Thursday Matchup: Reis versus Keller

Matt Reis is one of the top goalies in MLS, a big part of the reason that the Revolution are competitive year after year, and probably the reason why they have any chance of making the playoffs this year. He's going to be tested early and often with Steve Zakuani's newfound role as run-at-the-net kamikazi guy. With New England's defense as weak as it is, Zak should have plenty of opportunity to get past NE's offside trap and go for the net.

My guess at the lineup
Defense Left-to-Right: Gonzalez, Hurtado, Ianni, and Riley. Marshall is out due to the red card from last game.
Midfield: Nyassi, Vagenas, Ljungberg?, Evans
Forwards: Zakuani, Montero, Jaqua

On New England's side, they are missing their coach Steve Nicol who is still sitting out a suspension due to his sideline antics of a few weeks ago.

Who to watch for on New England
Sanna Nyassi's twin brother Sainey starts for New England. It should be fun to see them challenge each other at midfield. Watch for Matt Reis to come up big after the Sounders pour through the weak NE defense. Also watch for Steve Zakuani to be trying to time runs through the offside trap. He was caught lots last game, but his timing should be better this time. Peter Vagenas' success on the corner last game (resulting in a Montero goal) means he might have the honors this game as well, although Ljungberg might not like that.

Bookies
There is huge money on the Sounders for this one. The moneyline on the Revs is +385, meaning that a $100 bet will get you $385 back if they win. This works out to about 85% of all the outstanding bets being placed on the Sounders. What a huge turnaround from the Galaxy game when about 2/3 of the money was on LA. Even a draw is paying 240, which is not surprising given the league's newfound distaste for ties.