The Atlantic Cup starts today, and DC United doesn't want to break their streak of six straight trophies. The team finally has some confidence for the first time all year coming off their Open Cup victory on Wednesday night. We'll find out soon if they can continue that momentum and earn their first regular season victory.
Game time: 4:00pm EST
Television: TeleFutura, Comcast SportsNet
Stadium Info: Get your tickets at the RFK box office. Pregame festivities include a concert in Lot 8 from Jukebox The Ghost, and of course the legendary Barra Brava and Screaming Eagles tailgates.
| Projected Starting Lineup: | ||||
| Perkins | ||||
| McTavish | Talley | Pena | Wallace | |
| Simms | Morsink | |||
| Quaranta | Moreno | Castillo | ||
| Cristman | ||||
Last minute thoughts: The big question today is whether United will be able to build on its victory over Dallas earlier this week. If so, they could start to gain some ground back in the Eastern Conference just at the time when two important defensive starters Juan Manuel Pena and Clyde Simms are returning from injury, and when a proven goalscorer has finally joined the team in Luciano Emilio.
What's different in this match from every other match this season is that we'll actually have some bench players with the ability to come in and make a difference. I don't know exactly who will start, but if the lineup is as I'm projecting it, we could see Najar, Emilio, and either Barklage or Khumalo entering in the second half, each of which has the talent to change the dynamic on the field
Predicting a win is something I'd really like to do since the team played its best match of the year just four days ago. But what got lost in the reporting of that victory was that United still gave up two soft goals in the second half. Just like they have every game this season. The defense needs to be better. While I'm not quite confident enough to predict a win, I do have some sudden faith in our attack that leaves me with the thought that we WILL score some goals in this match. New York's backline might not be as unorganized as Dallas's reserves, but our attack is finally rounding into form, and they will show it tonight.