Having already clinched third place in the Eastern Conference and knowing they will play the New England Revolution in the playoffs starting Oct. 27, the New York Red Bulls have virtually nothing to play for Thursday night when they face the Los Angeles Galaxy at The Home Depot Center.
That means that players who are a bit banged up or who could use a rest, including midfielder Claudio Reyna, recent signee Francis Doe and perhaps MVP candidate Juan Pablo Angel, will sit. But who plays will be interesting. Bruce Arena never reveals his starting lineup, so it's no surprise he didn't start in a conference call with reporters Wednesday afternoon.
The first interesting question will be: Who will be in goal? Ronald Waterreus was anointed the starter at the start of the season and posted four clean sheets in his first four MLS games. A severe ankle injury kept the former Dutch international limited for the next month and when he regained full health, Waterreus gave up 11 goals in five games, although some shoddy marking didn't help.
Jon Conway is coming off a stellar performance in a 2-1 win against the Kansas City Wizards last Saturday night. He made six saves, including a big penalty kick stop on Eddie Johnson in the second half to preserve the win.
"Obviously he played very well," Arena said. "When a goalkeeper wins a game and makes a save on a penalty kick, you have to grade him pretty high."
Statistically, Conway is having the better season, recording a 1.11 goals against average in 13 games, 11 starts. He's made 53 saves and allowed 13 goals. Waterreus has a 1.79 GAA in 18 starts with 59 saves and 31 goals against.
While it will be interesting to see who is between the posts at The Home Depot Center, who gets the nod against New England is an even better question.
"We have a week and a half to make that decision," Arena said.
Against Kansas City, Arena shook up the defense, starting Carlos Mendes in place of Seth Stammler centrally and Hunter Freeman for Chris Leitch on the right. The result was the most consistent defensive effort in weeks - a restart seconds after going ahead the cause for the lone goal against.
The midfield is a toss-up. Will Joe Vide, who was suspended for the Kansas City game because of a red card at Toronto, be back in the middle or will Seth Stammler? With Dema Kovalenko suspended because of a yellow card accumulation, who plays on the left side of midfield? Will it be Clint Mathis? Or will he be used as an attacking midfielder?
If Angel and Doe both sit, who plays up front with Jozy Altidore, who is working his way back into form? Is it John Wolyniec or perhaps Mathis?
One thing is certain, Arena is looking to finalize his playoff lineup and said he wants to have between three and five reserve players available in case of injuries or suspensions. Could it be a few players will be playing for spots Thursday night?
The Galaxy, of course, have plenty to play for. With or without David Beckham, Los Angeles is hoping to continue it's miraculous playoff run and need a win against the Red Bulls to do so.
"It's just another challenge," Arena said. "Over the last five or six games, even though the results haven't been what we'd like, we've elevated our play. We want to continue that and it will be important to see a good effort and for us to play good, quality soccer. At the end of the day, we're going to need that to win a playoff series."
After snapping a five-game winless streak Saturday night, Red Bulls players were excited about the prospect of facing the Revs in the Eastern Conference Semifinal Series.
"We should go into this and prepare well, play with a lot of confidence," Mendes said after the K.C. win. "We match up well against New England. We definitely can move on. It's going to be tough, but we have the players to do it."
The Red Bulls are 0-2-1 vs. New England this year, but each game was a close contest, which is why the optimism level in the locker room is so high.
But before they face the Revs on Oct. 27, there's the matter of the final 90 minutes of the regular season to deal with.
"We've played (New England) a few times already," Angel said Saturday night. "The last couple of meetings we have played well but in the playoffs it's a completely different story. We have another game at hand and we have to get it right here, get some injured players back. We are looking forward to it. It's going to be my first experience in the playoffs and hopefully, we get it right."
Dylan Butler is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
