Weekend Predictions
Fire at San Jose
So the first home match for San Jose (their original opener against NYRB was rescheduled due to the stadium not being ready), and they get to face the red hot Chicago Fire who have one win and one tie on the year and have scored 5 goals while only giving up one. San Jose will be trying to score their first goal in the relaunch of Earthquake franchise. This one is easy 3-1 Chicago
Chivas at Columbus
The only real team in LA goes on the road to face Columbus, so the only question is what Columbus team will show up? The one that handled TFC on opening day or the ones that got beat down by the Red Bulls last weekend? Chivas showed that they can put goals in the back of the net against RSL, but Hesmer has stopped two PK’s already this year and only let two balls by him in the first two matches of the year. I am going to say Chivas stay on top of the west with a 3-1 win.
Rapids at Revolution
Talk about an interesting match up, this one holds more promise for me that any other of the weekend (outside of the RSL vs. DC match). New England have looked very good in two of their 3 matches and horrible in the match against the Fire. The Rapids looked great against the Beckham boys, and played well in a loss at KC. I expect a 2-0 Revolution win, and a 3rd goal of the young season for Sainey Nyassi.
Dynamo at Converted baseball stadium
Well KC looked human at midweek in their loss to the Revolution, and Houston looked beaten, battered, and abused in their midweek CONCACAF loss in Costa Rica. Depending on who is healthy enough to play for Houston really is the key to this match, I am going to say KC wins 3-1, as Houston continues to struggle early in the 2008 season.
Red Bulls at F*C* Dallas
Well Dallas has not won a match yet this season, and NY has a win in their only match. I think New York is a very solid team and will be a real contender to win the east. At the same time, I think Dallas has some issues on defense, but have shown they can score. Five for them and five against them, so this one is easy to pick, going with a draw 2-2.
TFC at Golden Balls United (Sunday match)
OK so we get TFC which has looked horrible against both Columbus and DC United, playing in LA against Beck’s and his court, who looked horrible against Colorado, and above average against a very horrible Earthquake side last weekend. So I guess this one comes down to which team will suck less, can TFC score against an awful Galaxy defense? Will the addition of 26 yr old Rohan Ricketts from Championship side (possibly relegated Barnsley, who made an impressive FA cup run and put down both Liverpool and Chelsea, and MLS’s troubled child Amado Guevara help out a team that has really struggled to find a single bright spot in their second year? The answer is simply, no it will not help 3-1 Galaxy.
Match of the week DC United at Real
RSL has faced DC United 6 times in the past 3 years and considering RSL’s overall record, a 2-3-1 mark against the MLS’s premier side is not bad at all. So will we see a repeat of the last two time DC has come to Salt Lake City, losing both contests (1-0 in 06 and 2-1 in 07), or will we see DC step up and try to duplicate their 3-1 win at RES in 2005? Consider a couple things, DC has struggled both in MLS and in the CONCACAF Champions Cup, their only MLS win comes against TFC (see above for their issues) and DC got bounced out of the Champions Cup on Wednesday night by Pachuca, despite winning 2-1. The effort against Pachuca may be DC’s downfall this weekend, they played a very high tempo attacking match in their attempt to make up for a 0-2 first leg of the Cup semi finals. I expect that match, and the elevation of Salt Lake City will really have a negative impact on DC United tomorrow evening.
On the other hand, RSL has looked very good in both of the matches so far this season, playing a much more attacking style of football than in the past, but they have had issues finishing their scoring chances. I predicted that Dr. Goal Kenny Deuchar would put in 25 goals this season on his way to winning the golden boot, no better time to go on a scoring run than now (2 from Kenny on Saturday night). I expect that if we do not score early in the match, that Talley will be pulled early, and Beckerman will slide back to D-mid, with Andy Williams coming in to work his magic. I am also looking for an improved effort from our back four, as Ian Joy rebounds from a rough outing against Chivas last weekend. Nick Rimando will be stellar in goal against his former squad.
RSL Wins 3-1
OFF MY SOAPBOX
This entry was posted on April 11, 2008 at 5:19 pm and is filed under MLS Predictions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.