MLS Preview: Nelsen´s Toronto eye return to form

Toronto FC will look to bounce back from defeat to struggling Chivas when they host New York Red Bulls in the MLS on Saturday.

Ryan Nelsen’s side were edged out 1-0 on Wednesday as Chivas – the Western Conference’s bottom-placed side – picked up just their fourth win of the season, having played much of the game with 10 men.

However, Toronto manager Ryan Nelsen is not worried and has backed his team to bounce back.

“When it was 11 versus 11 we were by far the better team,” the former New Zealand international told the official MLS website.

“We looked very comfortable and we were controlling the game. The sending off was one of those ones that made Chivas go into a shell and become very defensive while putting numbers behind the ball.

“It is a learning experience for the young guys. I thought they did well and worked really hard. If we could have got that one goal, it would probably have led to a comfortable two or three goals for us.”

Toronto will face a Red Bulls side who, despite enjoying an impressive 4-0 win against Montreal Impact last time out, have won just twice in five games.

Elsewhere, the two MLS Conference leaders, Real Salt Lake and Sporting Kansas City, will meet at the Rio Tinto Stadium on Saturday.

Both sides are unbeaten in their last five MLS fixtures, with Jason Kreis’ men four points clear at the top of the Western Conference. They welcome Sporting Kansas, who sit two points ahead of Montreal Impact in the Eastern Conference.

Montreal host FC Dallas and will be looking to bounce back from their 4-0 defeat to the Red Bulls, while Dallas also lost their last game 3-0 at home against Real Salt Lake.

Eastern Conference strugglers Chicago Fire and DC United, meet on Saturday at Toyota Park and will be looking to take advantage of Toronto’s poor form to pull away from the lower reaches of the table.

Vancouver Whitecaps will be looking to the league’s top scorer Camilo Sanvezzo to help them overcome LA Galaxy, who will want to bounce back from their 2-1 defeat to Portland Timbers.

The second-placed Timbers are trying to keep pace with Real Salt Lake and they travel to Philadelphia, while Colorado Rapids visit CenturyLink Field to face Seattle Sounders.

It will be the Rapids’ second game in five days after they saw off New England Revolution 2-1 on Wednesday thanks, in part, to a second-half own goal from Jose Goncalves.

Meanwhile, Goncalves will look to put his disappointment behind him and help New England back to winning ways when they take on the Columbus Crew.