by Nino Torres, Columbus
The scenario
Forget about the below freezing temperatures for tomorrow night. The contest between the Columbus Crew SC and The New York Red Bulls will bring fireworks to Mapfre Stadium. These two teams use the same formation (4-2-3-1) but their styles differ from each other so much that invite to bring he best of them.
It’s a clash of tempos. The Red Bulls are vertical, their pace is fast, and they constantly look for long balls for Bradley Wright-Phillips or deep runs from Lloyd Sam, always attacking through the middle. The Crew SC rarely drives over the speed limit but controls the possession and exploits the flanks to get to Kei Kamara with crosses, lots of crosses.
New York is coming to Ohio to try to even things up with Columbus. They haven’t won at Mapfre Stadium since April 7th of 2012 when an inspired Thierry Henry led his Red Bulls to an outstanding 4-1 victory. The Crew SC currently has an edge in their past five meetings with a 2-2-1 record.
To achieve their goal, the Red Bulls midfield Trio (McCarthy, Felipe and Kljestan) will have to sync perfectly. Their back line must step up when defending crosses. Otherwise, the Crew SC will make them pay.
The absences
The Crew SC won’t be able to count with Waylon Francis and Justin Meram, both with their nationals teams, Costa Rica and Iraq respectively. The Columbus Dispatch also reported that Will Trapp most likely will miss the game due to a calf injury. The natural replacements for those three positions will be Kris Klute, Kris Steindorsson and Mohammed Saeid.
The Strikers
The Crew SC limited Jozy Altidore to a minimum action. It will be interesting to see what kind of an action plan they have against Bradley Wright-Phillips, his sense of position is what makes him so dangerous. Kei Kamara will be an absolute nightmare for the red bulls defense, especially in the aerial game.
The X Factor: Lloyd Sam
With Henry gone, the Englishman took over the role of offense-generator. And he is doing it with class. If he plays on the 8.5- 9.0 points quality level he can close this game.
Prediction: 3-1 Columbus.
