Photo by Jim O’Connor/USA Today Sports
By RYAN TOLMICH
For the first time in the club’s short history, New York City FC will cross the George Washington Bridge to battle for city supremacy.
Finding themselves on the opposite ends of the Eastern Conference spectrum, the New York Red Bulls will host NYCFC on Sunday in the first matchup of the two teams, one that headlines this weekend’s MLS Action.
Out west, FC Dallas has a chance to once again establish the club as a contender in a matchup with the LA Galaxy, while the Seattle Sounders face the Columbus Crew in an inter-conference matchup.
Elsewhere, the New England Revolution travel south to take on Orlando City, D.C. United faces off with Sporting KC and Toronto FC returns home to take on the Houston Dynamo.
Here’s a closer look at this weekend’s MLS action:
ORLANDO CITY vs. NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION (Friday, 8 p.m., Univision Deportes)
Orlando City enters Friday night riding a pair of shutout losses, and Kaka and co. are now tasked with taking on one of the league’s hottest teams.
The New England Revolution have been dominant in recent weeks, collecting five victories in the past six games. Riding the performances of Charlie Davies, Juan Agudelo, Lee Nguyen and a healthy Jermaine Jones, the Revs could continue Orlando City’s struggles at the Citrus Bowl, as the club has yet to capture a home victory.
COLORADO RAPIDS vs. SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES (Friday, 10 p.m., Univision Deportes)
The Colorado Rapids have emerged as the league’s draw specialists this season, but the opportunity may arise for three points against a tired San Jose Earthquakes team.
The Earthquakes will be playing their third game in a week on Friday after previously picking up four points against Real Salt Lake and the Houston Dynamo. Now without striker Innocent Emeghara due to surgery, the Earthquakes face a stingy Rapids backline that has given up just eight goals in nine games this seasonn.
CHCAGO FIRE vs. REAL SALT LAKE (Saturday, 3 p.m., MLS Live)
Real Salt Lake must bounce back from recent poor form with a quick turnaround.
After earning a scoreless draw with the LA Galaxy on Wednesday, RSL travels to Chicago to take on the Fire. The Fire have been a picture on inconsistency this season, dropping their first three and winning the three that followed before falling to Sporting KC last time out. Fire forward David Accam will be suspended following a red card, giving RSL a bit of hope in ending a winless streak that stretches back to April 5.
MONTREAL IMPACT vs. PORTLAND TIMBERS (Saturday, 4 p.m., MLS Live)
The Montreal Impact are finally set to take the field for MLS action.
After seeing their CONCACAF Champions League hopes dashed last week, the Impact return to league play Saturday for the first time since April 11. Awaiting the Canadian side are the rejuvenated Portland Timbers, who saw the return of playmaker Diego Valeri last week. Valeri’s return could prove to be the difference for a Timbers team that has lacked the star midfielder’s vision, leadership and goalscoring ability to start the season.
D.C. UNITED vs. SPORTING KC (Saturday, 7 p.m., MLS Live)
With just one defeat this season and riding a six-game winning streak, D.C. United is as hot as can be.
Even prior to the return of Fabian Espindola, D.C. was rolling, while the forward’s presence has only helped add to the strength atop the field. D.C.’s latest challenge comes in the form of a visiting Sporting KC team that has been in hit-or-miss form to start the season, despite the MVP-level play of Benny Feilhaber.
VANCOUVER WHITECAPS vs. PHILADELPHIA UNION (Saturday, 7 p.m., MLS Live)
The Philadelphia Union circus is heading north of the border this weekend.
Mired in yet another goalkeeper crisis, the Union travel to Vancouver without John McCarthy, Andre Blake or even Rais M’bolhi. With Brian Sylvestre tapped to start in net, the Union are charged with keeping tabs on Octavio Rivero, who has seen his goalscoring cool in recent weeks.
COLUMBUS CREW vs. SEATTLE SOUNDERS (Saturday, 7:30 p.m., MLS Live)
The Columbus Crew have been hot and cold recently, but the team will need to be at its best Saturday against a dominant Seattle Sounders side.
The Sounders absolutely thrashed NYCFC, 3-1, last weekend as Clint Dempsey and Obafemi Martins continue to be the league’s scariest strike duo. Combining for 11 goals this season, Dempsey and Martins will test the Crew’s backline, who will once again be without its shield in midfielder Wil Trapp.
