MLS Week 19 Preview: A Consequential Trillium Cup?

What is a “trillium,” anyway?  Perhaps MLS just made up the flower so they could figure out a way to sell their newest manufactured derby. 

But I won’t be too hard on Columbus since Joe G. is back to defend his one-point lead as guest prognosticator.

Week 19’s showpiece is the Trillium Cup, an Eastern Conference derby between the Columbus Crew (27 pts/18 GP) and Toronto FC (26 pts/18 GP).  As the Reds travel down to Crew Stadium, one must note that this is the first time the oddly-named Flower Cup actually means something to both teams and the league.

After two long years of expansion-team mediocrity, Toronto FC has finally emerged from the doldrums to become a significant contender to top the East.  They are neck-and-neck with their Ohio-based “rivals” for the first time since the Trillium Cup was instated last year.

As both teams have relatively equal schedules for the rest of the year, this match could be the difference for home-field advantage in the Eastern Conference Playoffs.

Both teams will look to win, but the Crew will do it without their Gold Cup stars for a third consecutive week: defensive anchor Chad Marshall and prolific winger Robbie Rogers. 

League-leading goal-scorer Guillermo Barros Schelotto more than made up for their loss in a 3-1 thumping of RSL at Crew Stadium last week, a win that should tell the viewer that the Crew have learned to play without their stars.

Though with RSL’s repulsive road form, perhaps they were just given a pass.

Prolific road warriors, TFC will come in wanting to win after a disappointing home draw to a short-handed Dynamo last weekend.  They have lost no one of consequence to the Gold Cup, and while Dwayne DeRosario has orchestrated a fine attack force of Vitti, Barrett, and Serioux, all three players hiccupped against Houston.  They’ll have to regain their form if they wish to regain their position on top of the log.

Result: TFC 2-1 Crew (Joe says Crew, 2-1). TFC for the upset.  The Reds’ attack is too potent for the Crew’s reserve defense to handle, and the game is too important for Toronto to let the road affect them. But GSB should never be counted out for a goal.

As for the rest of this week’s fixtures:

FC Dallas (17 pts/17 GP) at Real Salt Lake (20 pts/17 GP) – Thursday night’s fixture features an overachieving underdog against an underachieving Western Conference contender.  RSL beat Club America without Kyle Beckerman, but felt their captain’s absence in a 3-1 road defeat to Columbus.  FCD has found ways to perform well without Kenny Cooper.

Result: FCD 0-1 RSL (Joe says RSL, 2-0). That hasn’t stopped them from losing, though. Expect that to continue with a fixture against RSL at Rio Tinto, the only place where RSL can perform well.

Chicago Fire (28 pts/17 GP) at Seattle Sounders (28 pts/17 GP) – ESPN’s Game of the Week, and rightly so. The last time the Fire and Sounders met, there were (soft) red cards, bruising hits, and four goals, the last two coming late from Seattle; goals that earned them a deserved road draw after dominating possession for most of the second half.

But that was in Chicago. This is in Seattle, where the fans will be euphoric and en masse despite the 2-0 loss to Chelsea last weekend.  Did you hear them screaming? I sure did.  From my window in California.  Expect that, and the absence of Brian McBride, to be the difference.

Result: Fire 1-3 Sounders (Joe says Sounders, 2-0).  The Sounders attack had corner kick practice against Chelsea. Expect that to pay off against the shorthanded Fire.

Los Angeles Galaxy (27 pts/18 GP) at Kansas City Wizards (20 pts/16 GP) – The Galaxy dominated the Red Bulls last week, but that’s easy one.  Curt Onalfo’s boys pose a tougher test for Landybecks and Co.  But with Becks shaking off the rust against Milan last Sunday with two amazing passes that led to goals, this should be a test they pass.

Result: Galaxy 3-2 Wizards (Joe says Galaxy, 2-1). The Galaxy’s defense is finally good enough to preserve points, but they must give up three howlers a game. That should be enough for Claudio Lopez and Herculez Gomez to do well, but they’ll still lose. 

Houston Dynamo (32 pts/18 GP) at New England Revolution (20 pts/15 GP) – Have the Revs finally hit their form? A home win against stumbling Chivas suggests so.  But can they do the same against a team who has maintained excellent form despite being shorthanded?  Short answer: yes, but probably not.  Result: Dynamo 1-1 Revs (Joe says Dynamo, 2-0)

DC United (27 pts/18 GP) at San Jose Earthquakes (13 pts/17 GP) – The Quakes finally have a chance to shake off their poor run of form against United this Saturday.  Even with a great win against Colorado, United still needs to find consistency on the road. That doesn’t mean they lose. Result: United 2-2 Quakes (Joe says United, 3-1)

Red Bull New York (10 pts/20 GP) at Colorado Rapids (24 pts/17 GP) – The Rapids lost a big game at United last week.  No matter. They’ll take it out on a team who could only threaten the goal if the defense gift-wraps for them a penalty kick. Result: Red Bulls 0-3 Rapids (Joe says Rapids, 2-0).

Matt: 3-3, 6 pts

Guest Prognosticators: 3-3, 7 pts