DC United Preview 6/2/2006

DC United vs. New England Revolution
Saturday, 6/3/2006 7:30pm
RFK Stadium

United host last season's Eastern Conference MLS Cup club, the Revolution. United are coming in off of two straight victory's, a 3-1 road win over the Kansas City Wizards and a 5-1 drubbing of the Columbus Crew. Sitting atop the Eastern Conference with 21 points, United are playing very well and very lucky. They are not performing at 100% every match, yet they are winning and getting points. Once they get their act together, the other clubs in MLS had better take notice.

The New England Revolution are in a much different situation this season than they were last season. They started last season with 9 victories, and they are having trouble beating any team that isn't based at the Home Depot Center, as their three wins are against the LA Galaxy (2) and Chivas USA. Their star players are not playing up to form and one of their most creative midfielders, Clint Dempsy, is currently in Germany with the US National Team getting ready for the Czech Republic on June 12th. Taylor Twellman has scored several goals this season, but far fewer than he should have, considering the number of looks her has had on the goal. They have lost 3 matches, a 1-0 match against Kansas City, 2-1 against Chicago, and a 4-0 pasting at the hands of FC Dallas.

Despite the fact that the Revolution seem to be shadows of their former self, I still feel that considering this is their first trip to RFK this season and United and New England have always played each other tough, this match will definitely be a tough match for both clubs. New England will definitely use Twellman to put pressure on Boswell and Perkins. Gomez and Adu will definitely need to work well with Alecko and Moreno to have the offense flow as well as they worked it against the Crew on Wednesday night, if not even better. United will have to pass better, do not give away possession off of errand passes that just go out of bounds and run well off of the ball.

I feel that United will take all three points in this match, they are playing better than New England right now and the revs have issues on offense that the United defense can exploit.
Prediction: DC United 2 - 0 New England Revolution