Good Afternoon! The Red Bulls return to MLS action today in San Jose, California. They'll be taking on the resurgent SJ Earthquakes, within the cozy confines of Santa Clara University's Buck Shaw Stadium. This will be the Red Bulls' third west coast trip this season. The Earthquakes, currently sittting sixth in the Western Conference, are coming off a 1-0 win against the Colorado Rapids. Also, at least three expected NY starters will not be in the lineup when the Red Bulls take the field at Buck Shaw. With all that in mind, let's get to some predictions:
The great Matt Conroy (aka Who Shot Sam) has this for us:
I’m not feeling confident. I think we drop this one. San Jose 2 RBNY 1. They score first, we even it up on a goal by Salou and they grab a late winner. This is our third trip to the West Coast early in the season and I have a feeling the players could be a little tired and jet-lagged.Wow! That's a shocker from the usually confident Matt. I'm usually the one who's NOT confident every time we play away and, this time, it's no different. The Red Bulls have several players, including Ibrahim Salou and Dane Richards, who took a few knocks in the last game. Also, Carl Robinson's knee swelled up again and he didn't even travel (Tony Tchani could make his first start in Robinson's place). I'm going to hope that the Red Bulls can get out of Buckshaw with a tie, but, like I said, I'm not very confident. I'm thinking the Red Bulls lose this one by the score of 1-0.
Homebrew Tim has this for us:
I'm looking for our Red Bulls to log their first draw of the season this week. A long flight, some knocks during training this week, and a San Jose team off to a decent start will lead to a 1-1 draw.Not quite doom & gloom from Tim, but he's also not confident of victory. Which brings us to the always confident You Suck Corrales. Today, he has this for us:
Unfortunately I think it is going to be a little tough this week. After the glorious DC away victory this game has let down written all over. Third west coast trip in short succession plus injuries to a few players. San Jose looks like they are going pretty good, especially at home. I would be happy with a draw but I expect a.................NO. UNCLE DIETRICH DOES NOT ACCEPT DEFEATISM! We will destroy them. I expect the full three points. JPA hat trick and Ramiro Corrales gets his leg broken. NYRB 4 San Jose 0.Allrighty then!
In other news:
As you all know by now, Montreal has been awarded the 19th franchise in MLS. As you might, or might not, also know by now, Don Garber will do everything in his power so that the 20th MLS franchise winds up in New York City. Apperently, Red Bulls management is very much in favor of this.
If you have not already checked it out, there is a very nice article on the culinary delights of Red Bull Arena in the Star Ledger.
Of some interest to Red Bulls fans, the New Meadowland Stadium hosted it's first soccer match yesterday (actually, it's first professional sporting event), a nil-nil between Mexico and Ecuador. Filip Bondy has a review of the place in the Daily News. Yeah, they can shove the $25.00 they charged everyone to park up their.... Also, can the Red Bulls attract even a slight percentage of the 77,000+ who attended?
That's all for now. He'res hoping for a big win today. Viper out!
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