This weekend in Columbus, Sporting Kansas City will try to rebound from giving up a 3 goal second half advantage to Vancouver to only manage a draw. They went up 3-0, behind 2 goals from Teal Bunbury and another added by Kei Kamara. A gaping hole in the middle of the defense was exploited and the Vancouver Whitecaps were able to comeback with 3 straight goals, including 2 in stoppage time.
The game in Columbus comes after a much needed week of rest which allowed some players to get healthy. One such player was winger Ryan Smith, who after offseason surgery may be returning next week in New England. This will be a very good thing for Sporting and their depth in the 4-3-3 formation.
However, the week off hasn’t been all good for the team. Designated player Omar Bravo has been ruled out for 3-6 weeks with a hernia injury. This injury will be mitigated by Sporting’s depth at forward with Kei Kamara, Teal Bunbury, and C.J. Sapong all expected to start and play significant minutes in the upcoming match against Columbus.
Columbus is looking to rebound after only managing a scoreless draw last week against a Chivas USA team that has been less than stellar recently. They started out the season with a bad performance in a loss to D.C. United in the season opener. They rebounded well with a draw against New York Red Bulls and FC Dallas.
For Kansas City it will be another test and will be critical to their playoff chances that they get a point in this type of match during the long season opening road trip. As far as the lineup goes, Kansas City fans can expect Jimmy Nielson in goal with a suspect back line in front of him. Michael Harrington was healthy for the last match against Vancouver and should be able to start at right back once again. In the center, new signee Julio Cesar should be starting alongside Matt Besler. If Shavar Thomas gets his first start of the season, it wouldn’t be surprising considering how this unit has played so far. Also, Honduran international Roger Espinoza will be making the start as the left back.
The midfield is the big question mark right now for the club. It is very likely that both captain Davy Arnaud and Milos Stojcev will be starting as they have impressed in both training and in the first few matches of the season. It will come out to who is the holding midfielder that gets the call this week. Craig Rocastle and Stephane Auvray have had ups and downs this season and Birahim Diop played in well in the Vancouver match and might get the opportunity to prove himself again.
The forwards are the easiest unit to predict the in starting lineup. With Ryan Smith and Omar Bravo both being out due to injury, it only leaves Teal Bunbury, Kei Kamara, and C.J. Sapong. Kamara had a breakout season last year and has played well early this season. Teal had a big offseason with the U.S. national team and has come back to Kansas City and is playing like he wants to force Bob Bradley to give him a chance in the Gold Cup this summer. C.J. Sapong has played really well the first 3 games of his career. This includes scoring a goal 2 minutes into his first match and getting a key assist on the third Sporting goal in Vancouver.
I predict a 2-2 draw this weekend in Columbus for Sporting as they are just trying to gain as many points before they open their new stadium, Livestrong Sporting Park on June 9th.
