The Cauldron will be loud tonight with DC in town. (Brian Stevens, WVH Photo Correspondent)

Two midweek games for week eight. A big night in general if you count Toronto FC’s game in the Canadian Champion tonight against future MLS side Vancouver. But I’ll just stick with the MLS games for the evening to preview.

RSL returns home to host the Galaxy who just scored their first win of the year. And in Kansas City, DC comes to the CAB for a big time clash of two up and coming eastern clubs.

DC United – at – Kansas City Wizards:

1. First place on the line, who steps up for DC on the road?

No Ben Olsen, Marc Burch, or Fred tonight for the boys in black. Guess the need to lead will come on Jamie Moreno who easily stepped into that role last week against Dallas. As long as the offense is rolling fine for DC they could be fine on the road here. Just remember DC only has a single loss on the season here so far and it was at Salt Lake (a place DC and no one else wins at). Also KC is a play DC typically sees success in as well. As long as guys like Moreno step up on the road they should be fine.

2. What does Kansas City need to do to pull this one off?

Remember KC had last week off so they should be nice and rested up for this one. With only a couple guys on the injury list we should see the same roster that Curt Onalfo has been using for the last few weeks on the field tonight. KC needs to get more from guys like Josh Wolff and Davy Arnuad in this one. Defensively they should have their hands full tonight with the likes of Emilio and rookie Chris Ponitus.

Most of what KC needs to do is control the midfield play from the start. On their homefield they’ve done a good job of taking care of the ball so far this season. Doing that and maybe catching a break on offense from time to time could help the Wizards move back into the lead in the eastern conference.

3. Player to keep an eye on.

With no Olsen or Fred in the midfield tonight for DC, I’m going to be watching Santino Quaranta in the midfield. If he can have a nice controlled game like what I’ve see out of him recently DC could be looking at another three points when the night is over. He’s a guy that can really sneak up on people and put home a game winner.

Quick Thoughts:

This game should really be competitive. Both clubs are really starting to come into their own this season and right now I see both contending in the eastern conference. So this game is big for the three points and for some bragging rights as well. Not having Olsen and Fred worry me a bit in the midfield for DC but the loss of Burch is also big to consider. KC has shown they can come back from a couple goals ot grab some points this season so even if they go down early in this one you cannot count KC out of it.

I think in the end these two are pretty evenly matched at this point so I am going with a draw for the night. It should be a tightly contested game in the midfield with a couple breaks for each club that lead to a goal for each. Pontius for DC grabs one and KC gets a goal from Jimmy Conrad off a corner kick to tie it up.

WVH Prediction: KC 1, DC 1

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LA Galaxy – at – Real Salt Lake

1. What can LA do to keep the wins coming here?

First of all they have to figure out a way to get points at Rio Tinto Stadium. A tast that has not been done so far this season. Secondly they still have a lot to prove to the rest of the league here that last week’s win wasn’t a fluke or a lucky win.

It could be a good time for LA to get points at Rio Tinto. RSL will be without midfield leader Javier Morales (suspension) and defensive beast Jamison Olave (suspended) and veteran keeper Nick Rimando (broken finger). Losing those three could be a break for LA to get points as long as Landon Donovan controls the offense and guys like Chris Klien and Eddie Lewis step up.

2. Without Morales in the middle, who leads RSL in this one?

Jason Kries needs a big game out of guys like Kyle Beckerman, Will Johnson and maybe an even bigger game out of veteran Clint Mathis. RSL has plenty of talent in the midfield that should match up well against the Galaxy who are a bit shaky to say the least in the middle of the park. Also it wouldn’t hurt to see a guy like Robbie Findley put it to his old club either for RSL.

3. Player to keep an eye on.

Even though you hate to see Rimando out it does come at a good time for Chris Seitz. We’ve been wondering for a couple years now when he would get his chance in goal and the time is now for the youth national team keeper. A big game from him could go a very long way for this club if Rimando is going to miss any more time this season.

Quick Thoughts:

If RSL had been fully set to go with no injuries or suspension I would have easily thought they’d win this one with little trouble at home. They’ve been so good at home this season so it is hard to even think of picking against them here. However losing Olave and Rimando in the back is pretty big when you have a guy like Donovan coming into town. I think LA will get their chances in this one but RSL will have to battle a little more than they normally would at home for the three points. Donovan gets a goal for the visitors but Mathis and Yura Movsisyan put the game away for RSL.

WVH Prediction: RSL 2, LA 1

Kansas City fans have been pretty good so far. (Brian Stevens, WVH Photo Correspondent)

Typically I do a version of this kind of thing for all MLS clubs but this time around I wanted to do something a little different with the typical Good, Bad, and Ugly column. Instead I will be looking at things in the league as a whole that I have liked, disliked and have absolutely hated thus far in the early going of the season.

Most of this is stuff I’ve been keeping track of here since the start of the season. I may ramble on a bit but you are always welcome to do the same below.

