United look to erase past mistakes in derby match versus Red Bulls

Never forget. Those are the words that D.C. United (3-1-0, 9 points) players will have in their minds on Saturday evening as they host their rivals the New York Red Bulls (2-0-1, 7 points) . The match will be played at RFK Stadium at 7pm EST and be shown live on COMCAST SportsNET in Washington D.C., on MSG in New York, and on MLS Live throughout the United States.

While the rivalry for D.C. United and New York Red Bulls is obviously important, both teams will likely be looking forwards rather than backwards in this match. Both teams have started the season strong and are looking to build some cushion in the Eastern Conference standings.

Out of the two teams, it is perhaps United needs a result the most in this match. In their prior tie against the Red Bulls this season they were simply beaten in every facet of the game. The result may say 2-0 but the game was much father apart than that.

What doubts about Bradley Wright-Phillips suffering a hangover in 2015 have been quickly erased. The son of the Arsenal legend has scored two goals this season and assisted on two others. His goal against United in their first match this season helped erase many of the doubts that Red Bulls supporters had early on:

What United should be worried about with Wright-Phillips is the balance and patience that he has shown in 2015. In 2014 he always seemed like he was rushed, as if there was some Frenchman about ready to rip him for a missed chance. But in the game against United and in last week’s match against Columbus Crew SC (where he also scored) he seems to have his full confidence in his shot.

To combat Wright-Phillips, United will need a better performance out of center-back Kofi Opare. Opare is filling for the injured Steve Birnbaum and looked at times lost in last week’s match against Orlando City. Expect Red Bulls midfielder Dax McCarty to exploit this weakness by servicing Wright-Phillips and forward Loyd Sam in open space.

The OCSC attack ran a triangle pattern in the center of the pitch, with Opare often going to the left to take on the open man. That leaves the center of the pitch wide open and United susceptible to goal-scoring opportunities. United goalkeeper Bill Hamid saved United last week with an incredible performance. But the D.C. back four have to give him some help.

It will be interesting to see where United coach Ben Olsen places Luis Silva in this match. Silva made his return last week in Orlando as late substitute and immediately paid dividends. His goal in stoppage time gave United their second win in as many matches.

Depending upon how he is coping with his return from a hamstring injury, Olsen may slot him in for an ailing Nick De Leon (who has had hamstring tightness all this week). Or he may choose to have him come in for forward Chris Pontius as a substitute later in the match. The tricky thing about hamstring injuries is that they can flare up. United obviously need his attacking skills (he scored 11 goals for them last season) but this is a long season.

The Red Bulls back four is a bit banged up right now with both starting left-back Roy Miller and center-back Ronald Zubar out with injuries. Expect Jamaican international Kemar Lawrence and United States under-20 Men’s National Team player Matt Miazga to fill in at left and center-back, respectively.

If United are to turn around their recent fortunes with New York, they need to get better production up front. In the match three weeks ago, the Red Bulls defense used their size advantage to push around Pontius and Jairo Arrieta. United have the advantage in speed and should thus try and make the Red Bulls defense play out of position.

Despite the earlier result, this should be a fairly even match. With the addition of Silva, Olsen’s attack will have an added dimension to throw against a fragile Red Bulls back four. But Wright-Phillips is on a roll and will give United headaches for the entire match.