Biggest game of the season so far? Yep. Biggest game of the season so far.
DC United finishes up their two-game road swing tonight at LIVESTRONG PARK with a critical Eastern Conference battle against Sporting Kansas City. A win would power United into a tie for third place, and leave them just one point out of second. Yeah. It's big.
Tonight's match will kick off at 8:30 PM Eastern, but will be broadcast locally on TV on tape delay starting at 9:30 PM. That means that you're probably best advised to stay off Twitter. But this GameThread will remain a spoiler-free zone. We'll be watching the game on Comast SportsNet and commenting along with it.
Projected starting lineup: The biggest questions come at both the very back and very front of United's lineup tonight. Bill Hamid is listed as doubtful after injuring his hamstring against the Chicago Fire on Thursday night. Will Joe Willis be ready to start after sitting out the mid-week match with back spasms? If he's healthy, he'll be in. If not, we'll see Steve Cronin and his 4.5 GAA get a chance to redeem himself with his first start of the year.
Forward is a bit simpler. Josh Wolff seems to have earned himself a spot in the starting lineup after scoring D.C.'s lone goal on Thursday, which will probably push Charlie Davies to the bench, at least for the first half. Dwayne De Rosario is likely to remain as a forward, where his strike-rate is the best in MLS since arriving in D.C.
The backline will be unchanged once again, with Perry Kitchen, Dejan Jakovic, Brandon McDonald, and Daniel Woolard starting (or could Marc Burch get a shot after an underwhelming performance from Woolard in Chicago?). Santino Quaranta will replace Stephen King in the starting lineup in central midfield, where he'll be joined by Clyde Simms, Andy Najar, and Chris Pontius.
This is the place for your SPOILER-FREE pre-game, in-game, and post-game discussion. Get it in.