I love having some good MLS action to watch tonight and tomorrow after the huge CCL match last night, and both of these matches should provide a lot of entertainment as they feature 4 teams all with something to prove.
New York Red Bulls at DC United - Thursday 6pm MT - ESPN2
Well this match may be a huge one come the end of the year as these teams will be battling for one of the 3 automatic playoff berths that will go to the Eastern Conference. Everyone expects a lot from New York with Thierry Henry, Rafa Marquez, and Dwayne De Rosario and at 2-1-2 they have kinda delivered early on, if they maintain the same pace they will end the season with 54 points which should be enough to make the playoffs. The Red Bulls finally had a big offensive match against San Jose last weekend and ended with a 3-0 win at RBA, while the Red and Black of DC United were up in Toronto and were able to secure themselves an impressive 3-0 road win.
DC United are the best scoring team in the Eastern Conference with 9 goals but they have allowed 8 goals, and clearly when Charlie Davies is on the pitch for them they are a much better team than what most expected , the rebuilding process took a leap forward with Davies and having a healthy Chris Pontius. It will be interesting to see how the conflicting styles of NYRB possession oriented play as opposed to the more frantic and counter attacking style of DC United. I think this will be an interesting match and be a very entertaining 2-2 draw.
more after the jump:
Ah Friday night footy, I do love that FSC has moved to doing Friday matches, and this week we also get a Saturday match from them but more on that tomorrow.
Seattle Sounders at Colorado Rapids - Friday 7:30pm MT - Fox Soccer Channel
Just like the Thursday night match this is a match between two teams who have something to prove, Colorado are coming off their heartbreaking stoppage time loss to RSL last week, while the Sounders were able to secure a 1-1 draw with the Philly Union but still have just a single win so far this season. This may be the healthiest the Sounders have ever been since joining MLS, with just Pat Noonan on their injury report and he is listed as probable. It will be interesting to see what will happen when they have to figure out who to take out if they decide to bring Fredy Montero back into the starting lineup. I think the Sounders are better than their 1-2-3 record but proving it against the defending MLS Cup champs will not be easy.
For the Rapids they will be trying to get that nasty taste of back to back losses (3-0 at FC Dallas and 1-0 at RSL) out of their mouth, and perhaps it will be that short stuffing Pablo Mastroeni who is likely to return to the lineup that will help them get back on their winning ways. I also think they could use a shot of life from Omar Cummings, who despite many rumors didn't go over to Europe to play and if he doesn't start playing better may not get the chance this summer when the transfer window opens again. I think the Rapids will be able to defend their home turf and pull out a 2-1 win on Friday night.
I will look at the weekend action tomorrow.
OFF MY SOAPBOX