Your Tuesday Kickoff: Columbus begins quest for MLS Cup repeat tonight

Last game 1 of round 1 tonight

Columbus hosts the Red Bulls at 6:45 PM ET (Apple TV – Free) and Real Salt Lake welcomes Minnesota United at 8:50 PM ET (Apple TV – Free). Both games can also be seen on FS1 and FS2 (Spanish) in the US, as well as TSN and RDS in Canada.

Nashville, Toronto announce end of year

Nashville SC and Toronto FC have announced their changes at the end of the year. Take a look at each decision here.

Cincy throttled NYCFC and Seattle snuck past Houston on penalties. Let’s talk about it.

It only ended 1-0, but it could have been much, much worse for NYCFC. Cincy made them 3.7xG to 0.3xG and was in total control of this one from start to finish. NYCFC’s only saving grace here is that they get to go home for Game 2. They had the second-best home record in the Eastern Conference this season.

However, they did themselves no favors late in this one. Tayvon Gray received a straight red card in stoppage time and will miss Game 2. It’s a long way back in this series for NYCFC. It couldn’t have gone better for Cincy.

Well. I wrote the following yesterday:

“Who’s going to score in this series? It doesn’t feel like either team has a player in the final third that’s destined to change the series. So it really depends on which goal-for- committee approach that is most effective.

“That is if there are any goals in this at all. You can tell me this ends in three separate 0-0 draws and I wouldn’t even blink.”

One down, two to go. Seattle couldn’t even find the back of the net after Coco Carrasquilla’s red card. That card could play a big role in Game 2, but last night it probably just contributed to an already predetermined outcome. Still, it looms large that Houston will be without their best player in critical Game 2 after falling in penalties.

Then again… probably another 0-0, right?

Two Round 1 games tonight for you. Here’s what to look out for.

We don’t keep secrets here at The Daily Kickoff. Columbus are heavy, heavy favorites tonight. You don’t even have to look further than each of these teams’ last games to understand why. A heavily rotated crew bulldozed the Red Bulls for 77 minutes, gave up two late goals, then went ahead and still won in stoppage time. A New York team playing for a critical position in the Eastern Conference couldn’t even handle the Crew B team.

RBNY hasn’t really dealt with anyone in a while. Every foot forward has found a rake to lift and every rake has found a face to smack. Since midway through the season, they have had the lowest points per game. game by any playoff team at 1.06 points per match. Since the Leagues Cup, only Chicago has been worse than New York’s 0.67 points per game. match.

To be fair, their underlying numbers have remained much better than that over both stretches, but at some point you have to admit there’s at least some reason nothing is clicking for this group. They are stubborn, even with Emil Forsberg back in the lineup. Whatever edge they need to find to turn this around has been missing for months.

Going up against the crew is not a time when teams usually find that edge. Columbus is looking for their second straight MLS Cup title and their fourth straight tournament final. The Red Bulls will need to put something together remarkably quickly to be the team that keeps Columbus from their final destination.

Minnesota United have been a different team since the summer window. The arrival of DP striker Kelvin Yeboah and DP midfielder Joaquín Pereyra changed this team instantly. From June 1 to the start of the Leagues Cup, Minnesota averaged 0.73 points per game. match. Since then, the Loons have averaged 2.11 points per game. match, the third best mark in the league.

It’s no coincidence that Yeboah made his first MLS start in Minnesota’s first game back from the Leagues Cup. He has scored seven times since debuting on the pitch and averages 0.89 goals per game. 90. It’s early days but that’s a better rate than Cucho Hernández and Christian Benteke this year.

Meanwhile, RSL have not been quite as successful with their summer additions. Pre-Leagues Cup (and before the departure of star winger Andrés Gómez), RSL averaged 1.76 points per game. match over 25 matches. Since then, they’ve been at a respectable, but not quite as impressive, 1.67 points per game. match over nine games. Their underlying numbers have also taken a hit.

Part of that is due to how Chicho Arango’s season was pushed off a cliff. He has not scored since July 6. He somehow still finished with 17 goals on the season. You may have forgotten, but we were on a timeline where he looked set to challenge Carlos Vela’s goal assist record for a while. The other big part of that is Gómez back, and new DP midfielder Diogo Gonçalves and new U22 winger Dominik Marczuk haven’t caught on immediately. Combined, they have three goals and two assists over 11 starts. Not bad. But not a similar substitute for what Gómez provided.

If they both get outshone by Yeboah and Pereyra in this one, then RSL could be in a lot of trouble.

Good luck out there. Put your face on the line.