What tomfoolery will await us on April Fools day, April 1st when the New York Red Bulls travel to Texas to take on the Houston Dynamo?
New York will take to the road Saturday in the first of two back-to-back away games. Many have been critical of the new formation the Red Bulls have employed, yet the club will seek to prove their detractors wrong in a difficult away game.
With a win, the Red Bulls could leapfrog over Columbus (assuming they lose to Orlando), and claim the number one seed in the Eastern conference. Conversely, Houston will be looking to claim second place in the Western conference, piggybacking over rivals FC Dallas. Despite being early in the season, this is a key game for both teams if they wish to assert their dominance in their respective conferences.
The Red Bulls are without a game winning goal in the first four games of the season with their first two victories coming courtesy of own-goals. Although New York has managed seven points from four games with a 2-1-1 record, they look unconvincing on both the offensive and defensive ends. New York head coach Jesse Marsch has yet to settle on a definitive starting XI. With Connor Lade returning from injury, and experimenting in the midfield with Sean Davis and Tyler Adams complicating predictability.
A few things are certain going into Saturday’s match. Gonzalo Veron has been ruled out as he his recovering from a recurring hamstring injury. Marsch hinted on Wednesday that center back Aurelien Collin was likely to be starting over Damien Perrinelle, who has been the recent favorite center back choice next to Aaron Long.
Sacha Kljestan is slated to return after playing for the United States men’s national team in World Cup qualifiers against Honduras and Panama. While fan favorite winger Mike Grella is slated to miss at least the next month of play. Grella had undergone a knee scope during the off season and has been struggling to shrug off chronic pain.
Bradley Wright-Phillips has only one goal to his name in 2017, courtesy of a header against the Seattle Sounders. He is a streaky scorer and once he gets on a roll, he is unstoppable. Could Saturday be the start of a streak? We can only hope as he seemingly looked comfortable next to Fredrik Gulbrandsen in last week’s match against Real Salt Lake. The acclimation to Marsch’s newly championed 4-2-2-2 has perhaps been responsible for the slow start as much as the CONCACAF Champions League games, which effectively shortened the Red Bulls preseason schedule.
Daniel Royer, the Austrian Winger who New York acquired during last summer’s transfer window, has come into his own this season in a Red Bull shirt. Royer has the teams only other goal, yet his impressive work rate and flair on the field earn him high marks.
The Houston Dynamo have only played three games thus far, posting a 2-1 record. Currently, both Erick Torres and Rommel Quioto share the team’s joint scoring record for the season with three goals a piece. Since coming off of a free transfer from CD Olimpia, winger Rommel Quioto has been a revelation for the Dynamo showing spurts of brilliance. Brazilian midfielder Alex has recorded three assists so far, proving to be an asset to Houston’s front three.
Quioto is up in the air as a starter as the winger sustained an injury in the US’s thrashing of Honduras on March 24th. Dynamo head coach Wilmer Cabrera indicated Andrew Wenger could take Quioto’s place.
Since 2010, New York has fared the better of the two sides, posting a 8-3-5 record in all competitions. Dynamo has drawn four times and won only twice at home.
If the Red Bulls are effectively able to dictate the tempo of the game in Houston, they can win but we know how difficult road games are in soccer. I wouldn’t be surprised to see this go Houston’s way given they have shown they can find the back of an opponent’s net.
New York Red Bulls
Houston Dynamo
