D.C United may sit near the bottom of the Eastern Conference, but the Lions aren’t underestimating their strength.
“D.C is a very hungry team,” Head Coach Jason Kreis said. “They’re also a team that has had their struggles in the past couple of weeks. They’ve been in some negative places themselves, and then on the weekend got a really positive result at Vancouver. I think they have some confidence now.”
D.C United has earned 12 points in 14 games placing them only slightly above the Montreal Impact in the Eastern Conference. But after losing three in a row, D.C traveled to Vancouver and defeated the Whitecaps 1-0. They have some momentum coming into the midweek match and certainly they aren’t a team that struggles on the road. But the Lions are ready to face that.
“They’re a team that went into Atlanta a few weeks ago, a very tough place to play, got a good result. Flew to Vancouver, got a result. They’re a team that on the road can get results and keep it tight,” Servando Carrasco said this week in training. “And if you’re not fully ready to compete and engage and perform to the best of your abilities, you will struggle against them.”
“They’re a proper team,” Carrasco continued. “Every guy works, they don’t have a couple of superstars. They’re very difficult to break down, their back four is solid, they’ve got a great goalkeeper in Bill Hamid, so defensively they’re very good.”
The Lions will be looking to regain their strength at home after what has been a challenging May schedule. They will have a quick turnaround, hosting the Chicago Fire on Sunday, but their focus is on getting a result on Wednesday night.
“It’s important that we win,” Kreis said. “We want to win more than anybody else.
