One More Before the Break

The Wizards have one more chance to break their 8 game winless streak (9 in all competitions) before the two week World Cup break, and they get to try and break it against expansion side Philadelphia. The Union have played one game less than the Wizards and sit two points back in the Eastern Conference. Philadelphia will also be finishing up a three game road trip with this game against KC. They've gone 1-1 so far on the trip winning 3-2 late against Houston and losing at Chicago last weekend. They have improved their performance since early in the season, but they're certainly not last year's Seattle Sounders.

Kansas City get back captain, Davy Arnaud, but will be without Craig Rocastle (not that big a loss) but also Stephane Auvray still. While the original announcement from the Star was that he'd be out 10-14 days, I don't think many people expected him back before the World Cup break. Back at CAB, Arnaud and Jack Jewsbury may be better off attempting to fill Auvray's role due to the smaller field. The big question though continues to be on the offensive end of the field, where KC has only scored 5 goals in the last 9 games. Ryan Smith has been off and on with his play, Teal Bunbury seems to still be adjusting a bit to the professional game, while Kei Kamara is now getting double and triple teamed as he's usually the lone forward up top as Smith and Bunbury are forced to play deeper to cover defensively for the lack of Auvray. Hopefully a visit from the expansion side can help KC recover. With Arnaud back and Rocastle out, I think we're likely to see that be the only real change to the lineup from the TFC game I think.

Nielsen
Myers - Conrad - Escobar - Harrington
Arnaud - Jewsbury
Wolff
Bunbury - Kamara - Smith

Key Match Up - Kamara vs Danny Califf - Kamara has been held in check by the opposing defenses lately, mainly due to the way that KC has ended up playing their other two forwards. It's left Kamara isolated up top and easy to contain for the opposing forwards. For the Wizards to be successful, Kamara is going to have to find a way to get open and win this match up for the Wizards to win tomorrow.

PREDICTION - I don't want to say this is a must win, but it's a must win. The Wizards are already a third through the season and have only 2 wins. To make the playoffs or to even have a semi-respectable season, KC needs to start winning their home games, especially against teams that they should beat. KC should beat Philadelphia. Will they is another question entirely. I think this game is a scrappy, hard fought game decided by just one goal, hopefully it's the Wizards.

KC - 1 (Arnaud)
Phi - 0