New York Red Bulls lineup prediction, preseason edition: vs Real Salt Lake, January 31, 2017

After their opening game of the 2017 preseason, the New York Red Bulls' list of absent or injured players and trialists was almost a workable lineup in itself: Luis Robles (USMNT January camp), Gideon Baah (recovering from injury), Jordan Scarlett (hurt during the friendly against Portland Timbers), Connor Lade (recovering from injury), Sal Zizzo (illness), Mike Grella (training ground knock), Sacha Kljestan (was in USMNT camp, now at home on baby watch), Bradley Wright-Phillips (also on baby watch), Junior Flemmings (recovering from injury), and maybe Kemar Lawrence (possibly took a knock against Portland).

So the forthcoming game against Real Salt Lake will be interesting for what it reveals about the availability of some of the players in the current preseason camp. Given that this will be just the second friendly of RBNY's preseason, the starting lineup need not be considered too significant. Still, for the sake of a little fun, here is a stab at guessing how the Red Bulls will kick off against RSL.

Sticking with the notion that RBNY head coach Jesse Marsch will favor a 4-2-2-2 formation for the duration of this phase of preseason (at least), the only predicted change from the lineup that started against Portland is Sal Zizzo swapping in for Ethan Kutler at right back. Kutler is a project: the Red Bulls are interested in converting the draft pick to RB. Zizzo is one of Marsch's candidates for the starting right back position. Assuming he is recovered from the illness that kept him out of the game against Portland, expect Zizzo to get time to work on his combinations with right winger Alex Muyl.

And throw your thoughts and predictions into the comments section.