Vancouver Whitecaps FC vs. New York City FC | 2017 MLS Match Preview

Ben Couch

Vancouver Whitecaps FC vs. New York City FC
2017 MLS Regular Season
BC Place – Vancouver, B.C.
Wednesday, July 5 – 10 p.m. ET
WATCH: TSN1/3/4 in Canada; MLS LIVE in US

A week after a promising attempt at ascension to Western Conference contention was not only halted, but outright rejected by an Eastern Conference power, Vancouver Whitecaps FC again face one of the East's premier clubs as New York City FC visit BC Place. Vancouver haven't beaten NYCFC in two attempts thus far, falling 2-1 at home and 3-2 on the road.

New York City, meanwhile, enter riding a four-match winning streak (five unbeaten), with the most recent victory a come-from-behind 3-1 dismantling of Minnesota United FC. NYCFC scored three unanswered goals in that one, the outcome never in doubt even after Christian Ramirez scored in the 9th minute.

Vancouver Whitecaps FC

The 'Caps
are
were in the midst of
a sneaky-good run
, but good golly did that come crashing down around them. About the only encouraging development was the MLS regular-season debut of
Yordy Reyna
, who missed the opening four months of the season with a foot injury. He made it in for nearly a half-hour's play, managing to
put a shot on goal
in his first official league action.

Though Vancouver have made a mass clearance off the once-packed injury list, they'll be without defensive midfielder Matias Laba, who picked up a late red card against Chicago. Look for Andrew Jacobson to step up into the midfield – a role New York City is familiar with him filling (SEE: 2015) – with Carl Robinson dipping into the backline reserves to plug the gap.

Suspended: Matias Laba (red card)
Int’l Duty: Sam Adekugbe (Canada), Alphonso Davies (Canada), Marcel de Jong (Canada), Russell Teibert (Canada)
Injury Report: OUT: D - Brett Levis (ACL tear), D - David Edgar (PCL, MCL tear); QUESTIONABLE: D - Kendall Waston (hand surgery)

Projected Starting XI (4-1-4-1) GK: David Ousted — Jake Nerwinski, Christian Dean, Tim Parker, Jordan Harvey — Andrew Jacobson — Cristian Techera, Tony Tchani, Christian Bolanos, Brek Shea — Fredy Montero

New York City FC

It was a weird day for NYCFC on Thursday, when they intially opted for a swing lineup before a dilly-dallying duo dropped a lateness grenade into Patrick Vieira's lap. The head coach responded by benching RJ Allen and pulling Ethan White out of the 18, only to see left back-cum-winger Ronald Matarrita go down with a foot injury that will sideline him 3-4 months.

On the plus side, they turned in a dominant midfield performance, with Yangel Herrera and Alexander Ring controlling the action like foot-string puppeteers while Jack Harrison scored goals and created them as a nation dreams. It's saying something that we've gotten this far and I've yet to mention David Villa, who – of course – is following up an MLS MVP campaign with … an MLS MVP(-worthy) campaign. That's what 11 goals and 6 assists will do for you.

Suspended: NONE
Int’l Duty: Sean Johnson (United States), Miguel Camargo (Panama), Rodney Wallace (Costa Rica)
Injury Report: OUT: F - Khiry Shelton (hamstring injury), D - Ronald Matarrita (foot surgery 6/30)

Projected Starting XI(4-2-3-1) GK: Eirik Johansen – R.J. Allen, Maxime Chanot, Alexander Callens, Ben Sweat – Yangel Herrera, Alex Ring – Jack Harrison, Tommy McNamara, Rodney Wallace – David Villa