DC United will be making their way back to RFK Stadium on Saturday night in time for Andy Najar bobblehead night to take on the San Jose Earthquakes. After coming off a successful trip to the west coast, which saw United grab four points in two matches against Portland and Los Angeles, they will look to extend their unbeaten run to six matches. San Jose is also on a winning streak having gone six matches without a loss. Both teams have not lost a league match since April. Something has to give!
San Jose will be without star striker Chris Wondolowski, who has been a complete beast during the last few seasons, due to the Gold Cup which will make DC’s night easier on defense. Still though, San Jose has threats that could turn out to be X-factors if DC goes to sleep. Brad Ring has been a consistent contributor in the Earthquakes midfield this season, and Simon Dawkins is a young scoring midfielder who is currently second on the team in goals scored. Add on former Columbus striker Steven Lenhart, whose tall statue makes him a threat on set pieces and crosses, and you have some weapons that could ruin DC’s return home and their unbeaten streak.
Arguably one of the most effective players for DC so far this season has been Chris Pontius. He has quietly racked up four goals and three assists this season and is the only player to start every game. He also leads the team in minutes. Coming off a dismal 2010 season that saw him miss a lot of matches due to a bad hamstring injury, many United fans had to be wondering what Pontius could bring to the table. Would he become a dominant player or struggle with more injuries? Much to our excitement, he has brought everything to the table and has shown signs of building off his great 2009 rookie year. Against a San Jose defense that has allowed 14 goals in 12 matches (about 1.2 goals per match), United will need him to be at his best.
Three DC players are now listed as probable for Saturday’s match. Dax McCarty, who has been hampered by a right groin strain, is still listed on the injury report as probable while Jed Zayner and Junior Carreiro are also probable. RFK went through the re-sodding process this week with an entire new playing surface being installed which went without complaint. Pontius mentioned that it was a bit slower but that nobody was really worried. DC had a chance to practice on it yesterday.
With both teams sharing the same record and on similar unbeaten streaks, we can expect this match to be very close and competitive. I would be very surprised with a blowout either way. My prediction: 1-1 draw. Even though I hate seeing DC draw again, I believe this is the most probable result, but DC has the advantage of being at home.
*On an interesting note, everyone has heard about how young this DC United team is, especially in the area of defense. Official stats have come out which shows that DC has the youngest defense in the league by over two years. Their average age is 23 years old while the next youngest team (Portland) has an average age of 25.33. DC is also listed as the youngest team in the MLS as a whole with an average age of 24.15 years old. Next youngest is Chicago, with an age of 25.2.
(image courtesy of dcunited.com)
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