MLS Regular Season | Match #7
New England Revolution vs. New York Red Bulls
Saturday, May 22 | 8 p.m. ET
Gillette Stadium | Foxborough, Mass.
Watch: TV38, myRITV
Listen: 98.5 The Sports Hub HD2 (English), WBIX 1260 Nossa Radio (Portuguese)
Revolution Kickoff (7:30 p.m. ET)
- Pregame coverage on TV38
Revolution Pregame Live (6 p.m. ET)
- Facebook, YouTube, revolutionsoccer.net
CURRENT FORM
New England Revolution
1st in Eastern Conference (3-1-2, 11 pts.)
Last Result | 1-0 win vs. Columbus Crew
Sunday night’s dramatic 1-0 win over the Columbus Crew pushed the Revs back into first place in the Eastern Conference, while it also improved their home record to 3-0-0 for the first time since 2005. Dating back to last year the Revs have now won five straight at Gillette Stadium, as they’ve made Foxborough a fortress once again.
Adam Buksa came off the bench to bag the winner against Columbus, marking the second straight game the Revs got a goal-scoring contribution from a substitute, as Teal Bunbury did the same in the Revolution’s 1-1 draw with the Philadelphia Union last Wednesday at Subaru Park.
New York Red Bulls
9th in Eastern Conference (2-3-0, 6 pts.)
Last Result | 1-0 loss at Philadelphia Union
Back-to-back home wins over Chicago Fire FC and Toronto FC in early May gave new head coach Gerhard Struber his first points with the Red Bulls, but that momentum was slowed a bit this past weekend as RBNY suffered a 1-0 loss to the Union at Subaru Park.
Although the Red Bulls have lost three of their first five games – including both on the road – those three losses have all been by a single goal as they’ve pushed every opponent to the final whistle.
KEY PLAYERS
Revolution midfielder Matt Polster
Matt Polster ranks fourth amongst Revolution field players in minutes played through six games, and despite starting alongside a trio of central midfield partners – Maciel, Wilfrid Kaptoum, and Tommy McNamara – he’s been one of the club’s most consistent performers.
On Saturday night Polster could play a particularly important role against the high-pressing Red Bulls, as the Revs will need to be clean playing out of the back to avoid costly giveaways. If the Revs can break those lines through Polster – or whoever is in central midfield – they could exploit RBNY in the other direction.
Red Bulls midfielder Caden Clark
Caden Clark won’t turn 18 years old until next week, but the Homegrown midfielder has already established himself as a budding star at the professional level. He burst onto the scene last year with goals in his first two MLS appearances, then scored again in the playoffs against eventual MLS Cup champion Columbus.
Clark has been just as influential in 2021, leading the Red Bulls with three goals and one assist through five games as the teenager has been a consistent threat coming out of midfield.
STATUS REPORT
Revolution
Luis Caicedo remains the only player on the Revolution’s availability report as he continues to work his way back from a lower body injury, but head coach Bruce Arena mentioned on Thursday that left back Christian Mafla is also not expected to feature this weekend as he works towards full fitness following his return from injury.
Red Bulls
New York was dealt a major blow last weekend as 2018 MLS Defender of the Year and U.S. National Team center back Aaron Long was lost for the season with a ruptured Achilles’ tendon. The 28-year-old underwent successful surgery on Monday, two days after suffering the injury in Philadelphia.
Youba Diarra, Amro Tarek, and Florian Valot will also miss Saturday’s match through injury, while Dru Yearwood will be suspended after being sent off in the Red Bulls’ loss to the Union. Andrew Gutman, who was one goal in four starts this season, is listed as questionable.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
New England Revolution head coach Bruce Arena
“We are beginning to see (Adam Buksa) getting a little bit sharper in terms of his tactical responsibilities on the field, and the goal he scored the other day was one of them. We need to get him to play a little bit quicker, be a better player with his back to the goal, and then doing a good job in how he attacks the box with his different runs. We are seeing over the last couple of weeks, he’s improved, and that’s a good sign. He came in here pretty much as a raw product and I think his background in the league he played in and the coaching he has received previously didn’t have him quite up to speed. We knew that the transition would take some time, and now we’re seeing the progress and the hard work that he’s put in.”
New England Revolution center back Andrew Farrell
“I think the mentality has always been that we want to be one of the better teams in the East. I think this year is really open. Every week can change on who’s going to be in first place. I think it’s important to get the points that we’ve had to this point, but there’s 34 games this year. We’ve only played, I think what, six? So, it’s still something that we’re trying to improve on week in and week out. Another test against a good Red Bull team, a team that press high this weekend. It feels great to be where we are, but we know that it’s a long season and there’s a long way to go, but up to this point it’s good to collect the points that we have."
