New York Red Bulls vs. Arsenal FC: Live Match Thread

The New York Red Bulls have the opportunity to win a massively meaningless friendly competition this morning as they take on Arsenal in the second of their two Emirates Cup matches. New York's 1-0 win over Paris Saint-Germain yesterday, combined with the 2-2 draw between the Gunners and Boca Juniors (Arsenal were 2-0 up just after halftime and blew their lead), puts the Red Bulls top of the table. Depending on results in the earlier kickoff, the Red Bulls may be able to silence the Eurosnobs by winning the Emirates Cup with just a draw against Arsenal.

The Gunners should provide a stiffer test than PSG, who didn't create many good chances -- for which a lot of credit must go to the Red Bulls defense. Arsenal are probably the best side in this tournament on paper, but have shown their mental and defensive weaknesses time and again. They are likely to play a first-choice side, as are the Red Bulls, who will probably include Thierry Henry and Rafael Márquez in their starting XI.

Red Bulls: Frank Rost; Chris Albright, Carlos Mendes, Tim Ream, Roy Miller; Rafael Marquez, Dane Richards, Teemu Tainio, Dax McCarty, Jan Gunnar Solli, Thierry Henry(c)

Arsenal: Wojciech Szczesny; Bacary Sagna, Laurent Koscielny, Thomas Vermaelen, Kieran Gibbs, Alex Song, Jack Wilshere, Aaron Ramsey, Tomas Rosicky, Gervinho, Robin van Persie

You can find Arsenal perspective at The Short Fuse, and be sure to check out our three questions with them and my Red Bulls scouting report before the game.

Kickoff is at 11:20 AM Eastern time, and you can watch the game on Fox Soccer Channel. Let's not get pummeled.