As of now, excluding Dallas our opponent PPG is 1.044
With that being said, we should win those 5 games and likely put ourselves in a very good spot for 1st in the East
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2016 Nycfc And Eastern Conference Strength Of Schedule Remaining
- Thread starter Kjbert
- Start date
As of now, excluding Dallas our opponent PPG is 1.044
With that being said, we should win those 5 games and likely put ourselves in a very good spot for 1st in the East
As we play New England the Saturday before the match, you have to think New England may rest some players (or take players out early) to be better suited to win that match. And with an extra time match, the Dallas players will be tired out when we play them three days later.
Between NE & Dallas & the Open Cup, we couldn't have asked for better opponents the next two weeks.
The key against NE is scoring early and making them chase the play - Heaps will have to decide how much he wants to expend his players to go after something that isn't a given vs lining up a few days later with the pendulum back at neutral.
I would expect NE to hold some players back on Saturday and for Dallas to have some tired legs the next week. Can't have worked out better.
It will be interesting to see how NE plays it with resting players. If they had lost last week you might have made the case that playoffs were done so they would probably rest everyone, but now are just a few points back of the last slot. That might lead to a "wait and see" mentality.
In any case, I can't see how NE won't start a number of their backups - they are 90 minutes away from a trophy and the game is on Tuesday - and they have travel to Dallas, most likely the day after Saturday's game.
Looking at the 3 games for each team, they progress like this, with each series being Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday.
Dallas
hosts Colorado
hosts New England
at NYCFC
New England
hosts NYCFC
at Dallas
at Montreal
Both teams are probably more likely to rest players for the first game given that there are only two days' rest between that one and the US Open Cup Final, which is the most important game of each bunch. Problem is that those first games are each very important for the regular season.
Dallas is hosting the 2nd place team in the West, which is 8 points back, but has 2 games in hand. Perhaps they will take the position that their lead in the West and SS races is big enough to rest players for this one.
New England is just below the playoff line, and all the teams around them have games in hand. They need to get 3 points out of their game against us rather desperately as their next two MLS games are on the road. Still, perhaps they take the reasonable approach that Tuesday represents their only realistic chance at a trophy - certainly more likely to win that one than even make the playoffs, much less win the playoffs.
My guess is that each team rests some players on Saturday, goes all out to win on Tuesday, and then plays their regular guys on the following Saturday. We will see how it goes.
Dallas
hosts Colorado
hosts New England
at NYCFC
New England
hosts NYCFC
at Dallas
at Montreal
Both teams are probably more likely to rest players for the first game given that there are only two days' rest between that one and the US Open Cup Final, which is the most important game of each bunch. Problem is that those first games are each very important for the regular season.
Dallas is hosting the 2nd place team in the West, which is 8 points back, but has 2 games in hand. Perhaps they will take the position that their lead in the West and SS races is big enough to rest players for this one.
New England is just below the playoff line, and all the teams around them have games in hand. They need to get 3 points out of their game against us rather desperately as their next two MLS games are on the road. Still, perhaps they take the reasonable approach that Tuesday represents their only realistic chance at a trophy - certainly more likely to win that one than even make the playoffs, much less win the playoffs.
My guess is that each team rests some players on Saturday, goes all out to win on Tuesday, and then plays their regular guys on the following Saturday. We will see how it goes.
Latest update. We remain easiest, and that margin is increasing, but I am beginning to wonder if games against poorer teams is really a good thing.
You know NYCFC is going to beat Dallas and then blow a lead and tie Chicago. It's just the way this team plays.
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