RED BULLS VS. SOUNDERS FC – PRE-GAME

Good evening and thanks for joining us for this late-night showdown between your Red Bulls and Seattle Sounders FC. As per the stereotype around here, it is cloudy and rainy in Seattle but it should be rocking here in front of an expected capacity crowd.

First piece of news: New York head coach Hans Backe will not be on the sidelines tonight. Backe felt stomach pains this morning and was taken to a local hospital to get checked on before returning to the hotel. Though it is not anything serious, after consulting with medical specialists, it was determined that it would be best for him to rest at the team hotel. We hope he makes a speedy recovery. Assistant coaches Richie Williams, Goran Aral and Des McAleenan are on the sidelines.

Here’s the lineup for the Red Bulls:

——————-Angel————-Kandji—————

Ubiparipovic——–Lindpere—–Stammler———-Richards

Miller————–Ream——–Petke————–Hall

—————————Coundoul————————-

Substitutes: Sutton, Boyens, Borman, da Luz, Agudelo, Chinn, Tchani

Just a few notes for you to get started:

–          Midfielder Carl Robinson did not make the trip after he experienced some swelling in his injured right knee at training Wednesday. Seth Stammler, coming back from a hamstring injury, pairs in the middle of the park with last week’s goalscorer, Joel Lindpere.

–          Sinisa Ubiparipovic moves to the left side of midfield and Danleigh Borman starts the game on the bench.

–          Five players – Angel, Ubiparipovic, Petke, Richards and Kandji – started in last year’s fixture here in Seattle – a 3-0 loss to the Sounders in their first-ever MLS match. Borman and Hall, who made his MLS debut that night, came on as substitutes.

–          While the Red Bulls do not have any former Sounders players, there are several former Red Bulls associated with Seattle. Taylor Graham (2006-07) and Terry Boss (2008-09) used to play for New York, while Sounders FC Technical Director Chris Henderson was part of the team in 2006. Henderson played for Backe in the 1990s.

–          Fredy Montero, starting up top for Seattle, scored three goals in two games against New York last year. Here is Seattle’s lineup, with James Riley coming in for Zach Scott in their only change from last Thursday’s 2-0 win over Philadelphia:

———–Montero———Ljungberg———-

Zakuani————-Evans————Levesque

———————–Alonso———————

Gonzalez——Marshall—Hurtado———Riley

———————–Keller———————–

Substitutes: Boss, Ianni, Sturgis, Nyassi, Scott, Estrada, Noonan

We’ll be posting occasional updates on our Twitter feed (@newyorkredbulls). Be sure to catch the match on Fox Soccer Channel, with the pre-game show starting at 10:00 PM ET. We’ll have post-match reaction later tonight. Enjoy the match and Go Red Bulls!!