Good afternoon! It's a real beautiful on here in RBNY land and the good guys are back in MLS action @The Cathedral of Football against the defending champion Real Salt Lake. RSL, currenly 2nd in the Western Conference, comes into the game unbeaten since a July 17 game against FC Dallas. They have, however, dropped points recently, as their last two MLS games have both ended in 1-1 ties. They'll be looking to get back to winning ways and give the Los Angeles Galaxy a run @The Supporter's Shield.
The Red Bulls, on the other hand, are coming off a lacklustre 1-0 home win over Kansas City but, nonetheless, find themselves 1st in the Eastern Conference, one point ahead of second place Columbus. With The Crew losing 2-0 last night, against Chicago, the Red Bulls could very well go 4 points clear at the top with a victory today. This is all easier said than done, however, as the Red Bulls will be missing two key starters in goalkeeper Bouna Coundoul and winger Dane Richards, due to International call-ups. Mercifully, Defensive Midfielder extraordinaire Rafa Marquez (boy, did we miss him last week) has declared himself ready to play, and will be back in the line-up. A Red Bulls victory today would send the rest of the League yet another statement of intent. With all that in mind, let's get to some predictions.
Matt Conroy (aka Who Shot Sam) has this for us
We cannot really play much worse than we did last week, can we? If we do, we sure as hell will not win because Greg Sutton ain't no Bouna Time. Marquez will be back, which should help enormously. For some reason, I feel optimistic about this one, even though Dane Richards will be missing as well. At some point, Henry is bound to knock in a goal or two, right? Why not this weekend? Two for Henry, one for Angel and a consolation goal for RSL. 3-1 to the Red Bulls and we continue our march toward the Eastern Conference championship.I going to go with a Red Bulls victory today, as well. I'm thinking that the return of Rafa Marquez is just what the doctor ordered and this team will not suffer defensively, as it did last week. Greg Sutton has done a respectable job between this pipes in the few games he's played this year, and there is no reason to think it would otherwise today. I'm going to go with a 2-0 RBNY victory.
Homebrew Tim has this for us:
Seems like the Red Bulls can never get their full complement of starters healthy and available, and today is no exception. On the bright side, midfield general, Rafa Marquez should be back which means we should see a return to calmer, more effective ball movement tonight, as well as a stronger central defense. This is important because it won't be Bouna Time, tonight; it's Greg Time. He's been respectable in goal this year, but he's not Bouna.Last, but not least, the great You Suck Corrales has this for us:
I think we capitalize on Columbus' loss last night and see a Red Bulls victory. Goals from Henry and Lindpere will see us go 4 points up on Columbus with two games remaining. Red Bulls win 2-1.
Well, here we go. This is a huge game. Every game is huge from now on though. And we are going to be missing Bouna and Dane which will hurt alot. But Rafa is back. As evidenced from last week he is the lynch pin of this entire operation. He is the difference between a half way decent team and a great team. Things should calm down with him between the defenders and midfielders. Play should open up pretty well. RSL is a good team no doubt. But they ain't in Utah. They can not cope with the flowing offense that comes with Marquez and ofcourse the crowd that wills them to victory. And maybe this is the game where Thierry finally gets going. One can only hope. Depending on the Columbus result friday night we can be 4 points clear with 2 to go. Prediction. NYRB 3- RSL-1........ Henry (2), Ream off a set piece.
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