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Kansas City Wizards Vs Toronto FC: Head To Head Preview
By Keith Hickey and Mike Beauvais
On Form
Kansas City Wizards: Things are starting to look up for Kansas City. After a disastrous 12 game run in which they recorded only one win (at home, against expansion team and then bottom-dwellers Philadelphia), the Wizards have taken four points from their last two games, including an away win at high-flying Columbus and an away draw with Western Conference rivals Colorado. Keeper Jimmy Nielsen has been standing on his head at times in recent games, while youngster Teal Bunbury will be delighted to have scored his first MLS goal earlier this month when he netted the winner against the Crew.
Toronto FC: The Reds are coming off of two straight matches (last Saturday's league game versus FC Dallas and this past Tuesday's CONCACAF Champions League encounter with CD Motagua) when TFC controlled the pace of the match and kept their oppositions' chances to a minimum. The Reds have shown the ability to boss the midfield and come forward with impunity in waves. Going forward, the club must find a way to turn this domination into goals.
As for individual efforts, there are several positives for Preki to take heart in during this congested fixture period. Chad Barrett has two goals in his last three matches and has proven a versatile attacking option for Toronto, able to act as a straight up striker or provide quality service and forward runs as a winger. Midfielder Julian de Guzman's offensive flair has come to the forefront of late. Not known as an attacking player, de Guzman has found himself at the heart of many of the Reds' movements forward and has shown a deft passing touch. Stefan Frei continues to display why his teammates truly believe that he's currently the top 'keeper in all of MLS.
Off Target
Kansas City: Josh Wolff is having an abysmal year so far. Long the face and most dangerous member of the Wizards, he’s managed just a single goal and as many assists in 15 games, and has been relegated to the role of bench player, with rookie Teal Bunbury preferred by manager Peter Vermes. Captain Davy Arnaud may have picked up an important goal against Colorado (his second of the season), but he needs to avoid needless red cards for the sake of his team.
Toronto: There are two major causes for concern right now for TFC: away form and the squandering of quality chances. Much ink has been spilled about the former, so I'll concentrate on the latter here. In their last 180 minutes of football, the Reds have held the upper hand for maybe 160 of them, yet only have a league draw and a nervy 1-0 Champions League to show for it.
Against the Hoops last Saturday, the Reds showed great attacking intent that was finally rewarded with a goal at the hour mark, but that appeared satisfactory enough for Toronto, as it then proceeded to fall back and let Dallas come at them. When FCD found themselves an equalizer, there probably wasn't a single person in BMO who was surprised. Sure, TFC will be happy to head to Honduras with a 1-0 advantage over Motagua and not having conceded an away goal, but there's no reason why the club isn't up by two or three more. The number of quality chances that the club spurned on Tuesday was enough to make Preki go prematurely gray. If the Reds don't pull of a result in the return fixture, it won't take a rocket scientist to figure out why the team has crashed out of a tie of which they should have been in complete control.
Tactics
Kansas City: Offense for KC will come in the form of the excellent winger Ryan Smith, who has six assists and a goal in his debut MLS season, and Kei Kamara, who leads the team with six goals. Kansas City like to play a physical game, as noted by Sir Alex Ferguson when the Wizards defeated his Manchester United team 1-0 in a friendly last week. Maintaining discipline will be vital for KC, and they've had issues in that area this season. Jimmy Conrad already has five yellows and was sent off against United, while captain Davy Arnaud leads the league with three red cards. In addition to discipline, the defense will have to focus on containing the physicality and goalscoring threat of Toronto FC's All-Star Dwayne De Rosario.
Toronto: After a disappointing effort in their last away match versus Philadelphia, TFC won't take any chances in Kansas City. Rather than the club's typical conservative approach to away matches, Toronto opened up against the Union and it ended up costing them in the end. With the club's complete inability to generate road points and a Champions League match midweek, anything earned in KC will be welcome and an unadventurous 4-5-1 will likely be utilized versus the Wizards.
Intangibles
Kansas City: CommunityAmerica Ballpark was a fortress for the Wizards earlier this season, when they lost just one of their first six matches played in front of their own fans. Since then, however, they've dropped their last two home games, conceding five and failing to score. They'll be hoping to reverse that and reestablish dominance in their own house.
Toronto: If there ever was a match for TFC to look past, it would be this one, with Motagua awaiting the Reds in the return tie on Tuesday. That said, this is a team that harbors playoff ambitions and not focusing 100% of their efforts on the Wizards on Saturday would be completely unacceptable. A poor effort versus Kansas City would go along way to confirm the fears of the skeptics, who are once again prepared for the annual Toronto collapse.
Outcome
Kansas City: These teams played to a nil-nil draw earlier this season, and I think that result is the most likely outcome from this match. For the sake of entertainment, however, I'll up the scoreline and go for a 1-1 draw.
