MLS Regular Season | Match #5
New England Revolution vs. Chicago Fire FC
Saturday, March 23 | 2 p.m. ET
Gillette Stadium | Foxborough, Mass.
Watch: _MLS Season Pass_ on Apple TV
English Talent: Chris Wittyngham (play-by-play), Lori Lindsey (analyst)
Spanish Talent: Raul Guzman (play-by-play), Carlos Ruiz (analyst)
Listen: 98.5 The Sports Hub HD2 (English), 1260 AM Nossa Radio (Portuguese)
English Talent: Brad Feldman (play-by-play), Rachel Wood (analyst)
CURRENT FORM
New England Revolution
15th in Eastern Conference (0-4-0, 0 pts.)
Last Result | 2-1 loss vs. FC Cincinnati
New England’s strong run of form in Concacaf Champions Cup continued last week with an impressive 1-1 road draw at LD Alajuelense, a result that completed a 5-1 aggregate win over the Costa Rican side and booked a trip to the Concacaf Champions Cup quarterfinals. That’s where the Revs will run up against LIGA MX powerhouse Club América in a two-legged series that will include a trip to the famed Estadio Azteca, where they’ll visit one of the most popular and successful clubs in North American soccer history.
Unfortunately, the Revs were once again frustrated upon their return to league play last Sunday, suffering a 2-1 home loss to FC Cincinnati despite Giacomo Vrioni finding the back of the net for a second straight game in all competitions. Having dropped four straight games to start the league season, New England will be looking to get on track Saturday with the benefit of having had a full week of training for the first time since preseason.
Chicago Fire FC
10th in Eastern Conference (1-2-1, 4 pts.)
Last Result | 4-3 win vs. CF Montréal
One of the most dramatic comebacks in MLS history handed the Fire their first win of the season last weekend at Soldier Field. Trailing 3-1 into the late stages, Chicago scored goals in the 84th, 95th, and 99th minutes to claim a remarkable 4-3 win over 10-man CF Montréal. Adding to the drama, the game-winning goal was a windswept effort from Kellyn Acosta as he launched the ball forward with a last-ditch attempt from his own half.
With Frank Klopas at the helm in his second stint as head coach, Chicago is aiming for a return to the playoffs for the first time since 2017 – which stands as the Fire’s only postseason appearances in the last 11 years.
KEY PLAYERS
Revolution goalkeeper Earl Edwards Jr.
Henrich Ravas has started each of the Revolution’s first eight games in all competitions, but there will be a change at the goalkeeper position on Saturday with the 26-year-old away on international duty with Slovakia. Head coach Caleb Porter has two options in veteran Earl Edwards Jr. and third-year pro Jacob Jackson.
Edwards Jr. is expected to step into that role having served as backup to Ravas this season, and the 32-year-old can lean on plenty of experience. Through stints with Orlando City SC, D.C. United, and the Revs, Edwards Jr. has made 21 MLS appearances, including a career high 11 last year between the regular season and playoffs.
Fire midfielder Kellyn Acosta
One of Chicago’s biggest offseason acquisitions, veteran midfielder Kellyn Acosta arrived in the Windy City via free agency in mid-February after two seasons and one MLS Cup title with Los Angeles FC. Acosta, still just 28 years old despite more than a decade of MLS experience, has more than 250 appearances at the pro level.
The one-time FC Dallas Homegrown has started each of the Fire’s last three games, scoring a dramatic, wind-assisted game winner from inside his own half in the 99th minute of last weekend’s 4-3 victory over CF Montréal.
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES
Revolution
The hosts will be without Henrich Ravas (Slovakia), Esmir Bajraktarević (U.S. Olympic Team), and Noel Buck (England Under-19s) for this weekend’s meeting with Chicago. All three players have been key figures for the Revs through the season’s early going, with both Ravas and Bajraktarević appearing in each of the first eight games in all competitions – Ravas contributing three clean sheets and Bajraktarević notching one goal and two assists – while Buck has appeared seven times.
Fire
Xherdan Shaqiri, who has one goal this season on the back of a five-goal, five-assist 2023 campaign, won’t make the trip to Foxborough as the 32-year-old, four-time FIFA World Cup veteran will be on international duty with Switzerland. Sergio Oregel, who has played just 11 minutes in one appearance with the Fire in 2022, is also away with the United States Under-19s.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
Revolution head coach Caleb Porter on having a full week of training:
“It’s like heaven. It's like heaven to have a full week to prep and to build habits. It’s been very good, the work over the last couple days. It’s our third day of training this week, and the guys are improving.”
Porter on areas of improvement ahead of Saturday’s game:
“Everything. There's a lot of good, but also I feel like there's a lot in every phase that we can work on. The bottom line is, in terms of results, in terms of goals scored, in terms of goals conceded, all those metrics, we are underperforming. I do think that there's some good in all those phases that gives me a lot of encouragement that we are close to scoring a lot of goals, we are close to not conceding goals, and we are close to winning. But for me, this week, to have four full days of training, that's going to mean everything for us, just to kind of clean everything up. We worked yesterday specifically on winning duels. I would call it a mentality day, and the guys got after it. We had three players that had blood coming from somewhere, whether it's a nose or a little nick the eyebrow or whatever. So, that was a good day, because they got after it. I think they needed to fight a little bit and get after it and get bloodied a little bit and just work on the mentality and winning duels. Then today, we worked tactically the whole day, an hour and a half just purely on tactics on both sides of the ball.”
Porter on Giacomo Vrioni scoring in consecutive games:
“Confidence is everything. Getting that first goal, things seem to now – for players when that happens – slow down in a good way. So hopefully, we can keep building on it. I think it's really important. He [Vrioni] has put two games now together with a goal and we need a third.”
Revolution forward Giacomo Vrioni on gaining confidence from recent form:
“It's important, of course, but at this moment, I’m not thinking about the individual results but about the team. We are coming from zero points at the end of four [regular season] games, but we are positive. Like I said before, we trust [Porter] and we know that we are a really good team. We are really, really ready to play on Saturday against Chicago in front of our fans.”
Vrioni on having the support of Caleb Porter and the coaching staff:
“It's good, but I think also the other coaches, they were trusting me, but it's good right now. When you can play and when you can have more minutes, you can create chemistry with the players, with the team, and that's very important in soccer, so that's good. And I'm happy to have Caleb because he trusts me a lot, and I like his mentality because he has a winning mentality. I'm happy to be with him.”
