Week 2 MLS Preview
Game of the Week: St. Louis CITY SC (you are supposed to capitalize CITY) takes the field at all new CITYPARK coming off an upset win in Austin. They take on last year’s newcomers Charlotte in the old MLS tradition of attempting to create rivalries based on when you join the league. I was somewhat impressed by what I saw from St. Louis, but easily could have lost that game if Austin avoided mistakes and/or had scored their late header off the bar. I am really watching this one because home openers for expansion teams are always electrifying and I expect this one to be no different. Give me at least one CITY goal and I will be happy.
Freebie of the Week: LAFC hosts Portland Saturday 3:30 CT on Apple TV and Fox. Tune in on Apple to see some great quality, tune in on Fox to see John Strong broadcast remotely from what appears to be a utility closet behind the NFL on Fox set. LAFC didn’t play last week because there was bad weather in SoCal, which seems impossible, so they are still undefeated in their title defense. Portland won and looked pretty decent before I fell asleep. I think this is a matchup between two likely Western Conference playoff teams, so interested to see if LAFC can look good without the depth they probably need, or if Portland can make LAFC question their offseason decisions this early.
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Atlanta of the Week: Atlanta scored 2 90th minute goals to win last week. Toronto gave up 2 90th minute goals to lose. If you end up tuning in late on Saturday, you might be okay! Toronto lost Lorenzo Insigne early in the first game and given that their team building strategy is “Stars and Scrubs”, things are not too bright for the Reds already (they aren’t bright on the field either, somehow both of their kits are gray this year???)
Giorgos Giakoumakis finally got his visa, so he should hopefully make an appearance which is promising given every minute he doesn’t play striker is another minute that feels like the horrible 2022 season. Etienne looked decent in his first game for the Five Stripes, so if he can get 60+ minutes under his belt that will bode well for Atlanta. My prediction is 2–0 Atlanta and Thiago Almada does something to really make Michael Bradley look old.
