Saturday, September 17, 2005

MLS Week 25 Predictions

I'm getting this out a little later then I like to, but here are my quick picks for this weekend's MLS excitement.

MetroStars vs New England
Saturday - 7:30pm EST
TV: Direct Kick

These next two matches for the MetroStars are must wins if they want to make the playoffs. Bad news for them, both games are against the best team in the MLS. The Revs are in great form and seem ready for any challengers. The MetroStars are coming off a big win against KC where they earned their first shutout win of the season. However, I think they will have a much harder time with Pat Noonan and Taylor Twellman. Noonan hasn't been shining that much of late, but he often finds his best against the Stars. Twellman has five goals in the last five games (with three of them coming last week), so he is always a threat. New England is also firing on defense, making this game theirs for the taking.

MetroStars 0 - New England 3

-----

DC vs Colorado
Saturday - 7:30pm EST
TV: Direct Kick

DC United is suffering from a total lack of offense. When they went on that great five game winning streak a month ago, they were getting three goals a match. Since then, they have only managed about one an outing (with the exception of the five they got against Salt Lake). They have a good backline, but it's hard to win when your team is not scoring. Colorado added some offense beyond Jeff Cunningham with the addition of Jovan Kirovski and Diego Serna. Along with their solid defense, this should make the Rapids a bit of a threat in the West. Looking at playoff hopes, DC needs this game while Colorado are in due more to the bad expansion teams then their great play. Still, I think DC is going to be caught a bit flat-footed at the start of the match, allowing Colorado some good opportunities.

DC 1 - Colorado 2

-----

Columbus vs Chicago
Saturday - 7:30pm EST
TV: Direct Kick, HDNet

A few weeks ago, this match looked like it was going to be huge with the Crew firing up for a last minute run at the fourth playoff spot, but then they fell apart against New England and pretty much dropped out of consideration. Chicago has been up and down all season, but they still have Justin Mapp who creates chances for Chris Rolfe, Andy Herron and striker Nate Jaqua who is back from a long injury related rest. The Fire should be able to open up the Crew's defense, thus allowing them to get the 3 points.

Columbus 1 - Chicago 3

-----

KC vs LA
Saturday - 8pm EST

This should be a fun one; too bad it is not on TV. LA is at tope form as of late, but still have trouble on the road. KC has not been so lucky. They have not won in their last four outings and have only scored three goals. With Donovan coming into his own for LA, I just don't think KC can stop them. So even through they are on the road, I'm going to go with LA. What and odd thought to have. If I'm wrong, I will get to try again next weekend when the sides meet in LA.

KC 1 - LA 2

-----

Chivas vs San Jose
Saturday - 10pm EST
TV: Direct Kick, Fox Soccer Channel

Chivas's calvary has not been as impressive as one would have hoped. They looked good in their first couple matches but have done nothing since. San Jose has a great way of finding the weakness in clubs and pushing through it. It will not be hard for them to find the weakness in Chivas.

Chivas 0 - San Jose 2

-----

FC Dallas vs Real Salt Lake
Sunday - 2pm EST
TV: ESPN2, ESPNDep

How bad has it been for FCD during the last ten MLS matches? So bad that Real Salt Lake has actually got more points in their last ten then Dallas has (7-5). Never a good sign. However, Dallas proved that they could win in their new home with their US Open Cup victory on Wednesday. Dallas will still be hurting on defense and losing Eddie Johnson again is not the best thing, but I think they will be able to do the impossible and get a MLS victory in the oven (is that really the nickname for Pizza Hut Park?).

FCD 3 - RSL 2

-----

The interesting thing about this weekend is that any match, with the possible exception of Chivas-San Jose, really could go either way. I would not be surprised if I was wrong on five of these.

Checkout In Limbo's picks here.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home