Two clubs in the Eastern Conference of MLS will do battle today in a league match between the the Chicago Fire and New York Red Bulls. The first-division clash scheduled for 3:00 p.m. ET will be held at Toyota Park in Chicago and can be live streamed here.
Both clubs enter today's match in desperate search of victory No. 1 in 2014. A combined two points is all Chicago and New York could muster after four games played. For Red Bulls head coach Mike Petke, it's the off-ball movement that has plagued his club's slow start (h/t to Franco Panizo on MLS's official website). "I think our off-ball movement has to be much better," said Petke. "Coming out of the back, we played a lot of long balls. It's easy to just point to the defenders who have the ball at their feet, but what's going on in front of them? At the end of the day, just getting a bit more creative and aware of where you are on the field and shifting here and there to make opposing defenders make decisions [is what we need]," he added.
"If they go with you, perhaps there's a hole that opens up that we could bypass and get to the forwards, Thierry [Henry] or Bradley [Wright-Phillips]. If they don't come with you, you could receive the ball facing forward. It's just little things like that."
Will New York do the little things en route to the first victory of the season? Tell us @SportsWN
Tactical Preview
Player to Watch: The Chicago Fire's Mike Magee is yet to feature for the Chicago Fire in 2014. The reigning MLS MVP has been battling a "hamstring injury" at the beginning of the season and is ready to suit up for his club at home this afternoon.
Chicago Fire's Projected Lineup (4-1-4-1): Johnson; Ianni, Hurtado, Soumaré, Segares; Larentowicz; Joya, Alex, Watson, Shipp; Magee
New York Red Bulls' Projected Lineup (4-4-2): Robles; Miller, Sekagya, Olave, Eckersley; Steele, McCarty, Luyindula, Sam; Henry, Cahill
Eastern Conference Standings
|
RNK |
TEAM |
GP |
W |
D |
L |
GF |
GA |
GD |
PTS |
|||
|
1 |
Houston Dynamo |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
5 |
6 |
|||
|
2 |
Columbus Crew |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
1 |
4 |
6 |
|||
|
3 |
Toronto FC |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
6 |
|||
|
4 |
Philadelphia Union |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
4 |
|||
|
5 |
Sporting Kansas City |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
4 |
|||
|
6 |
Chicago Fire |
2 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
4 |
-1 |
1 |
|||
|
7 |
New York Red Bulls |
2 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
5 |
-3 |
1 |
|||
|
8 |
New England Revolution |
3 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
5 |
-5 |
1 |
|||
|
9 |
Impact Montreal |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
-2 |
0 |
|||
|
10 |
DC United |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
4 |
-4 |
0 |
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