Sporting Kansas City began this season with a monumental task, 10 straight road matches to start the season. This was a feat rarely attempted by MLS teams, however, after the long and winding road, which yielded only 6 points, they are ready to begin a new era for the franchise and a new part of the season. They will christen Livestrong Sporting Park on ESPN2 vs. the Chicago Fire (9 PM central time). This affords Sporting with a real chance to earn the full 3 points and get back into the playoff hunt.
This match also marks the first time that Sporting will play a team for the second time. They previously lost to the Fire in Chicago back on March 26th. Many Kansas City fans made the trip up to Chicago and I expect many Chicago fans to make the trip for the first match in the history of Livestrong Sporting Park.
As for the actual match, you should expect to see Jimmy Nielsen start as goalkeeper. Nielsen, who missed last week due to illness, has been the starter most of the season despite getting challenged recently by Eric Kronberg. On the backline I would expect to see Michael Harrington, Julio Cesar, Aurelien Collin, and Seth Sinovic starting.
The midfield has been juggled around this season due to injuries, suspensions, poor play, and international duty. Craig Rocastle, who has started the last few matches, will not be available as he will be playing with Grenada at the Gold Cup and midfielder Stephane Auvray will be out due to his playing with Guadeloupe. I would expect to see a starting midfield of Davy Arnaud, Omar Bravo, and Graham Zusi.
Up top, I think that Peter Vermes will start Teal Bunbury, who scored a goal earlier this year against Chicago. He will also start Ryan Smith and Kei Kamara on the wings. C.J. Sapong will likely come off the bench, once again as Sporting start to settle into what will more than likely be their staring forwards for much of the rest of the season.
(image courtesy of sportingkc.com)
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