After a kick to the teeth at home, the Chicago Red Stars head out West to face the Portland Thorns. Here is a full Week 8 preview.
While the Chicago Red Stars were hit hard by their 2-0 loss to the Washington Spirit, they have stated their intentions to take their lessons and move on from it. They’ll need it when they go on the road to the Pacific Northwest to face the Portland Thorns.
The main member of the injury report for the Red Stars before the last game was Daniele Colaprico, who I asserted would play at some point in the game. The moment the players came out for warmups, I knew that she wasn’t going to be used at all.
She was taking all the warmups very slowly and even went back into the locker room for a time before coming back out to continue. While that didn’t bode well for that game, she was still able to be on the bench just in case. This means to me that, with another week of recovery under her belt, she should be doing well enough to make it out for this game.
Looking over at the opponents, the Portland Thorns are now ahead of the Chicago Red Stars in the table after a 1-0 win over Sky Blue FC. The Red Stars have already seen the Thorns this season, pulling off a thrilling 4-4 draw in the Red Stars’ home opener. Since then, Portland has continued to score at will. At least until their game against the Washington Spirit.
You see, the Thorns are one of the few NWSL teams that I can safely say were gutted by National Team call-ups for the World Cup. 10 players on the Thorns have gotten at least a goal or an assist this season. Of those 10, only four are still available after call-ups, and Midge Purce only just joined that list in their last game. Much of the offensive duties have now fallen to Dagný Brynjarsdóttir, who has been a noticeable performer since the beginning of the season and is now the de-facto number 10 until Christine Sinclair’s return.
For Chicago, this game needs to be a rebound. As I mentioned after last week’s game, the defense found a way to build themselves back up after early struggles. Now it’s time for the rest of the team to find that same determination. Without Sam Kerr in the attack, Yuki Nagasato needs to start connecting more with Katie Johnson. If Colaprico is still out for this game, then it’s up to Nikki Stanton and Vanessa DiBernardo to do better at gaining possession and then controlling it.
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And I believe that this is a team that can do just that. While the World Cup has taken away many National Team players, the Chicago Red Stars are still stacked with international level talent. Players like Casey Short and Colaprico were notably listed as snubs when the USMNT list came out. Maria Sánchez and Katie Johnson are Mexican National Team regulars. The only reason why Yuki Nagasato was not called up to Japan for the World Cup is that she asked not to be called up. This team has so much talent still here even after losing so much and this is the perfect moment for them to show it.
Projected XI:
Chicago Red Stars (4-2-3-1): Emily Boyd; Arin Wright, Sarah Gorden, Katie Naughton, Casey Short; Danielle Colaprico, Nikki Stanton; Vanessa DiBernardo, Yuki Nagasato, Michele Vasconcelos; Katie Johnson
Portland Thorns (4-2-3-1): Britt Eckerstrom; Meghan Klingenberg, Emily Menges, Katherine Reynolds, Elizabeth Ball; Angela Salem, Gabby Seiler; Ana-Maria Crnogorcevic, Dagný Brynjarsdóttir, Midge Purce; Simone Charley
How To Watch:
Sunday, June 2nd, 5:00 PM CDT; At Providence Park in Portland, OR, on NBC Sportsnet Chicago, and online with the Yahoo Sports App