MLS Week 26: One Game Tonight

by user The Manly Ferry

Major League Soccer’s (MLS) Week 26 kicks off tonight with a lone game in the New York City area. It continues on Saturday with a full slate involving everyone. With playoff scenarios now coming into sharper focus, it is to be hoped that the cream will rise; then again, it hasn’t been that kind of year in MLS. And that brings us to tonight’s game...

Red Bull New York v. New England Revolution
(MLS’s preview)

Red Bull: Overall, 7-9-11, 32 pts. ; Home, 6-2-5; Form, LWTLLW

New England: Overall, 8-8-11, 35 pts.; Away, 2-5-7; Form, LLWLWT

A Clash of Titans it ain’t. In truth, the likeliest title for either of these teams in 2006 is “the most tyingest” club in U.S. Soccer. With both teams stalled in the middle of the Eastern Conference muddle, though, either side would sleep easier picking up the full three points. So, who has got the better shot at it? Perhaps between the return of trouble-/play-maker Amado Guevara, the lift of having a stadium of their own on the way, and home-field advantage, Red Bull has the edge. Then again, this was the same team forced to rely on a 16-year-old named Joseph Altidore for the winner against the league’s worst team (the Columbus Crew - and that was at home too). For New England, it’s a case of subtracting two and adding one: they’ll be missing both midfielder Shalrie Joseph and forward Pat Noonan, but they picked up aging Mexico star Jose Manuel Abundis. Abundis could be just what the Revolution needs: someone who can actually put away all those chances they create. Then again, the last time New England played without Shalrie Joseph, it didn’t go so hot. And that’s where this personally treacherous call comes from.

Prediction: RED BULL NEW YORK WINS - That feels so...so...wrong and on so many levels. For the record, I hope like anything I’m wrong.

Date

Wed 09/20/06, 9:19 am EST