Two
of Major League Soccer’s premier franchises line up against one another in
weekend soccer action. New York are back on top in the Eastern Conference and
looking to keep it that way.
The
Red Bulls returned to their home arena in style during the week, hammering a
defenseless Toronto FC side 5-0 (not the score, but the result I predicted) and
living up to their -250 betting odds tag.
Both
Thierry Henry and Luke Rodgers returned to the starting lineup and found the
back of the net in the first half. After the break, Joel Lindpere scored before
Juan Agudelo netted a brace after coming on for Rodgers in the 55th
minute.
Getting
those three points kept New York on top of the East, just one point clear of
both the Philadelphia Union and Columbus Crew.
DC
United will be aiming to spoil the party this weekend in its short trip to Red
Bull Arena.
The
team’s last fixture ended in a 2-2 draw, that being against the Union at home.
Josh Wolff and Andy Najar were the scorers for DCU.
As it
stands, United is now sixth in the Eastern Conference table with 19 points
through 16 matches. Though they do have a couple games in hand, the points need
to start coming fast.
The
books had not released their soccer odds at time of writing, but bookmark this
page and come back as we will have live in article odds once available.
Red
Bulls must remain focused at all times
Now
that Henry has recovered from illness and Rodgers is back after missing four
games with a foot injury, the Red Bulls are going to be extremely dangerous pushing
forward.
As
proof, consider that Juan Agudelo, a U.S. international, is likely to come off
the bench for New York so long as the aforementioned pair remain healthy.
Yes
Agudelo is still extremely young, but when you’re a coach and you’re bringing
such a quality player on as a substitute it bodes well for your team.
Another
headline revolving around this encounter involves none other than Canadian
playmaker Dwayne De Rosario.
Not
long after being traded to the Red Bulls from Toronto, De Rosario was again
shipped off, this time to Saturday’s opponent DC United funnily enough.
After
a solid debut in which he picked up an assist, the midfielder could begin to
link up very nicely with Charlie Davies, Josh Wolff and Chris Pontius in the
attack.
Ahead
of this weekend’s fixture, United also obviously has the advantage of a few
days more rest, getting a full week off since last weekend’s draw at home to
the Union.
However
the Red Bulls are really in a groove right now and despite having a couple days
rest, they have the depth to cope.
It
needs to be said that New York’s backline must stay attentive throughout, with
lethal goalscorer Charlie Davies on the prowl for United. But I believe the Red
Bulls do just that, and in the end will prove too talented as they keep their
grasp on the top spot in the MLS standings.
FREE
Pick: New
York 2 DC United 1