FC DALLAS vs. LA GALAXY (Saturday, 8:30 p.m., MLS Live)
FC Dallas’ continued ambitions of moving into the league’s upper echelon could be boosted with a win on Saturday.
Riding a 4-1 shellacking of Texas rivals Houston Dynamo, FC Dallas lines up at Toyota Stadium to take on the defending champion LA Galaxy. Held scoreless last week without Robbie Keane, the Galaxy are likely to be missing their star forward again on Saturday, while FC Dallas’ backline could be weakened due to concerns surrounding Matt Hedges and Zach Loyd.
TORONTO FC vs. HOUSTON DYNAMO (Sunday, 5 p.m., ESPN 2)
Toronto FC is finally homeward bound.
After playing the team’s first seven matches on the road, TFC returns to a renovated BMO Field to take on the Dynamo. Riding a pair of victories, TFC is starting to round into form, as Sebastian Giovinco, Jozy Altidore and Michael Bradley continue to work out the kinks. On the other end, the Dynamo are struggling despite the scoring exploits of forward Giles Barnes, who has contributed five goals this season.
NEW YORK RED BULLS vs. NEW YORK CITY FC (Sunday, 7 p.m., Fox Sports 1)
After plenty of buildup, the New York Red Bulls and New York City FC are set to collide.
The Red Bulls remain among the Eastern Conference contenders, although the team has struggled in recent weeks with just two points from the past three games. The Red Bull’s struggles are nowhere near as bad as their cross-river rivals, though, as NYCFC, who will be without Kwame Watson-Siriboe due to suspension, has lost three straight and collected just one victory this season.
Please include time zones. The internet is world wide, why do some places continue to list times for broadcasts without time zones?
All times listed are Eastern Time Zone where SBI is based.
We need some upsets.
First of all, no way NYRB is that good. So lets see the expansion team win.
Second, NE IS that good, but go Orlando.
Third, I have no idea about San Jose, the coach is good for sure. Go Rapids
If the Sounders beat Columbus, all will be great in the soccer world.
Lastly, I hope Toronto wins a great game in the “new” stadium. So cool that we are moving past the small stadium phase.
Nothing is more overrated in my opinion than parity, upsets and rooting for the underdog. Let quality and talent win out! I root for the favorites during the NCAA tournament for this very reason.
How on Earth are we supposed to build a league without parity?
Sure, you could let New York, LA, and maybe Seattle spend whatever they wanted. They’d go buy the best players they could get from Europe and run roughshod over everybody.
But what would that do for soccer in this country? Sure, we’d win CONCACAF Champions League and have 2-3 teams who were as good as anybody’s.
The rest of the league, what there was of it, would be horrific.
What incentive would new owners, especially in small markets, have to invest in teams nobody would go see play, mostly because they’ll never be competitive?
What incentive would anybody have to invest in their youth academies, since the money would be there to just buy finished Euro and South American products?
We could have already had a couple of monster clubs…ten years ago. And there things would have stayed…with 10-15 smaller clubs playing the Washington Generals to the superclubs’ Harlem Globetrotters, and incidentally folding and contracting when nobody went to see them play. And soccer in this country would not have advanced one measureable iota.
The model in this country is working, and posting pretty close to 10% gains in attendance and popularity every year. MLS is doing things the long, hard, slow way…and building everything from the grassroots up at the expense of the “luxury” clubs everybody really wants to see…and may never actually see, in MLS. I don’t know that either of the New Yorks or Seattle or LA clubs are ever going to get to be Chelsea or either of the Manchesters…but I do think in 10 years or so they’ll be clubs with $25-million-or so payrolls, playing in a 32-team-plus league against other clubs with the same payrolls. Which strikes me as an altogether much healthier situation.
I do think, as the number of MLS clubs pushes 40, you will see an increasing movement towards at least a limited form of promotion/relegation between at least MLS 1 and MLS 2, and at that point, yes, you probably will start seeing the emergence of true superclubs. Which I’d be fine with…once we’ve built the pyramid that can legitimately support it.
Pretty sure the Sounders are playing in Columbus.
If not someone, please let me know, so I can go to the game.