Chicago Red Stars Vs Portland Thorns: Week 2 Preview

After a hard-fought draw to start the season, the Chicago Red Stars host their home opener against the Portland Thorns. Here is a full Week 2 preview.

Coming off of a hard-fought draw against the North Carolina Courage, the Chicago Red Stars will now come home to play their first home game of the 2019 season at SeatGeek Stadium, hosting the Portland Thorns. This will be a double-header alongside the Chicago Fire game against the Colorado Rapids, which will be the first game of the day. What this means for the Red Stars at the very least is added exposure to other fans of Chicago soccer.

Going into the Courage game, the Red Stars released their injury report after I had written the preview and I found out then that Casey Short was out with a thigh injury. This week, I’m not quite certain whether or not she’s going to be available; but I’m just going to go along as if she will still be out.

So what will coach Rory Dames do if it comes to this? Probably the same exact thing he did last week: Sarah Gorden stepping in at right-back and moving Arin Wright over to the left. While Short adds the extra level of quality, Gorden does do a comparable job, though not quite to the same high standard.

Against the Courage, she handled herself well. What may be an issue was Wright possibly picking up a knock in the match, meaning that there may be even more injury-related changes yet to come. She’ll probably be fine, but it’s a small possibility that it could be something that keeps her out of the weekend’s action.

On the Portland side, the Thorns are coming off of a 2-0 win against the Orlando Pride with the help of NWSL Player of the Week Tobin Heath. Heath picked up a goal and an assist in the match, both involving an insane back-heel move. She wasn’t the only part of Portland to impress as the defense held the offensive stars of Orlando to just two shots on goal. Truly an excellent overall performance from the team, but there may be an argument to be made that the Pride aren’t exactly that tough an opposition. The Red Stars are a much different –arguably better — team than the Pride.

And let’s talk about that. What looked to be the biggest problem for the Pride was a very unorganized defense that was unable to cover the Portland counter-attack. For the Red Stars, holding midfielders like Danielle Colaprico, Julie Ertz, and even Nikki Stanton keep a buffer in front of the defense.

One troubling aspect is Tierna Davidson, who suffered a really rough start to her career with a challenging game against the Courage. And now, after facing down Jessica McDonald, Lynn Williams, and Crystal Dunn in her first professional club match, it doesn’t get any easier for her going up against a team of Caitlin Foord, Heath, and Christine Sinclair.

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At the other end of the pitch, the Red Stars should have success. While the Thorns have one of the best-built defenses in the league, as proven last week, the creativity and quality of Yuki Nagasato and Sam Kerr should be enough to break through their lines. Kerr is dangerous from any position on the pitch, finding the smallest of holes in the defense and breaking into open space instantly, and Nagasato has terrific skill and ingenuity to create chances. As long as Yuki can keep finding Kerr, goals will follow.

As a final note, there’s once again been a slight change in broadcasting rights. For the rest of the season, Chicago Red Stars games will now be broadcast on NBC Sports Chicago, a local cable station. This is a major move for the club that will allow for the growth of the brand, already on the rise after the amazing release of their new kits.

Projected XIs:

Chicago Red Stars (4-3-2-1): Alyssa Naeher; Sarah Gorden, Katie Naughton, Tierna Davidson, Arin Wright; Nikki Stanton, Julie Ertz, Danielle Colaprico; Morgan Brian, Yuki Nagasato; Sam Kerr

Portland Thorns (4-2-3-1): Adrianna Franch; Ellie Carpenter, Emily Sonnet, Katherine Reynolds, Meghan Klingenberg; Celeste Boureille, Lindsey Horan; Ana-Maria Crnogorcevic, Christine Sinclair, Tobin Heath; Caitlin Foord