WVHooligan - Soccer Blog

Just when I thought the league was going back to their normal weekend routine, they throw another curve at me in the schedule. After no Thursday night game we are only left with four games this weekend. What gives?! Well, I won’t complain too much here since the Olympics have started up (gotta love me some swimming and gymnastics!).

With that said, four matches and mostly eastern clubs involved. How did Dallas, Columbus, LA, RSL, Houston, and San Jose score the weekend off? I think that’s two weekends in a row for clubs like RSL.

So three games tomorrow and one lone one on Sunday (thankfully NOT on TeleFutra).

Toronto FC - at - Colorado Rapids: Both teams struggling to find themselves lately. Hell a lot of people are totally against each club for various reasons. Toronto has little offense as of late and looks terrible on the road. Colorado just has their inconsistent play to contend with making us wonder which version will we see tomorrow night.

Both clubs are desperate for points at the moment. Each have only one win in league play in their last eight games. Yikes, this one just sounds ugly after reading that stat. Just how desperate each are is the question.

Toronto hasn’t won since April on the road and I honestly don’t see that happening again this weekend. Too many big names on their roster are out with suspensions (Guevara, Velez) or Olympic duty (Wynne, Edu). Let’s not forget the health of Danny Dichio is still in the air.

That means a win for the Rapids right? I think so actually, you see, its one of those games that will put a glimmer of hope back in the eyes of the Rapids’ fans and give Fernando Clavijo one more reason to not get fired right now. It won’t be a pretty win but it will be enough to give people reason to knock the Rapids out of the bottom of their rankings.

With no midfield Toronto is cut up by the likes of Christian Gomez and Colin Clarke.

WVH Prediction: Colorado 2, Toronto 0

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Chicago Fire - at - New England Revolution: Easily the biggest match-up of the weekend. Can New England over come the Fire and finally beat them, much less score on them? Can the Fire add to their impressive total against the Revs (currently have outscored the Revs 7-0 this season in two meetings). It should be another classic.

Need an interesting number to look at here? How about 11-1-5? Okay that is more of a record than anything but that’s New England’s record over the last three-or-so months in all competitions. Yeah, the lone loss was on the road a while back in Salt Lake City. Think the Fire want to end that impressive mark with another dominating victory? You bet.

I honestly don’t know which way to predict this one. The last two have been blowouts, even the last one in New England. But with the Revs recent form and their win in SuperLiga you have to think that this game will be vastly different than the last two (which were much earlier in the season).

The Fire have loads of confidence against New England, something not many teams have right now when facing the Revs. I see that carrying over early in this game with some early attacks. But don’t count out the Revs defense in this one just yet. Matt Reis has been a total beast lastly and is on an MVP-type form right now.

This one will be tighter and more phsyical than the last two. I don’t expect a blow out either way but I do think it will be entertaining to watch. I’m calling a draw because of how well Chicago plays against the Revs and because how well the Revs have been as of late. It seems fair but I just don’t want to go either way right now and then see a blow out like before.

WVH Prediction: New England 1, Chicago 1

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Chivas USA - at - Kansas City Wizards: I don’t know which interconference match-up is better this weekend, this one or the Toronto-Colorado one. Each look pretty bad but I think this one will prove to be the better of the two because at least these two clubs are playing fairly well now days.

Chivas has yet to see success in Kansas City and I honestly think that will continue this weekend. No Sasha Kljestan will be a tough thing again to overcome. They did look good last weekend in Chicago with Maykel Galindo coming back but I just don’t know how effective he will be just yet.

The Wizards have to get their offense rolling here though. This sounds like a good game for that but my big question is the health of Josh Wolff. If he isn’t good to go in this one I can’t see them winning this game that easily. If he plays I think they win, if he doesn’t I see nothing more than a draw. I want to be confident about Chivas right now too, don’t get me wrong, but they just aren’t healthy enough on the offensive side of the ball for me to do so. Thus, I am left to go more with the Wizards in this one.

Sometimes the healthier team wins. Just ask the Wizards and the Goats about their playoff meeting last year. I think we all remember how that one went.

WVH Prediction: KC 1, Chivas 0

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DC United - at - New York Red Bulls: Another edition of the Atlantic Cup this weekend. What will New York take from their blowout loss this past week to FC Barcalona and will DC continue their solid play from a week ago are my questions here. We are still waiting to see New York make some moves to improve their offense right now, they did add another defender this week I believe, so that may be good.

Both clubs are jammed in the middle of the standings right now. Just three points seperating the two clubs and for some reason it seems like there is more space between them than just those points. DC has won five of their last six in league play and I think that form will continue this weekend. New York just hasn’t impressed me at all recently, even with their new players (though Jorge Rojas is as solid as they come).

DC has pretty much owned New York in recent years at Giants Stadium. I think Luciano Emilio continues his form and pushes his way up the Golden Boot standings with a goal. Based on what I saw last weekend it wouldn’t shock me to see Jamie Moreno score one or assist on one again. If he goes blank in the stat line then don’t expect DC to win this one but I doubt that will happen.

WVH Prediction: DC 2, New York 1