It’s an important match, all of the future rivalry implications aside, St. Louis CITY has been treading water over the last month. Winless in their last three matches, the club desperately wants to right the ship against a team high on confidence for the first time this season.
Sporting Kansas City will enter this game fresh off two wins against potential playoff clubs and a hard fought draw in their midweek match away at LAFC.
Missing DPs have hurt both clubs this season; KC finally finding their footing after the returns of Gadi Kinda and Alan Pulido and St. Louis has not been the same since João Klauss’ injury in Colorado last month.
No team plays well without their DPs in this league, and Kansas City will catch many clubs off guard this season with how well they can play over the latter half of this season. However, they won’t surprise Bradley Carnell’s men this week, “it’s no surprise, right? We’ll need to break down that team, and that’s been our m.o. all week”, the manager said in his pre match comments this week.
While, SKC’s resurgence is predictable with their current starting XI, anticipating St. Louis’ starting XI becomes more difficult with starting Full Back John Nelson suspended after the Red Card he picked up in Chicago.
Then there are the returns, according to Carnell, “Nelson, Nilsson, and Alm, those are the three guys that are probably no goes for this weekend. Everyone else is fit and healthy.”
The name missing from that list is obvious, João Klauss should be available for the first time since April 22nd, and after participating in training Thursday and Friday, it seems like an extended run out should be anticipated, even if he isn’t ready to start.
“He provides a big help for us when we’re on the field”, Tim Parker would say on Thursday, “He provides that kind of constant worry for defenses, it’s been great to see him around and his energy is definitely higher. So, we’re looking forward to seeing what we can get.”
The atmosphere will be immense on Saturday, the club has been anticipating this match up since the schedule was announced last spring. Their first time hosting a rivalry matchup should be a must watch, especially after finding themselves 0-2 against the city’s rivals this season.
If CITY are to “take it to them”, it’ll come down to actually being able to generate chances in the final third, something that has been hard to come by over this past month. Maybe the inclusion of Selmir Pidro will change things, the young full back may still have defensive liabilities, but his ability to ping balls forward makes it worth the gamble for Carnell if he chooses to go that route.
The inclusion of Johnny Klein could also bring an interesting wrinkle.
The former SLU attacker has really come on as of late, scoring three goals in his past two appearances for CITY2, he wouldn’t be the first player to be rewarded for his production with the 2 team this season.
Whatever the combination looks like for Carnell, SKC’s backline has been vulnerable, and finding a way to hit Gioacchini on his runs behind the line (or Klauss when he graces the pitch) will be the deciding battle.
Whatever happens on Saturday will make one thing clear.
This region loves its soccer, and both cities’ desire to be seen as the capital of soccer in America validates the passion that runs deep through the Heartland’s arteries.
Siblings fighting over who their parents love most, and it’s bound to be an explosive coming together.