A pair of long-time rival sports cities will clash in Major League Soccer (MLS) action on Saturday as the New England Revolution host New York City FC at Gillette Stadium.
Following their 3-0 defeat to the Philadelphia Union last weekend, the Revs are at the bottom of the Eastern Conference table with seven points, while the Pigeons are on the rise, moving up to third in the East thanks to a 2-1 victory over the New York Red Bulls.
Match preview
Over a quarter of the way through the 2024 domestic campaign, New England are still struggling to find their form, losing six of their last seven matches in all competitions.
Being reduced to 10 men before their match with the Union put the Revs behind the eight-ball last week, leading to their ninth defeat after just 12 domestic fixtures this year, as many losses as they suffered in the 2023 regular season.
In recent outings, Caleb Porter has struggled to get his players to execute a sound defensive game, with New England conceding three or more goals in three of their last four domestic encounters.
To the surprise of many this season, the Revolution have been very indecisive in the attacking third, scoring fewer goals than anyone in the league so far (nine).
Another unusual stat about them in 2024 has been their poor form at home, suffering four defeats in Greater Boston at this stage of the domestic campaign, three more than they had in this competition last year.
If they lose this weekend, it would mark the first time they will have suffered five league defeats at Gillette Stadium in a single regular season since 2019 (five).
From the outhouse to the penthouse may be an accurate description for New York City head coach Nick Cushing, who has suddenly earned a lot of praise for his side's transformation.
The 2024 domestic campaign did not begin well for the ex-Manchester City women's boss, as the Boys in Blue won just one of their opening seven matches in this competition.
They have caught fire in recent weeks, though, riding a three-match MLS winning run, and they have a chance to match their longest domestic winning run in the Cushing era should they emerge victorious on Saturday.
After losing two of their first three regular-season matches by a single goal, the Pigeons seem to have learned how to win close games, with their last four domestic victories being by one goal.
NYCFC began the 2024 MLS season with just three points from their first five fixtures, matching their worst-ever start in club history over that stretch, but they have accumulated 20 more since then, which is seven more than the Pigeons had picked up after 14 league contests last year.
While they pulled off a famous upset in New England during the 2021 MLS Cup playoffs, winning the title later that year, Gillette Stadium has not been kind to New York City in the regular season, with this team winning only one of their last nine away matches against them in this competition (2-0 in 2020).
That last victory against New England was behind closed, while NYCFC have not beaten the Revs away from home in the regular season with fans present since 2016 (1-0).
Team News
The Revs will be without Ryan Spaulding on Saturday following his straight red card early into their match with Philly, Tommy McNamara is questionable due to a sore hamstring and Nacho Gil is dealing with a meniscus injury.
Peyton Miller has an injured foot, and Tomas Chancalay is eligible to return to the New England lineup after missing the previous match with a yellow card suspension.
DeJuan Jones returned from the injured list last week, while Dylan Borrero made his first start of the 2024 regular season after missing a significant amount of time with a torn ACL.
Rio Hope-Gund missed the previous NYCFC clash due to a leg injury, and Maxi Moralez is back on the training ground but may not be ready to return after rupturing his ACL last season.
Talles Magno was once again an unused substitute last weekend, while Strahinja Tanasijevic is eligible to return from his two-match suspension for his antics at the end of their match with Toronto earlier this month.
In their victory over the Red Bulls, Hannes Wolf scored for the second match running before Monsef Bakrar served as the hero, netting the winner less than 10 minutes after coming on for Jovan Mijatovic, his first of 2024.
New England Revolution possible starting lineup:
Ivacic; Lima, Arreaga, Kessler, Jones; Polster, Kaye; Harkes, C. Gil, Borrero; Vrioni
New York City FC possible starting lineup:
Freese; Gray, Martins, Risa, O'Toole; Sands, Parks; Wolf, Rodriguez, Ojeda; Mijatovic
We say: New England Revolution 1-2 New York City FC
Belief can do wonders to a team's fortunes, as evidenced by the NYCFC turnaround this season, and that is something that seems to be sorely missing in New England at the moment.
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