ON ITS SURFACE this year’s MLS Eastern Conference final is as sexy and compelling a playoff series as the league has seen for many years, rivaled only by…this year’s Western Conference series.

Names, storylines, teams playing well, big markets in close enough proximity to each other for the fans to travel. Thierry Henry and Jermaine Jones will share the top billing with Lee Nguyen, Bradley Wright-Phillips, Charlie Davies, and Peguy Luyundula still on the marquee.

But those players may just cancel each other out and this could come down to the role players. Don’t be surprised if an A.J. Soares or Ibrahim Sekagaya is a difference-maker in this two-game showdown (Game 1: 1:30pm ET Sunday; NBC) .

HEAD-TO-HEAD PLAYOFF HISTORY

This is just the fourth time the league’s two most Northeastern teams have met in the playoffs and the first time it’s been outside the first round. They previously met in the 2003, 2005 and 2007 playoffs, with the Revs prevailing each time, the latter two matches being decided by one goal. This is the first time the two teams have met with a trip to MLS Cup on the line.

Interesting footnote: Despite spending eight seasons over two tours as a player with the MetroStars and/or Red Bulls, this is the first time Red Bulls coach Mike Petke, who went to college in Connecticut, has faced New England in the playoffs.

BEST PLAYOFF FINISH

New England finished second in MLS Cup in 2002 and famously repeated that feat three straight years, from 2005-07. A year later the Red Bulls were MLS Cup runners-up, the only time New York has advanced that far.

THIS SEASON

New York swept the regular season series, winning both games. On June 8 the Red Bulls won 2-0 at Foxboro, Mass., as Eric Alexander scored early and Peguy Luyindula also connected—on the only shots on goal for the Red Bulls. Thierry Henry and Dax McCarty missed that match and New England actually had the better of play, having the majority of possession and forcing Luis Robles to make 11 saves.

In the August 2 rematch at Red Bull Arena, Charlie Davies scored early in the first half but McCarty and Bradley Wright-Phillips struck early in the second half to give the New Yorkers the win. The Red Bulls played shorthanded for entire second half after teenager Matt Miazga was ejected just before intermission. Again, the Revolution had more shots on frame, 8-4, and again Robles came up big with seven saves.

In a normal year those results would give the Red Bulls an edge but both teams have made substantial changes since the second matchup. New England, of course, added U.S. international Jermaine Jones in late August and has lost just one match since his arrival. And Davies was making just his third start of the year and was still shaking off rust; he’s much more dangerous and dynamic now.

Meanwhile, the Red Bulls made a tactical switch the final nine games, moving Alexander to a holding midfield role next to McCarty, which has increased the team’s defensive discipline and reduced the amount of shots Robles has seen. In short, there’s little to be drawn from the prior matchups.

Both of these teams are cruising right now. Cruising right toward each other. It should be fun.

KEY MATCHUPS

Jones vs. Henry. C’mon, you know this is what you want to see. You’re not tuning in to see Chris Tierney vs. Lloyd Sam (though that’s one of those sneaky off-the-radar matchups that could swing this series.) The reality is that with Henry’s preference to drift wide and create from the flanks and Jones' tendency to man the middle from a deep role, this pair likely won’t go at it all that much. But inevitably a few times during this series the two of them will end up mano-a-mano and we all want to see if Henry tries to blow past Jones and if Jones goes in hard to tackle the French icon.

But what will be key is how McCarty and Alexander deal with Nguyen, how the Red Bulls adjust to the Revs' five-man midfield, how Soares and Jose Goncalves track the sneaky off-the-ball runs of Wright-Phillips, and on the other end how Sekagaya and Jamison Olave contain Davies.

One X-factor is New York staring left back Roy Miller is suspended for Sunday’s game after a red card late in the second match against D.C. United. Miller can be erratic but before his red card he’d had a solid run of form. His likely replacement, Cameroonian international Ambroise Oyongo, is better going forward but not necessarily a defensive specialist. It will be interesting to see if the Revs' wide attackers, Kelyn Rowe and Teal Bunbury, can exploit this.

QUOTABLE

“There’s gonna be a lot of talk about Lee Nguyen, how he’s having a great season. About Jermaine Jones, since he joined New England he’s bringing a different variable. But I feel as long as we play the style of soccer we want, bring the same effort we’ve brought the last couple of weeks. It doesn’t matter who we play. I’m confident in the guys in this locker room to do what we need to keep this rolling.” –Luis Robles

“The players they’ve got, they kind of speak for themselves. They’ve got a guy who scored 27 goals and then there’s Thierry Henry. And Luyundula is playing really well. They do look very, very good and they’re playing really well right now. It’s a difficult test because they’ve beaten us twice this year but we know what we’re getting into.” –Bobby Shuttleworth

“I think we’re both exciting teams, dynamic teams. It’s going to make for a very good semifinal. We both have players who are good on both sides of the ball and difference makers going forward. And both teams love to score goals. It makes for a good battle and both teams are really gonna go after it. I’d certainly be watching this semifinal if I wasn’t playing in it.”—Dax McCarty

PREDICTION

Two things. First, this pundit sucks at predictions. Second, this is a tough one to call even for someone who is good at making predictions because the teams are so even and both are playing so well right now. But it would be poor form to not make a call so in a series that should be celebrated by soccer fans all over the Northeast, I’m going with the Revolution.

Brooke Tunstall is an American Soccer Now contributing editor and ASN 100 panelist. You can follow him on Twitter.