Toronto: In a carbon copy of their less than entertaining June encounter in Toronto, the Wizards and Reds will play to a 0-0 draw.
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Kansas City Wizards: Things are starting to look up for Kansas City. After a disastrous 12 game run in which they recorded only one win (at home, against expansion team and then bottom-dwellers Philadelphia), the Wizards have taken four points from their last two games, including an away win at high-flying Columbus and an away draw with Western Conference rivals Colorado. Keeper Jimmy Nielsen has been standing on his head at times in recent games, while youngster Teal Bunbury will be delighted to have scored his first MLS goal earlier this month when he netted the winner against the Crew.
Toronto FC: The Reds are coming off of two straight matches (last Saturday's league game versus FC Dallas and this past Tuesday's CONCACAF Champions League encounter with CD Motagua) when TFC controlled the pace of the match and kept their oppositions' chances to a minimum. The Reds have shown the ability to boss the midfield and come forward with impunity in waves. Going forward, the club must find a way to turn this domination into goals.
As for individual efforts, there are several positives for Preki to take heart in during this congested fixture period. Chad Barrett has two goals in his last three matches and has proven a versatile attacking option for Toronto, able to act as a straight up striker or provide quality service and forward runs as a winger. Midfielder Julian de Guzman's offensive flair has come to the forefront of late. Not known as an attacking player, de Guzman has found himself at the heart of many of the Reds' movements forward and has shown a deft passing touch. Stefan Frei continues to display why his teammates truly believe that he's currently the top 'keeper in all of MLS.
Off Target
Kansas City: Josh Wolff is having an abysmal year so far. Long the face and most dangerous member of the Wizards, he’s managed just a single goal and as many assists in 15 games, and has been relegated to the role of bench player, with rookie Teal Bunbury preferred by manager Peter Vermes. Captain Davy Arnaud may have picked up an important goal against Colorado (his second of the season), but he needs to avoid needless red cards for the sake of his team.
Toronto: There are two major causes for concern right now for TFC: away form and the squandering of quality chances. Much ink has been spilled about the former, so I'll concentrate on the latter here. In their last 180 minutes of football, the Reds have held the upper hand for maybe 160 of them, yet only have a league draw and a nervy 1-0 Champions League to show for it.
Against the Hoops last Saturday, the Reds showed great attacking intent that was finally rewarded with a goal at the hour mark, but that appeared satisfactory enough for Toronto, as it then proceeded to fall back and let Dallas come at them. When FCD found themselves an equalizer, there probably wasn't a single person in BMO who was surprised. Sure, TFC will be happy to head to Honduras with a 1-0 advantage over Motagua and not having conceded an away goal, but there's no reason why the club isn't up by two or three more. The number of quality chances that the club spurned on Tuesday was enough to make Preki go prematurely gray. If the Reds don't pull of a result in the return fixture, it won't take a rocket scientist to figure out why the team has crashed out of a tie of which they should have been in complete control.
Tactics
Kansas City: Offense for KC will come in the form of the excellent winger Ryan Smith, who has six assists and a goal in his debut MLS season, and Kei Kamara, who leads the team with six goals. Kansas City like to play a physical game, as noted by Sir Alex Ferguson when the Wizards defeated his Manchester United team 1-0 in a friendly last week. Maintaining discipline will be vital for KC, and they've had issues in that area this season. Jimmy Conrad already has five yellows and was sent off against United, while captain Davy Arnaud leads the league with three red cards. In addition to discipline, the defense will have to focus on containing the physicality and goalscoring threat of Toronto FC's All-Star Dwayne De Rosario.
Toronto: After a disappointing effort in their last away match versus Philadelphia, TFC won't take any chances in Kansas City. Rather than the club's typical conservative approach to away matches, Toronto opened up against the Union and it ended up costing them in the end. With the club's complete inability to generate road points and a Champions League match midweek, anything earned in KC will be welcome and an unadventurous 4-5-1 will likely be utilized versus the Wizards.
Intangibles
Kansas City: CommunityAmerica Ballpark was a fortress for the Wizards earlier this season, when they lost just one of their first six matches played in front of their own fans. Since then, however, they've dropped their last two home games, conceding five and failing to score. They'll be hoping to reverse that and reestablish dominance in their own house.
Toronto: If there ever was a match for TFC to look past, it would be this one, with Motagua awaiting the Reds in the return tie on Tuesday. That said, this is a team that harbors playoff ambitions and not focusing 100% of their efforts on the Wizards on Saturday would be completely unacceptable. A poor effort versus Kansas City would go along way to confirm the fears of the skeptics, who are once again prepared for the annual Toronto collapse.
