KC do enough to earn him a third in the hyped regular-season finale in Seattle?

"We're going to have a lot of open competitions for a lot of spots," Cassar said. "I thought it was a very good game for [the back four]. [Sporting KC] is a dangerous team to play against, and we did a good job for a majority of the game, but Chris' play was extremely solid and I liked that he gave us a presence there, even on set-plays as well."

The 29-year-old center back started over Jamison Olave a month after making his 2016 debut in RSL's 1-0 loss at Portland on Sept. 10.

Movsisyan returns to training

After taking another needed day off to rest his bruised heel, RSL forward Yura Movsisyan returned to training Thursday. The 29-year-old started his first match in over a month Sunday against Sporting KC, but was taken off early in the second half when his heel was nicked by Matt Besler.

"We were working on some offensive work and [Movsisyan] looked sharp and lively and moving good. It's one of those things where it could be awful tomorrow," Cassar said. "With him it's just day-to-day."

Twitter: @chriskamrani