As uneven as the regular season has seemed at times, the Galaxy arrive at the final stage control of their own playoff destiny.

The Galaxy can clinch a playoff berth with a victory Sunday against the Seattle Sounders (1 p.m.; ESPN) at StubHub Center.

Including Sunday’s game, the Galaxy (11­-4-­15) have four games in the regular season, two against first-­place FC Dallas (Saturday and Oct. 23) and a meeting with Houston (Oct. 16).

Last year, the Galaxy finished fifth and opened in the single-game knockout round. The motivation and opportunity is there for the team to finish near the top of the conference and avoid the knockout round.

“We have a few more things we can go after,” Galaxy defender Jelle Van Damme said. “I want to play the last game (MLS Cup) in December. The biggest thing is you want to win prizes, we have a good squad. That’s why you work the whole season, to get something out of it.”

This year, the club has been resilient enough to earn just four losses (fewest in the league) and only one in the last 16 games. The Galaxy also lead the league with 15 draws.

“We win Sunday, get the playoff spot and that will push us forward the first or second spot,” Galaxy forward Robbie Keane said. “We’re definitely better than the eighth or ninth team in the league. You look at the position at we’re in, we’re second in the conference, in the league … we’ve lost four games all season, I think that says it all.

“Now is the crunch time because we’re at the stage of the season where we want to play and we want to be in these situations where we can go things, we’re in a good moment.”

Last year, the Galaxy were in contention for the Supporters Shield and the top spot in the Western Conference, but slumped to a 1-­4-­2 record in September and October and were eliminated by Seattle in the knockout round.

“The end of September and the month of October will be very important to all teams in this league, to see where we’re headed,” Galaxy coach Bruce Arena said. “There are four very important games ahead before we can really answer that question.

“I was told that we had a 99.9 percent chance (of making the playoffs). When it is 100 percent, then I’ll be relieved, not that relieved. Hopefully, there’s a lot ahead, but right now, we have to take it one game at a time. Last year, this time of year, you would have said everything is great, but things didn’t end that well, so to answer your question, I’m not going to do any cartwheels.”

The Galaxy should have midfielder Giovani dos Santos back in action Sunday. Dos Santos sat out last Sunday’s 2-­2 draw against Sporting Kansas City with a hip flexor.

“I feel good, I’ve been training the whole week,” dos Santos said Friday. “I feel 100 percent. I don’t feel any pain and I’m ready to go.”

SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC at L.A. GALAXY

Kickoff: 1 p.m. at StubHub Center

TV/Radio: ESPN; KWKW/1330 (5p.m.­delayed); KTMZ/1220 (2:30 p.m.­delayed); English radio available at www.lagalaxy.com

Update: The Sounders (10­-13-­5, 35 points) began the weekend in seventh place, five points behind Vancouver for the sixth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. The Sounders are coming off a 1­-0 victory over Vancouver last week. Jordan Morris leads the Sounders with 10 goals. Nicolas Lodeiro has made a quick impact since joining the club in July. Lodeiro has three goals and seven assists. Former El Rancho HS star Cristian Roldan has scored three goals with three assists this season. This is the fourth meeting this season between the teams. The Galaxy have a 1­-0 win and 1-­1 draw in league competition and a 4­-2 victory in the U.S. Open Cup. With the forecast calling for temperatures to approach the mid ­90s Sunday, there will likely be two hydration breaks for the players, at approximately the 30th and 75th minute marks, lasting approximately three minutes. The breaks are instituted if the WetBulb Global Temperature measures 82 degrees or higher.