TORONTO—Major League Soccer couldn’t have planned it any better even if it tried.

Oct. 25 is the final day of the regular season and will see all 20 teams in action on what the league has dubbed “Decision Day.” There are four playoff spots still up for grabs (three in the Western Conference), the Supporters’ Shield to be decided (New York Red Bulls and FC Dallas are tied on 57 points), and first-round byes and home-field advantage in the playoffs to be clinched.

How tight is the race for playoff positioning in the Eastern Conference? So tight that Toronto FC, currently fourth and having already clinched a playoff berth, could finish anywhere from second to sixth. The top two teams in the East receive byes and advance directly in the conference semifinals, while the third- and fourth-place sides will host first-round games.

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So there’s plenty on the line when TFC visit the Montreal Impact on Sunday evening. A draw would see the Reds secure a home playoff date in the first round, while a win could bump them up to second place, depending on other results. Like TFC, the Impact are playoff-bound, but a win would allow them to host a first-round game.

Even without byes and home-field advantage at stake, this already promised to be a tense affair between these Canadian rivals. Stade Saputo will be sold out, and two of the league’s biggest and best stars—Sebastian Giovinco and Didier Drogba—will go head-to-head for the first time in MLS. Approximately 500 fans from Toronto will make the trip to Montreal to watch the game, further heightening the ‘wow’ factor of this regular-season finale.

And it’s not just fans who are excited about the buzz and build-up for Sunday’s showdown. One of the principles who will be at the centre of it all is getting caught up in the excitement, too.

“I appreciate it, and I’m also happy about it,” Toronto coach Greg Vanney admitted.

“I’m glad because it’s not a playoff game but it will have the feel of a playoff game and that gives you that warm-up and prep before going into [the post-season], where the game is super meaningful, where the crowd will be into it, where there’s a lot of buzz—you’ll have a preliminary feel of what it’s like before that first playoff game.”

Vanney later added: “I think we need to embrace it, we need to approach it like it’s going to be a playoff game.”

With so much left to be decided Sunday will be the culmination of what Vanney described as a fantastic 2015 season that was full of intrigue, drama and surprises.

“I don’t know that the league has ever been so close, even on [both conferences], with so many teams still in the picture for various places. It’s exciting. It’s what the league, in terms of parity, is constructed for and what they want. It makes for an exciting last day,” Vanney stated.

Vanney had a successful career in MLS as a player, enjoying stints with the LA Galaxy, FC Dallas, Colorado Rapids and D.C. United. Routinely one of the best defenders in the league, Vanney appeared in the MLS playoffs every season except his final year with the Galaxy in 2008. He’s been involved in some tight races in MLS, but nothing that matches this campaign.

“I never really remember [as a player] it being a positioning thing coming down to the end like this,” Vanney said. “We could play anybody but New York, so that’s unique as far as I’m concerned and as far as what I’ve been a part of in this league.”

Injury update

Vanney confirmed that Canadian midfielder Jonathan Osorio is fit and will be available for selection on Sunday. Osorio sat out TFC’s 2-1 home loss to the Columbus Crew on the weekend with a head injury.

The news isn’t so good for centre back Damien Perquis. The Frenchman picked up a hamstring injury in Toronto’s playoff-clinching win over New York last week. He had an MRI on Friday and Vanney confirmed he is expected to be out for at least one to two weeks.