Into the weekend we dive. It's just Saturday this time …
New England vs. NYCFC
1:30pm ET | Full preview | TV & streaming info
We know what NYCFC's about at this point, right? They've hammered teams with their high pressure through the first three weeks, are the only perfect (3-0-0) team in MLS, and have done it in spite of more than a few injuries. This week that includes d-mid Alex Ring, who's on international duty and wouldn't be available anyway, but seems to have picked up some sort of knock of indeterminate severity (anybody read Finnish?).
But … well, this is the whole point of what the Cityzens did this offseason. They're now in their fourth MLS season and have, over that time, built one of the league's deepest teams. David Villa's their best player and they were fine without him last week. Ring's their most important, and while his absence hurts, it's not like they're unprepared for this eventuality. The braintrust in the Bronx deserves some dap.
New England's more of a mystery, especially after their weird first two weeks – two red cards in a listless Week 1 loss, a makeshift central defense in a necessary Week 2 home win over the Rapids. What's their real identity? Hard to say.
However, it seems clear that Brad Friedel is leaning toward Teal Bunbury as the starting center forward for the express purpose of getting behind opposing defenses. Bunbury had significant success against the league's high-pressing teams last season, getting on the board against NYCFC, RBNY and SKC. The problem, though, might be getting him the ball. Nobody in central midfield is connecting particularly telling passes:
