Following their 5-0 thrashing of TFC, the Red Bulls are once again home this weekend as they face DC United for a battle of the Atlantic Cup. The Red Bulls come into this game high on confidence after their performance on Wednesday night, whereas DC is winless in their last five attempts. However, they have had some good results in that stretch such as tying at Real Salt Lake and the Galaxy, as well as at home to the Philadelphia Union, which could have easily been a win. With the recent acquisitions of De Rosario and center back Brandon McDonald, this DC team team is stronger than the squad the Red Bulls easily defeated 4-0 earlier in the season. Furthermore, as we have so many times across all sports, you never know what could happen in a rivalry match when the stakes are that much higher. Both teams will definitely be up for this one and be looking for the three points, so it has the potential to be a very good match tonight.
For the Red Bulls, one key absence will be Teemu Tainio. After picking up another yellow card on Wednesday night, Tainio is now suspended for the match because of yellow card accumulation. This could really cause problems for the Red Bulls as De Rosario can certainly cause problems in the attacking midfield position. I suspect the Ballouchy will replace Tainio and either him or McCarty will play in Tainio’s more defensive role. No disrespect to either of them, but it would be more reassuring to have Tainio working defensively to limit De Rosario. Both Ballouchy and McCarty are a very good players, but the two are a little more attack-minded players and do not bring the same defensive abilities that Tainio has. It will be interesting to see both how the Red Bulls deal with this situation and if they give any special treatment to De Rosario, and also how DC will try to exploit this situation to their advantage.
Another key matchup tonight will be on the Red Bulls right side as Chris Pontius will be going against Solli for most of the night. Both players have important roles for their respective sides. Pontius adds a lot of width and is a dangerous winger with his ability to run at defenders. If Solli can limit Pontius, it will force Andy Najar, who will likely be playing on the other flank, to beat the Red Bulls with services. Najar is a good player as well but not as effective as Pontius as dribbling at defenders and whipping balls into the box. If Solli can stop Pontius, DC’s attack will have to be more narrow through the center of the field. Doing this though, will allow the Red Bulls defense to play more compact and make them harder to breakdown. Furthermore, Solli, as mentioned in previous posts, can be very dangerous going forward. While Agudelo stole most of the attention with his wonder goal last time the teams played, it is important to note that Solli assisted three of the four goals in that game. I am sure DC will be much more aware of the threat now, so it will be interesting to see how effective Solli will be going forward. Again, I think this is a key matchup and whoever is able to get the best of it will have an important impact on the match. We will see how it unfolds tonight as the game is scheduled to kickoff from Red Bull Arena at 7:30 PM Eastern Time.
(image courtesy of Getty Images)
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
