Thursday, May 17, 2007

Thursday Night Soccer - FCD vs. Chicago - Battle for the Brimstone Cup

FC Dallas (3-3-1) vs. Chicago Fire (3-2-1)
8:00pm ET
TV: ESPN2

The Brimstone Cup takes center stage tonight as the former Dallas Burn and the Chicago Fire reignite their feud for all of ESPN2 to see. The good news, this Cup should give Dave O'Brien and company something to talk about that is at least related to the game itself. The bad news, both these teams are having major offensive woes that could lead to a very boring 90-minutes.

Chicago comes into the match having played the invisible team over their last two games. Neither against the Revolution or the suddenly very hot Toronto FC could they move the ball effectively around the pitch. To be honest, they have not been fantastic on the attack even while winning, but at least they could control the ball and hold time on defense, but now their backline is in shambles. After allowing just 2 goals in the first four matches, they have let in 6 over two games.

Now, can FC Dallas make Chicago pay for their obvious weakness?

Kenny Cooper and Abe Thompson proved against the Wizards that they could make a lot out of a few opportunities. As long as Ramon Nunez and Pablo Ricchetti are good providers, Dallas should be able to get something. Then all eyes will focus on the work of goalkeeper Dario Sala. He was wonderful against KC. With the Fire being much less of a threat in front of goal, he should be able to handle the situation well.

Dallas will win this with two goals in the first half. The Fire will wake up for a few minutes around the hour mark, but from that point on, it will just be walking through the motions. Additional prediction, Eric Wynalda will give the Toronto FC fans a game ball for their excitement after the goals on Saturday. He will also say something like, 'You know what, let them have a little fun.'
Prediction: Me FCD 2-0 CF, Wife FCD 1-2 CF

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1 Comments:

Blogger Pieman said...

Just catching up with your site - good stuff! I will check in from time to time.

I have just finished my season with a cracking game at Warligham in the Combined Counties League, Division One.

www.pieandmushypeas.blogspot.com

5:36 AM  

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