The New England Revolution will take their midterm examination at a hostile home in Ohio the place making the grade is a problematic endeavor.
The surging Revolution (10-3-6), winners of three straight and unbeaten within the final six, will have interaction Eastern Conference-leading FC Cincinnati (13-2-4) on Saturday night time (7:30) at TQL Stadium. The Revolution simply swept a three-game homestand the place they outscored their opponents 8-3 and took over second place within the convention.
“It should be a good game, they have been the best team in the conference to date,” mentioned Revolution head coach and sporting director Bruce Arena. “They have a extremely good group of gamers and an distinctive one in (Luciano) Acosta.
“Just a good overall team, a solid team. They work really hard for each other and they have a great stadium with a capacity crowd every game. They are 10-0 at home this season so it is going to be a challenge.”
The Revolution and FC Cincinnati scuffled to a 1-1 draw of their first assembly on April 29 at Gillette Stadium. The recreation was memorable for conflicting causes and ended with the groups tied for first place within the East with 21 factors.
The Revolution suffered an enormous setback when dynamic younger striker Dylan Borrero was misplaced for the season with a torn ACL. The Revolution secured the attract stoppage time when Emmanuel Boateng scored on an excellent crossing move from Brandon Bye for his first of the season. The Revolution stay unbeaten at house with a 7-0-3 mark.
“I think we are doing good (but) I think we have to do a better job with our passes,” mentioned midfielder Latif Blessing, an MLS veteran from Ghana in his first season in New England.
“We are going to play against a good team. I think we’ve got to do a better job and keep marking and keep doing the right things. I think we are playing good and I think you can see all the guy’s mentality is good. I think we can get points on Saturday.”
The Revolution and FC Cincinnati are statistically comparable after 19 video games regardless of being separated by seven factors within the standings. FC Cincinnati enjoys 33-30 edge in objectives scored and in objectives allowed with 19 to 23 by the Revolution.
The Revolution allowed 10 of these 23 objectives in three video games whereas keeper Djordje Petrovic, who was just lately named to the MLS All-Star Team, has six clear sheets and ranks second in MLS with 75 saves. In the primary assembly, Petrovic stoned Acosta on a penalty kick within the first half. Acosta leads FC Cincinnati with 9 objectives.
Both groups might be lacking key gamers that have been known as as much as compete with the U.S. National Team within the Concacaf Gold Cup match. The Revolution are with out left again DeJuan Jones, whereas Cincy is lacking Matt Miazga and Brandon Vazquez.
“In the first game we played this season we tied 1-1 and I thought we had some chances,” mentioned Petrovic. “I can say that the game against Cincinnati will be demanding. This game will be very demanding in how to approach this so we can get three points.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com