Who’s Hot

Terrence Boyd: The move to Rapid Vienna has served the forward well, and this weekend he notched his 10th goal across all competitions.

Boyd has established himself firmly as either a starter or early second half sub when the team is chasing a league match. Europa League has been a tougher task for Boyd and Vienna, but he’ll be eager to change that against fellow USMNT player Mix Diskerud Thursday afternoon.

Brad Davis: The Houston Dynamo winger had an assist in the second leg of the team’s conference final victory against D.C. United. He made a nice run with the ball and was able to elude Dejan Jakovic before crossing into the six-yard box.

Davis has been an important player in the Dynamo attack for years, but missed last year’s MLS Cup with a calf strain. In this year’s rematch, the LA Galaxy won’t be as lucky. In addition to his goal-creating potential, Davis is also a danger from outside the box. Houston will be happy to see him peaking at the right time.

Oguchi Onyewu: Onyewu hasn’t been off the bench often for Malaga since his summer loan to the Spanish club, but he is starting to see time. He was Malaga’s best defender in a 2-2 against a strong Zenit St. Petersburg team, a match in which he went the full 90 minutes. His play continues to demand more playing time from manager Manuel Pellegrini. Will we soon see him back wearing the U.S. crest?

Who’s Not

Aston Villa duo Brad Guzan and Eric Lichaj: Things are never good when a team falls into the drop zone. Even worse is when a 5-0 loss precipitated the fall. Guzan wasn’t as bad as the scoreline would suggest (nor were Aston Villa, who were unlucky to have some calls go against them), but he won’t go into the Villans’ fixture brimming with confidence after seeing the ball in his net that many times.

Lichaj had a chance to make inroads into the squad after an injury to another defender saw him thrust into playing time. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to capitalize and remains a player on the fringe for Villa, not featuring in their past two fixtures.

Jon Arnold (@ArnoldcommaJon) is a freelance writer based in Phoenix and the co-host of MLS in 30 on NASN.TV.