THE MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER regular season stretches until late October so it’s hard to get too worked up about a matchup in April. 

Still, as early season games go, this week’s tilt between D.C. United and the New York Red Bulls (Saturday, 7pm ET, MLS DirectKick) is about as interesting as it gets considering one team is undefeated and the other sits atop the Eastern Conference standings. 

D.C. United is 3-1 and in first place in the East. For reasons that aren’t very clear to anyone outside MLS headquarters, especially since the club has its own stadium and can open it whenever it wants, Red Bull have already had two bye weeks. But the team is 2-0-1 right now, leaving New York and Real Salt Lake (2-0-2) as the only unbeaten teams left in MLS.

It’s too early to suggest this will impact the playoff standings but these points count, too, and a win here isn’t just three points gained but keeps a fellow contender from getting three as well.

THE SUBPLOTS

Who can forget Alecko Eskandarian running to the sidelines, grabbing a can of Red Bull, and spitting it out shortly after the energy drink manufacturer took over New York’s first MLS team?

How about then-MetroStars coach Bob Bradley taking advantage of an MLS loophole when he was out of field substitutions by inserting 16-year-old Eddie Gaven as a goalkeeper then having him switch jerseys and play as a field player? Gaven scored the game winner, of course. (That brinksmanship led to that aforementioned loophole promptly being closed.)

These two teams were MLS’ first real rivalry, one of the first where visiting fans regularly traveled to attend and make noise. And while the intensity has waned at times, when both teams are playing well, as they are now, this matchup is still as intense as any in MLS.

It's also a 2015 rematch. New York beat United 2-0 in week two at Red Bull Arena—and Jesse Marsch's side are the only team to score on Ben Olsen’s men this season. 

Can United’s defense, which bent but didn’t break against Orlando last week, get its fourth clean sheet? Or will Lloyd Sam and Bradley Wright-Phillips, who each scored against D.C. in week two duplicate their magic at RFK Stadium?

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Sam and Wright-Phillips each have two goals this season but Wright-Phillips, last season’s golden boot winner with a record-tying 27 goals, appears set on being a more complete player this year. In 2014 he managed just two assists all seasons but has already matched that total in three games this year.

A well-rounded Wright-Phillips makes him much more dynamic and tougher to key on, as United learned in week two.

For United, a team that has grinded out three 1-0 wins, the last two coming on stoppage-time goals against Los Angeles and Orlando, defense remains key. It boasted the stingiest defense in the league a year ago and continue to ride that formula this year. 

The key cog in United’s defense is holding midfielder Perry Kitchen, who covers acres of ground in front of the back four while breaking up countless opposing attacks. At 23, Kitchen has emerged as one of the top defensive midfielders in a league that produces many of them, and in February he earned his first national team cap.

If Kitchen can keep Wright-Phillips, Felipe Martins, and Sacha Kljestan in check, United’s chances improve greatly.  

THE X-FACTOR

After scoring just five goals in 44 games with Toronto, Luis Silva has tallied 15 times in 41 games in a United shirt. The former UC-Santa Barbara star played so well before a late hamstring injury ended his 2014 season that his name was being bandied about for a U.S. national team summons.

Silva missed the final two regular seasons games last year, both of United’s playoff games, and the first three games this season. Not surprisingly, United’s attack wasn’t the same without him—averaging just a goal a game and being shut out three times.

Finally healthy, the 26-year-old came off the bench last week against Orlando City and scored the decisive goal on a wonderfully taken free kick. Silva’s creativity and nose for the goal make a lunch pail and hardhat United team much more dangerous and dynamic, and if he gets a chance against New York he could be the difference maker. 

PREDICTION

It’s tough to beat a good team twice early in the season. United isn’t playing great but it is finding ways to win. That should continue against Red Bull, 1-0, of course.

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