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LINEUP PREVIEW FC Dallas vs. New York Red Bulls

Give the kid the start.

Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

UPDATE: This is the starting lineup.

Coming off a big win in the Arena against their new found derby pseudo-rivals New York City Football Club, RBNY sit comfortably in third with nine games played in the Eastern Conference. The New York Red Bulls look to gain another three points this Friday at Toyota Stadium against FC Dallas, but how will their Starting XI shape up come kickoff? Let's take a look at this week's lineup prediction:

This week, I suspect we will see the same exact front six as we did against NYCFC on Mother's Day. The 4-2-3-1 formation looks settled up top: Bradley Wright-Phillips is the target, accompanied on the right by Mr. Lloyd Sam, who is possibly the number one Red Bull at the moment, and on the left by Long Island native Mike Grella. Sitting right behind Wright-Phillips, your attacking midfielder will once again be Sacha Kljestan and your defensive midfielders are the always-reliable Dax McCarty and Felipe Martins.

These starting six players should not come as a surprise, especially with Sal Zizzo injured and expected to be out for months.

The starting back line is still in question, as has been the case almost every week of the season thus far. This is where Jesse Marsch has numerous options and depth, with NYRB II players looking to break the Starting XI. But Marsch also has pressure, in the form of injuries, suspensions and pending international call-ups.

As they did against NYCFC, Damien Perrinelle, Kemar Lawrence, and Chris Duvall should be expected to start against Dallas. Duvall is the number one right back option for the Bulls week in and week out, and has been a reliable starter since opening day. His play behind Lloyd Sam allows him to make overlapping runs into the opposing team's side of the pitch and his pace complements McCarty's style of play.

Damien Perrinelle has also been a reliable starter this year for New York, with eight starts and a goal, there is no doubt he will be a starter come Friday. Though I do believe Perrinelle has to be careful. In his eight games played this year, he has drawn four yellow cards. Perrinelle is one of the most physical players on the Red Bulls, and at 6'1", 170 lbs, he must be careful how he goes after the ball. With such a presence in the air, opposing forwards are able to draw fouls simply by "flopping" around him. Damien Perrinelle must remain physical, but also be smart about the tackles and moments in which to take on a player.

Kemar Lawrence is one of my favorite signings by New York this year. He has been an absolute pleasure to watch and has been near perfect. His pace complements Chris Duvall's on the opposite side of the pitch. As he showed against NYCFC, he is not afraid to make runs down the line onto the other side of the field. Along with his speed on the ball, his strength allows him to dribble with multiple men on him as well as make some brilliant tackles. With the 90 minutes he put in against NYCFC and his overall play this season, there is no reason Jesse Marsch goes to Roy Miller over him. Though I have no problem whatsoever with Marsch starting Miller, I believe Lawrence makes for a fine and well-suited start against Dallas.

But there will be one big change: the start of twenty-two year old Canadian Karl Ouimette. Though Matt Miazga is playing in the U-20 World Cup, he is set to stay with the club through Friday. Except there's one problem: he's suspended. Remember?

Miazga's availability for this game was planned in cooperation with the US U-20s, and RBNY has caught a bit of a break: at least he will serve his suspension now, rather than when he gets back from international duty.

Nonetheless with Miazga out, options at center back have to be explored - and the options look limited.

The "should be" starter is Ronald Zubar. But he has not started a match nor been in the eighteen since week one against Sporting Kansas City due to injury. And it does not look good for him to be around for this game.

Another experienced option is Roy Miller, who can play at CB if need be. But he too is working his way back from injury.

This opens the door for more junior players on the roster: the likes of Connor Lade, Anthony Wallace, Andrew Jean-Baptiste, Shawn McLaws, or Karl Ouimette (hint hint). These defenders have all, except for Jean-Baptiste and McLaws, had first team minutes on the pitch and are reliable backs.

Of the three to have logged first-team minutes this year, Karl Ouimette has the most: 142. Wallace got 90 from his game against Columbus, and Lade has 83 minutes of MLS game-time so far this season.

Connor Lade of course has been on the team since 2012 (signed end of 2011 as a homegrown) with 38 appearances for the club, yet has slowly declined in minutes played since then. In recent years, he has been on loan to the NY Cosmos in 2014 and this year, has been on loan to NYRB II. We saw Lade start at right back against New England on May 2nd before being subbed off in the 83rd for 18 year old forward Anatole Abang, who has been brilliant for NYRB II this year.

Anthony Wallace was signed one day before his start against the Columbus Crew in March. Since then, he has been starting for NYRB II and captaining that team. Wallace is also more of a left back, much like Roy Miller, so he is perhaps not the best option for stand-in center back. Andrew Jean-Baptiste and Shawn McLaws have both been playing for NYRB II, but have not yet been entrusted with first-team minutes.

This leaves us with Karl Ouimette, who as mentioned above, has the most minutes of 2015 of the three, with 142. He started in the same match as Connor Lade, against the New England Revolution. This, plus the fact that he came on in the 38th minute for Mike Grella (in place of Miazga) last week against NYCFC, shows that Jesse Marsch trusts having Ouimette play for long durations and that he is fit for a full 90 minutes of play. Sure, Ouimette didn't play a perfect match, but neither did the rest of the back line, except maybe for Kemar Lawrence.

But he had quite a reliable 62 minutes on the field and played an overall good match. He was coy about his chances of starting earlier this week: "I don't feel like I'll get the start, but I'll be ready for it."

Perhaps Karl was just being polite and a bit bashful, because his coach has publicly stated the Canadian will be starting against FCD:
It is with that, the backline is completed and ready to head to Toyota Stadium to pick up another three points.

You can watch the New York Red Bulls take on FC Dallas this Friday, May 15th at 9:00 PM on Univision Deportes, the Univision Deportes app/website, or MLS LIVE.