Sporting Kansas City will look to escape the bottom of the Eastern Conference this week as they make a trip up to New England. They are currently last in the East, tied with Chicago, with 4 points out of 4 league matches. They can, however, move up into 5th place in thr conference with a win and some help.
New England recently picked up U.S. international midfielder Benny Feilhaber through an allocation wire, where he was picked up after being passed on by both Philadelphia and Chivas USA. He will, probably, be inactive for the match on Saturday but will provide quite a boost for the club when he gets fit and is inserted into the starting 18.
For Sporting they will look to rebound from a disappointing 1-0 loss to the Columbus Crew last weekend. They look to do so without defender Julio Cesar, who is out due to a red card in the last match, and designated player Omar Bravo, out due to injury. Kansas City are hoping to have winger Ryan Smith back from offseason surgery, although he might only get a couple of minutes off the bench.
In terms of the starting XI, most of the lineup will be pretty predictable. Jimmy Nielsen will start in goal. Nielsen has played great at times this season despite having a subpar week last time out. On the back line I would expect Roger Espinoza to start on the left, Shavar Thomas and Matt Besler in the middle and Michael Harrington on the right. This will provide Thomas with an opportunity to start for the first time this season.
In the midfield the paring of Davy Arnaud and Milos Stojcev have played well this season and both should start again this week. The 3rd midfield spot is the key position and will probably be up in the air. Birahim Diop, Stephane Auvray, and Craig Rocastle all have received significant minutes in that midfield role this year. Diop started the last two matches and it wouldn’t surprise me if, after last week, coach Peter Vermes decides to make a change and give Auvray the opportunity to get the start.
Up top is pretty easy to predict for Sporting with Teal Bunbury, Kei Kamara, and C.J. Sapong all starting for the 3rd match in a row. Bunbury has been playing excellent this year with 3 goals in 3 appearances while Kei has a goal and 2 assists in his 3 matches. C.J. Sapong has a goal and an assist to start his rookie campaign and is showing that he deserves to start even when everybody is completely healthy. Sapong is one of only 4 players to play every single minute in every match so far. The attack will also be bolstered by the return of Smith, who will probably start from the bench this week.
The season has been full of ups and downs so far and has balanced out for Sporting as they start the season with 10 straight road games to start the season before moving into their brand new stadium.
PREDICTION: Sporting Kansas City 1 – New England 3
(image courtesy of Getty Images)
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