Week 16 Preview – Part One: Thursday Night Fights

By: travis | July 10th, 2008

Ok, so no one is going to be fighting. But in keeping with my promises from last week, I am no doing independent previews for Thursday night games. You know, the ones that are on ESPN and no one watches. People do, but you get my point. Also trying to link up with the MLS main site previews that can give you the boring insights that I choose to ignore. Let me know what people think of that. Good idea? Bad idea? I’m open to suggestions here. Anyways, two exciting matchups to gloss over today: there’s the battle of the worst in KC, as the Wizards take on the Red Bull to see who is the worst. Of the two, I see New York going in the more positive direction as Juan Carlos begins to pull out his bag o’ tricks. The other matchup of the night is the SuperClasico, which is a lame attempt at a sweet nickname for the derby between Chivas and LA.

Kansas City v New York
This could be just as interesting as the game out West. While that features the top two teams in the West standings, this is the two bottom teams in the East. Or as your cliche sports writer would put it, the least of the East. Ohh yeah. Juan Pablo Angel returned last week in the Red Bull’s 4-0 loss to the Rapids, and they’ll need him to crack open the tough KC defense. Between the likes of Jimmy Conrad and Kevin Hartman, the Wizards have done well at keeping teams at bay. Their problem has been on the other side of the ball, where Conrad also happens to be tied for the lead in league goals scored. Bad signs for a squad that had high hopes for Ivan Trujillo and Claudio Lopez. I wouldn’t label them disappointments, but they have been less than spectacular thus far. Back to the Red Bulls, they are just trying to tide themselves over and get whatever they can out of this road trip, as July 15 will bring brighter times for them. Or so they and fans everywhere hope. They’ll probably have to sit through one more loss.
Verdict: Kansas City 2-0 New York

LA Galaxy v Chivas USA
If round two of the SuperClasico is anything like the first, it should provide for some good entertainment. LA came out guns blazing last time, and cruised to a 5-2 win with a lot of help from Landycakes. This week they should find things a bit more difficult, as Chivas has jumped on the merry go round that is the Western Conference, and now find themselves in a deadlock with the Galaxy for first place. A sweet strike from Ante Razov was the difference in Chivas’s 1-0 win against San Jose. This one promises to be high scoring again, but I think that Brad Guzan has found his form and will do a bit better at keeping LA out of the night. All Chivas needs to do is shut down Landon and Beckham. Piece of cake right? Remember, winner takes first place. The stakes are high.
Verdict: LA 1-3 Chivas