MLS: Previews for Sunday

by user The Manly Ferry

Moving on to previews for Sunday’s games now (Saturday’s - i.e. tomorrow’s games - can be found here), beginning with the usual resources: standings, injury report (still not updated), and suspensions.

Chicago Fire v. DC United

TV: ESPN2, Sunday, 9/17, 1 p.m. PST

Chicago: Overall, 10-9-8, 38 pts.; Home, 6-3-4; Form, TWWWWWTWWWL

DC United: Overall, 14-3-10, 52 pts; Away, 6-2-6; Form, TTWLTWLTT

DC United can only lose the Eastern Conference crown by, say, forfeiting their remaining five games; there’s the threat to their hold on the Supporters’ Shield - which now confers the honor of losing to a Mexican team in the CONCACAF Champions Cup sometime in early 2007 - in the (less-than-menacing) form of FC Dallas, but that’s not what this game is about. This is about upsetting DC United’s sense of “alpha status.” In other words, view this as the opening battle over the Eastern Conference dominance hierarchy going into the post-season. It’s in this context that the Eastern Conference front-runners have the trickier decisions to make, especially with regard to their attack. Does DC’s Peter Nowak rest Jaime Moreno and Alecko Eskandarian, both of whom are questionable, to get them fresh as possible for the post-season, or does he sacrifice their health to psychological warfare? Chicago, for their part, comes in nearly full strength: they’re missing some width assuming Ivan Guerrero remains injured and some muscle and enthusiasm through forward Chad Barrett’s absence, but neither player is as central to Chicago functioning as, say, Moreno is to DC. As such, this game comes down to Chicago’s defense overcoming the own goal that sank them on Wednesday - that and assigning someone to make sure DC’s Christian Gomez doesn’t get rolling. All in all, though, a Chicago win means much more than three points; it also means heading into the playoffs inside DC United’s head.

Prediction/Wish: CHICAGO FIRE WINS - and all hell breaks loose.

Houston Dynamo v. Chivas USA

TV: Fox Soccer Channel, Sunday, 9/17, 5:30 p.m.

Houston: Overall, 10-8-9, 39 pts.; Home, 7-3-3; Form, WLWLTLLW

Chivas: Overall, 9-7-11, 38 pts.; Away, 3-5-5; Form, WTWLTW

To begin with a premise: 2006 has been a weird season. Not only is Chivas looking like a smart bet for the post-season (not to mention Bob Bradley looking like a smart bet for Coach-of-the-Year), but they’re almost indisputably playing more confident soccer than Houston; given that this same Houston team won last season’s Supporters’ Shield - albeit in a different location - this shift borders on the seismic. At this point, not a lot separates these teams - a reality suggested by the fact that Chivas could leap-frog into second place in the West with a win (as could Colorado, shockingly). So, who has the edge this Saturday? It’s hard to say. Every plus Houston enjoys - home-field advantage, for instance, seems balanced by a significant minus: say, suspensions for Eddie Robinson, who anchors their back-line, and Brian Mullan, who provides offense down the right (though it’s worth noting that Chivas had his number in the last game between these two). Key forward Brian Ching is also back for Houston - but is he match-fit? For their part, Chivas has Juan Francisco Palencia missing, but, valuable as he is, they’ve coped with that situation plenty. In the end, it’s a question of form for me and Chivas holds the edge there.

Prediction: CHIVAS USA WINS - I see a draw - and a goalless one - as a likely best-case for Houston.

Date

Fri 09/15/06, 9:39 am EST