Good:

Quality crowds in Seattle, Toronto and even in smaller venues like San Jose or Kansas City. I believe there is a reason why San Jose and KC want smaller soccer stadiums for their future. It doesn’t all have to do with money and not being able to consistently fill those stadiums, it is because they have the fans that create good atmosphere (I think both clubs have underrated supporter’s groups). The same sort of thing you see in Seattle and Toronto. Passionate fans equal a good time at the park.

Bad:

So-so numbers in places like LA for Galaxy and Chivas games, Chicago for Fire games and DC for United games. For those clubs it doesn’t really deal with a lack of advertising or even the clubs being bad on the field. Its honestly an economical thing in my eyes.

Still seeing bad numbers in Colorado and Columbus too. Thing about the Rapids is though they’ve only played one home game so far. With the club doing pretty well so far this year things could change in their favor in terms of butts-in-seats.

Ugly:

Numbers we see in Dallas are just terrible. The fact that the club has gotten a shade under 12k for their last two home games is pathetic. Marketing around Dallas is nearly non-existent, and people just can’t get excited about this club. It has little to do with the performance on the field I think (because the town supports baseball’s Rangers decently enough each year and they are largely just as bad if not worse), but it deals more with a lack of knowledge about the club in the local community.

Good:

Impressive starts from clubs like Chivas and New England. Let’s be real honest, did anyone expect either of these clubs to be undefeated after five weeks of play? If you did then you are probably very rich.

Bad:

Not-so-good starts from clubs that we expect to be good like Houston or to a lesser extent Real Salt Lake. We know of Houston’s typical early season slowness but RSL is on a different path with how bad they play on the road in the early goings this season.

Ugly:

Until this past week, the ugliness that was New York’s start of the new season. While LA and Dallas were pretty ugly in the early going, they at least were able to find the back of the net in a consistent manner. New York saw four games with no actual goals. The one that was marked in the score column in the 1-1 draw to New England was an own goal by New England’s Jay Heaps.

Things are starting to turn but the Red Bulls dug themselves a decent-sized hole to start the season, not to mention that no club (correct me if I am wrong) has reached the playoffs after going scoreless in their first four games.

Good:

Surprising starts for players like Kasey Keller (who still has it), Conor Casey (who is showing he can lead), and Davy Arnuad (three sweet goals).

Other quality starts to the year include play out of Ben Olsen, Luciano Emilio, the Freds from Seattle, and nearly most of the Seattle lineup (even with the two game slump), Kenny Cooper, Javier Morales, and Dwayne De Rosario.

Bad:

Slower than normal starts from Juan Pablo Angel, Darren Huckerby, Sasha Kljestan, and Robbie Rogers. Some are due to injuries and others who knows.

Ugly:

I think maybe the start from the Columbus Crew as a whole could go here. I know I have higher expectations for this club. Offensively they should not have Guillermo Barros Schelotto as their leading scorer. He needs to be leading the assist category for this club to be success. Maybe the club owners needed to open their wallets a bit more in the offseason to upgrade the offense.

Good:

Rookies have started off particularly well this season in comparison to last year. I think it may be even safe to say that this year’s class has already out done what last year’s did.

Bad:

New additions barely making a mark on their new clubs, that even that is slowly starting to turn around positively. I look at guys like David Ferriera, who up until this past week hadn’t made a dent into the Dallas offense. Hopefully for the Red Stripes, that assist was the first of many to come this season. Also, other guys like Santiago Hirsig for Kansas City are still (slowly) getting use to the MLS game.

Ugly:

No real ugly in talks with the rookies/newcomers but let’s talk about the amount of red cards so far this season. Referee Tim Weyland comes to mind from the Galaxy-Chivas game. He had a bad night to say the least by handing out 11 cards, including three reds. I don’t care if this was a derby game you just shouldn’t have to do that. Let the boys play!

Good:

Veteran keepers leading the pack, along with a couple surprises like New England fill-in Brad Knighton. Mainly it seems like Keller in Seattle, Pat Onstad in Houston, and a blast from the past in Chivas’s Zach Thornton.

I know I’ve killed Chivas for not finding a better keeper than Thornton but at least the big guy is making me eat my words so far this year. Five games in, two goals against with three clean sheets. Not bad, not bad indeed.

Lastly, is it me or does LA keeper Donovan Ricketts seem like a possible saving grace for that club? Two games and only one goal against. So far I have ben impressed with his play.

Bad:

Keepers you’d expect to be doing fine each week like Columbus’s Will Hesmer or San Jose’s Joe Cannon. Its been part sloppiness and weak defensive play for Hesmer and for Cannon just an overworked backline that is aging quicker than most thought.

Ugly:

I look a couple games this season with really ugly keeping. A couple New York games came to mind with Danny Cepero. Boy you could tell they wanted Jon Conway back in a hurry.