The first leg of the Atlantic Cup will take place tonight as the New York Red Bulls travel south to RFK Stadium to play bitter rivals D.C. United. The Atlantic Cup, awarded to the regular-season series winner, has favored D.C. with an overall score of 7-2. New York is the current Atlantic Cup champions as they scored twice last year on the road against D.C., while the home match against United saw no goals. The game will test New York’s solid defense against D.C’s successful offense. The longest running rivalry in Major League Soccer will be taken to new levels this year with the new acquisitions from both teams. Both New York and D.C. have seen major improvements in their roster since last year.
New York will look to continue the scoring success as they take on their rivals. Coach Hans Backe could perhaps play teen star Juan Agudelo back up top next to Thierry Henry after Agudelo was on the bench in the last game. While the Luke Rodgers and Thierry Henry pairing saw fantastic results, Agudelo may not have lost his starting spot yet. The team has an intimidating trio in their attack that we may see them rotate continuously.
While the goalkeeping problems for the Red Bulls have not yet been solved, the defense is solid enough that it will most likely keep United’s offense away from the goal. Center backs Tim Ream and Rafa Marquez will continue to post good results for New York’s defense. The Red Bulls come off of a shutout in their last match against San Jose.
New York’s defense will meet D.C. United’s strong and successful offense. We will see the likes of Chris Pontius, Josh Wolff and Charlie Davies up top for D.C. Charlie Davies leads the Golden Boot race with five goals in only four games. He scored last weekend in his first start for D.C. and with his continued success he will most likely start again up top next to Josh Wolff. While United has had no problems finding the back of the net, they have struggled to keep goals out of their own net. D.C. has scored a league-high nine goals while also allowing eight goals. United’s young defense, composed of Ethan White, Perry Kitchen, Chris Korb and Marc Burch will certainly be tested against an experienced New York offense.
This match can be seen tonight at 8 eastern time on ESPN 2.
(image courtesy of Getty Images)
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