After coming away with 1 point in Kansas City, and taking all 3 in their first home opening win since 2012, the Red Bulls will travel to MAPFRE Stadium to face Crew SC, in what will be another test for Jesse Marsch’s men. Having split last season’s series into a win, a loss, and a tie, both teams are looking to build up on their previous game victories, against FC Toronto, and DC United, and keep a steady pace in the Eastern Conference.
Columbus SC is coming off a bye week, after beating Toronto FC in Columbus by the score of 2-0. While the Red Bulls are also coming off a 2-0 win but against rivals DC United. This is the first of 3 meetings between the two teams this season, the first of two at MAPFRE Stadium. Through the first 19 MLS seasons New York is 26-25-9 all time against Columbus. In Columbus New York has posted a 10-10-4 record, 2-1-2 in their last 5 meetings in Columbus.
Key Absences, and Probables
Columbus will be without the service of both starters on their left side. Right back Waylon Francis, and right winger Frank Meram are both unavailable, as they will be with their National Teams – Costa Rica and Iraq respectively. On the Red Bulls side, Roy Miller will miss his second game in a row due to injury. On the doubtful list, and both on game time decisions are Crew SC midfielder Will Trapp and the Red Bulls’ Ronald Zubar.
Midfield Battle
One of the biggest story lines for this game, and perhaps the most interesting, will be the midfield battle between the two teams. Both teams play in a similar 3 man midfield tactical disposition with two pivots, and a more advanced play maker. On the Red Bulls side, the newly formed trio of Dax McCarty, Felipe and Kljestan are still working out their chemistry, but did show signs of encouraging progress against DC United. On the other side of the pitch it will be Will Trapp(if healthy), Frederico Higuain, and either Tony Tchani or Mohammed Saeid. The two teams like to play possession football, and it will be interesting to see which midfield trio will control the middle of the park and subsequently dictate play
“We’ll match-up three-on-three in the midfield…Sacha is a very good soccer player, and so is Dax. They combine well, they read the game well. Dax will sit more, and Sacha’s got the freedom to roam like Pipa does for us. It’ll be a battle” -Michael Parkhurst
“We have to control the midfield, and we expect to get better each game while getting the results” – Dax McCarty
“Columbus wants to spread the field, we want to shrink it, compress the ball and make sure we have numbers around the ball” – Jesse Marsch
Point Men
The other story line has to be the marquee head to head between Kei Kamara and Bradley Wright-Phillips. Kamara who got is MLS debut with the Crew in 2006, didn’t have the best experience his first time around and ended up bouncing around the MLS before crossing the Atlantic to England where he played for Norwich and Middlesborough. Kamara returned to where it all started last year, albeit too late to feature in any official games for the Crew, and now sees an opportunity to prove to the Crew SC fans that he can be their idol. Much like BWP, he scored his first goal in the Crew’s 2-0 win over Toronto FC.
Last year’s Golden Boot recipient, and current Player of the Week, Bradley Wright-Phillips knows he won’t have the help of Thierry Henry and Tim Cahill this year, which has led to the question – Can he produce the same 27 goal output he got last year? Jesse Marsch seems to think it will be difficult but that the technical staff is working with BWP to make him more of a complete player, and to put him in a position where he will have plenty of chances. Visible proof of that was BWP’s performance against DC United, where he scored a goal, and assisted Lloyd Sam for another.
Other Factors
With the midfield battle and both strikers at the forefront of this game, a few other factors need to be looked at. Lloyd Sam has scored in both Red Bull games this season, and is looking to take on a roll of key play for the Red Bulls, Crew SC Head Coach, and Sporting Director Gregg Berhalter, has mentioned that his team will keep an eye on Sam, and try to neutralize some of the things he has done well for the Red Bulls in the first two games.
With Zubar questionable for Saturday’s game, Matt Miazga and Damien Perrinelle may repeat last weekend’s pairing at the center of New York’s defense. The Crew will try to do a better job to challenge this center pairing then what DC United did, which could very well be one of the keys to getting their second consecutive win of the season.
It’s hard to point out a clear favorite in this match up. As the home team, Crew SC will naturally have the edge in the odds department, but New York will have a word to say. After an impressive win against DC United, the Red Bulls will now be faced with another test to determine how well this team is developing. On the Crew SC side, they will look to extend their home winning streak to two, after a bye week where they had time to rectify some of the issues they had against Toronto FC. Expect an entertaining match from these two teams, one that’s perhaps two close to call, but that on paper should be quite a cracker.
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