Within touching distance of a place in the Leagues Cup knockout stages, New England Revolution entertain the challenge of Nashville SC at the Gillette Stadium on Tuesday.
Nashville, on the other hand, make the trip knowing that only a victory would keep their already slim chances of making it through to the round of 32 alive.
Match preview
New England Revolution raised the curtain on their Leagues Cup journey with a much-needed 1-0 victory at the expense of Liga MX outfit Mazatlan FC on Monday.
A keenly-contested affair in Foxborough looked set to be heading for penalties before Jack Panayotou broke the deadlock 20 minutes from time to drag Caleb Porter's men over the line.
That snapped an underwhelming run of four games without a victory, three of which ended in defeat by a combined score of 10-2, for the Revs since they narrowly beat Atlanta United 2-1 on July 4.
The win over Mazatlan also saw New England Revolution record a first clean sheet in nine matches across all competitions, providing a temporary respite at the back for the team with the fifth-most goals conceded in the MLS this term.
While Tuesday's hosts only need one point from their final group-stage involvement, it is highly unlikely they take their foot off the gas with back to back home victories on the cards.
Nashville's downward spiral showed no sign of coming to an end anytime soon following Thursday's disappointing 2-0 defeat against Mazatlan at Geodis Park in Tennessee.
Despite boasting two-thirds of the ball possession, a lacklustre second-half display saw Brian Joseph Callaghan's men concede a quickfire double from 19-year-old Ramiro Arciga to come away empty-handed.
The Coyotes have now been beaten in seven games on the bounce since recording consecutive wins against Toronto and New York City FC three days apart in June.
To make matters worse, Nashville have been poor at both ends of the pitch in that time, mustering only three goals - including none in the last three matches - while also conceding a whopping 18.
Amid a disappointing league campaign to date, Wednesday's visitors will now set out to keep their quest for continental cup glory alive with what would be a rare triumph on enemy territory, having lost each of their last four away games.
Team News
Tomas Chancalay and Nacho Gil miss out for New England Revolution here through knee injuries, while Dylan Borrero continues to nurse a hip problem which has ruled him out since last month.
The hosts will also be without the services of Noel Buck and Carles Gil through quad and leg injuries respectively, but Emmanuel Boateng is fit for selection once again after returning to action from a torn hamstring last time out.
Giacomo Vrioni rounds off the list of guaranteed absentees for his side due to a calf injury as the forward - on a run of six goals in his last six games - prepares to sit out a fourth consecutive outing.
Long-term absentee Randall Leal (hip) and Julian Gaines (ankle) are still a considerable way off being available for Nashville, but Lukas MacNaughton (ankle) is further ahead in his recovery.
Tyler Boyd is still nursing a knee problem and will not play any part in this one alongside Walker Zimmerman, who was recently knocked out of the Olympic Games with the United States.
New England Revolution possible starting lineup:
Ivacic; Bye, Kessler, Arreaga, Miller; Polster, Kaye; Bajraktarevic, Harkes, McNamara; Wood
Nashville SC possible starting lineup:
Willis; Moore, Bauer, Maher, Lovitz; Yazbek, Godoy; Muyl, Mukhtar, Shaffelburg; Surridge
We say: New England Revolution 3-1 Nashville SC
Nashville are faced with a tough assignment of winning at a ground where they have failed to score on their previous three visits.
While can see the away side finally registering against their hosts, we are tipping New England Revolution to cruise to a routine win at the end of the 90 minutes.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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