Outcome
Kansas City: These teams played to a nil-nil draw earlier this season, and I think that result is the most likely outcome from this match. For the sake of entertainment, however, I'll up the scoreline and go for a 1-1 draw.
Toronto: In a carbon copy of their less than entertaining June encounter in Toronto, the Wizards and Reds will play to a 0-0 draw.
For more on Major League Soccer, visit Goal.com's MLS page and join Goal.com USA's Facebook fan page!
Field Report
Reader's Predictions
Top 3 Predictions
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Sporting Kansas City 1-2 Toronto FC
- 33.33 %
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Sporting Kansas City 0-0 Toronto FC
- 22.22 %
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Sporting Kansas City 2-1 Toronto FC
- 22.22 %
| USA - Major League Soccer (MLS) | Jul 23, 2011 | Sporting Kansas City 4 - Toronto FC 2 |
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| USA - Major League Soccer (MLS) | Jun 4, 2011 | Toronto FC 0 - Sporting Kansas City 0 |
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| USA - Major League Soccer (MLS) | Jul 31, 2010 | Sporting Kansas City 1 - Toronto FC 0 |
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| USA - Major League Soccer (MLS) | Jun 5, 2010 | Toronto FC 0 - Sporting Kansas City 0 |
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| USA - Major League Soccer (MLS) | Apr 26, 2009 | Toronto FC 1 - Sporting Kansas City 0 |
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Sporting Kansas City
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| May 27, 2012 | Sporting Kansas City 2 - San Jose 1 | MLS |
| May 19, 2012 | Colorado Rapids 2 - Sporting Kansas City 2 | MLS |
| May 12, 2012 | Chicago Fire 2 - Sporting Kansas City 1 | MLS |
| May 5, 2012 | Sporting Kansas City 0 - Montreal Impact 2 | MLS |
| Apr 21, 2012 | Portland Timbers 1 - Sporting Kansas City 0 | MLS |
Toronto FC
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| May 26, 2012 | Toronto FC 1 - Philadelphia Union 0 | MLS |
| May 23, 2012 | Toronto FC 1 - Vancouver Whitecaps FC 0 | NCC |
| May 19, 2012 | D.C. United 3 - Toronto FC 1 | MLS |
| May 16, 2012 | Vancouver Whitecaps FC 1 - Toronto FC 1 | NCC |
| May 9, 2012 | Toronto FC 2 - Montreal Impact 0 | NCC |
| 1 | Jimmy Nielsen | Goalkeeper |
| 3 | Shavar Thomas | Defender |
| - | Stéphane Auvray | Midfielder |
| 17 | Roger Espinoza | Midfielder |
| 23 | Kei Kamara | Striker |
| 9 | Teal Bunbury | Striker |
| 1 | Craig Rocastle | Midfielder |
| 2 | Michael Harrington | Defender |
| - | Jimmy Conrad | Defender |
| 22 | Davy Arnaud | Midfielder |
| - | Ryan Smith | |
| 18 | Eric Kronberg | Goalkeeper |
| - | Olukorede Aiyegbusi | Defender |
| - | Nikos Kounenakis | Defender |
| 27 | Birahim Diop | Midfielder |
| 28 | Graham Zusi | Striker |
| - | Jack Jewsbury | Defender |
| 16 | Josh Wolff | Striker |
| 24 | Stefan Frei | Goalkeeper |
| - | Dan Gargan | Defender |
| - | Nick Garcia | Defender |
| - | Nana Attakora-Gyan | Midfielder |
| - | Jacob Peterson | Midfielder |
| 6 | Julian De Guzman | Defender |
| - | Nick LaBrocca | Midfielder |
| - | Maicon Santos | Striker |
| - | Mista | Striker |
| 12 | Adrian Cann | Defender |
| 15 | Nane | Midfielder |
| - | Jon Conway | Goalkeeper |
| 33 | Maxim Usanov | Defender |
| 34 | Raivis Hščanovičs | Defender |
| - | O'Brian White | Striker |
| - | Gabe Gala | Defender |
| 14 | Dwayne De Rosario | Midfielder |
| 11 | Chad Barrett | Striker |
| Teal Bunbury | |
| Position: | Striker |
| Squad Number: | 9 |
| Games | Goals | YC | RC |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Stefan Frei | |
| Position: | Goalkeeper |
| Squad Number: | 24 |
| Games | Goals | YC | RC |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Results
Times In EST
Match News
Top Scorers
| Player | Goals | Penalties | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Kenny Cooper
Striker NY Red Bulls |
11 | 2 |
|
Chris Wondolowski
Striker San Jose Earthquakes |
11 | 1 |
|
Thierry Henry
Striker NY Red Bulls |
9 | 0 |
|
Saer Sene
Striker New England |
7 | 1 |
|
Maicon Santos
Striker D.C. United |
7 | 0 |