New York City FC Match Preview and Prediction: Sporting Kansas City

Dealing with a rash of injuries and international absences, New York City FC looks to earn their tenth home win of the season against a struggling Sporting Kansas City squad.

Where: Yankee Stadium – Bronx, New York

When: Wednesday, 9/6 at 7:30 pm ET

How to Watch: MLS Live

ORLANDO, FL – MARCH 05: Maxime Chanot (Photo by Alex Menendez/Getty Images) /

Match Overview:

New York City FC comes into this match with a severely depleted roster. Yangel Herrera, Alexander Ring, Rodney Wallace, and David Villa are all unavailable to play due to international duty.

To make matters worse, Villa will probably be unavailable for well beyond Wednesday night’s match thanks to an adductor strain suffered while training with the Spanish national team.

Despite their undermanned squad, the Pigeons still have a very good chance to take all three points from the visiting club. Sporting Kansas City has been one of the worst road teams in the MLS this season, notching only two wins and a measly six goals in 12 away matches.

Sporting also has four players on international duty, including stalwart defenders Graham Zusi and Matt Besler. While Kansas City boasts defensive depth, the visitors are bound to be shaky at the back due to a lack of chemistry with both U.S. internationals out of the lineup.

Three Keys to the Match:

Attack Early and Often: Sporting boasts the best defense in MLS this season, allowing only 19 goals in 25 matches. Even with Zusi and Besler unavailable for the match, KC still figures to be tough to score on, thanks to their depth. The Boys in Blue need to control possession early and continuously be on the attack if they want to get the win.
Lock Down the Midfield: It’ll be hard to replace the defensive work rate of Yangel Herrera and Alex Ring, but the Boys in Blue have to lock down the midfield if they want to earn all three points. Normally offensive-oriented, Andrea Pirlo and Tommy McNamara must change their approach and be more defensive-minded if the Pigeons want to come away with a win.
Allow Andrea Pirlo Time on the Ball: Pirlo has been an overwhelming disappointment thus far, but the Italian international still has world-class vision. With Villa out for this match, it’ll be up to Pirlo to provide some sort of offensive spark. If given the time needed, Pirlo is capable of creating multiple scoring chances with his pinpoint passing, ability to play the forwards into space, and excellent dead ball skills.

Player to Watch: Sean Okoli

Goal scoring machine David Villa will not be available Wednesday night due to an adductor strain he suffered while on international duty with the Spanish national team. According to reports from NYCFC training, Sean Okoli is the next man up.

Despite his lack of playing time this season, Okoli is quite the talented goal scorer. Okoli spent last season with F.C. Cincinnati of the USL, where he led the league with 16 goals and earned league MVP honors for his play. The Washington native is no David Villa, but he shows great composure in front of the net and is more than capable of bagging a goal or two against Sporting.

BRIDGEVIEW, IL – MARCH 06: Thomas McNamara (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /

Official Overview: Ricardo Salazar

Ricardo Salazar doesn’t exactly have the best reputation around the MLS or with soccer fans in general. The 11-year veteran referee is viewed by many as inconsistent with his calls and, on some occasions, biased towards a certain team. Salazar also has a tendency to dictate the flow of games rather than let teams establish it themselves.

It’s a tough match to evaluate considering you never know what you’re going to get with Salazar, but his officiating should make for an interesting match nonetheless.

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Prediction: New York City FC 2 – Sporting KC 1

It won’t be a pretty match between these two squads and there’s bound to be some sloppy play throughout, but The Boys in Blue will come out on top. New York City FC will naturally struggle to adjust without David Villa up front, but Sporting is missing two key members of their backline and the Cityzens have too much offensive firepower to not take advantage of KC’s shaky defense.

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