Week 4 Predictions
April 18, 2008 by f4denz.
| Mine |
Soccer by Ives |
Mind of Scads |
Actual |
| DCU 3 – Columbus 2 |
DCU 2 – Columbus 1 |
DCU 2 – Crew 1 |
Columbus 2 – DCU 0 |
| RSL 2 – TFC 1 |
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TFC 0 – RSL 0 |
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| Red Bulls 2 – Revolution 2 |
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Red Bulls 2 – Revolution 1 |
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| Rapids 2 – Quakes 0 |
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Rapids 3 – Earthquakes 1 |
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| Dynamo 2 – Galaxy 1 |
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Dynamo 1 – Galaxy 0 |
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| Fire 3 – Wizards 1 |
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Wizards 2 – Fire 2 |
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| Dallas 2 – Chivas 1 |
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Chivas 2 – FC Dallas 1 |
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Red Bulls vs. Revolution
Injuries on both side will hamper sides, NY is without Freeman, Richards, and Roth and may not have Thornton and Angel who if they do play will not be 100%. The Revolution is much worse off, missing Twellman, Ralston, Albright, and Britner, they also have Larentowitz who is injured but expect to play. So who will be the difference maker in this one? No one, this one will feature some stars of the future Altidore, Mansally, and Nyassi, all players with attacking skills and speed. This will be an exciting match but I think each team will put two into the back of the net and this one ends up a draw and neither team will be happy about it.
Rapids remain on top of the West
Is anyone else surprised by the red hot start that the Rapids are off to in 2008? After only getting 2 wins in the last two months of last season, they already have that many wins in the first two weeks of this season. They have done it with young players stepping up and filling shoes of injured stars (Casey, Petke, and Ihemelu are out and Pablo still hurting and only having played 35 minutes in the first 3 weeks of the 08 season), of interest to RSL fans is that Medhi Ballouchy is rumored to be on his way out at Colorado and he has not seen any action this year.
San Jose is well an expansion team and so far they have yet to put a goal into the back of the net. Two matches into the season and two defeats and they so far are the only team to lose to the Galaxy, well week four will be no different for San Jose, they will lose again and they will not score a goal. It will Bouna time at the Dick’s as the Rapids score two and stay atop the Western Conference standings.
Who would have figured?
Houston has not looked anything like the defending MLS Cup champions and has only 2 points from ties with Dallas and KC, and a opening day loss to New England (3-0). Houston has allowed 3 more goals than they have scored this year, but LA is in that same boat allowing 3 more goals than they have scored. The difference in the standings is one point, LA has 3 all from their victory over San Jose. This will be the match that the Dynamo begin to look like the champs, they will double up on the Galaxy, who simply do not have enough players to stop Houston, this one ends up 2-1.
Can the Wiz put out the Fire?
Both teams have 7 points and a win would put one team a point above the Crew in the Eastern Conference standings, oh just a note KC has 7 points from 4 matches, the Fire have the same total from 3 and have not lost yet this year. It looked like KC was going to be a real force in MLS this season despite losing Eddie Johnson to Fullham, but that only lasted for the first two matches (wins over DC United and the Rapids) but when New England stopped by KC on a rainy, windy night the Wizards looked much more human and got beat 3-1, then last week they could not score and settled for a 0-0 draw with Houston. This will be the first match that KC is not playing at their baseball field, and they will get a rude surprise in Chicago. I am not sure if the Fire are the class of the east, but no one has beaten them, and they spoiled the home opener (played in Oakland) for San Jose, but they are a good team and they have a superstar that unlike the guy in LA has made a huge impact since his arrival in MLS. I may not like the diving antics of Blanco, but he still can pass the ball, he still has great field vision, and he can put the ball in the back of the net if you give him any type of opening. KC will and it will cost them, they lose this one 3-1 as the Fire take over the lead in the east.
Week 4 and already the second meeting
They faced off in week 1 at Dallas and ended up in a 1-1 draw and since then Chivas has gotten a win and a loss, and Dallas has a win and another tie. But this one will not end up as a tie for a number of reasons, first Chivas will be missing Kljestan and Mendoza both who are suspended due to a red card in last weekends heartbreaker loss to the Columbus Crew. They also will not have Esky and Razov and Vaughn are both hurting but will probably play. The loss of Sasha takes away too much for them to win this one, despite playing at home. I am going to pick Dallas to win 2-1 in this Sunday night battle.
Pressure can make diamonds
So there is no doubt that the worst two teams last season were TFC and RSL, but this year both are coming off major wins in week 3 and appear to be on the edge of moving from lumps of coal to being diamonds (OK diamonds in the rough). TFC has a wild group of home supporters, and a lot of new faces in the last few weeks, add in their win over the Galaxy last weekend at the Home Depot Center via a 88th minute goal by the 2006 Golden Boot winner Jeff Cunningham, and it would seem that TFC is poised to notch their second win of the season. Hold on, all that is fine but let’s not forget that RSL is also in the process of moving from laughing stock, to playoff contender (really). RSL is coming off perhaps the biggest victory in their four year existence, beating DC United is nothing new for RSL, but beating them 4-0 and simply out playing them in every aspect of the game is big. Then consider that their opening match of 2008 was a solid effort against the Fire, who got a 90th minute goal from superstar Blanco to steal 2 points from RSL, and then add in the new faces from the 2007 opening day roster, all 20 of them. So which team will respond to the pressure, RSL has the pressure of expectations from fans, the owner, and even themselves. For TFC the pressure will come from 20,000 crazy fans, which last year turned the turf at BMO field into a storage bin for seat covers, and are always loud and proud of their team.
Reality is that TFC is better than last year, but their improvement is not as significant as the changes for RSL. This one goes RSL’s way 2-1, and I will even pick that the TFC goal will be scored by former RSL fan favorite Jeff Cunningham.
Week 3 summary
Last week I only had two matches right, but that was one more than Ives’ picks on his blog (still waiting on his week 4 picks), and this week I have added picks from the Mind of Scads blog to the mix. Who will win week 4? Don’t know we all started wrong on the DC vs. Crew match, so only time will tell.
OFF MY SOAPBOX