FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – An early-season rematch is on tap for Saturday night at Gillette Stadium, where the New England Revolution will host Columbus Crew SC in a key Eastern Conference showdown.
Just four points separate the sixth-place Revs (5-3-2, 17 pts.) from second-place Crew SC (6-3-3, 21 pts.), who’ll meet for the second time in less than a month after battling to a 2-2 draw in Columbus on April 21.
Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m., with Brad Feldman, Paul Mariner and Naoko Funayama handling the call for NBC Sports Boston, which will televise the match and also stream the action live on NBCSportsBoston.com and their mobile app. That trio will also have the call on 98.5 The Sports Hub HD2, while Portuguese radio listeners can tune into WMVX 1570 AM Nossa Radio USA.
Elizabeth Pehota and Jeff Lemieux will break down the starting lineups and storylines on Revolution Pregame LIVE, streaming on the Revs’ official Facebook page at 7 p.m., while Revolution Postgame Live will begin immediately after the final whistle on NBC Sports Boston.
Saturday night’s match will serve as the Revolution’s annual Salute to Heroes, as the Revs have distributed tickets to local military and first responders as a token of appreciation for keeping America safe on a daily basis.
As part of the festivities, Revolution players will wear their red-and-white secondary kits with special Salute to Heroes themed numbers. Those game-worn jerseys will then be available via online auction after the match, with all proceeds going to benefit USO New England.
For information on a special Salute to Heroes ticket page – which includes an exclusive scarf – click HERE.
Current Form: Revs aim to stay strong at home; Crew SC carrying lengthy shutout streak
New England got back on track last weekend with a thrilling 3-2 win over defending MLS Cup champion Toronto FC, racing out to a 3-0 lead behind a double from Cristian Penilla and Teal Bunbury’s team-leading fifth goal before holding off a late charge from the visitors.
HIGHLIGHTS: Revs strike early and often in bounce-back victory over Toronto
Head coach Brad Friedel helped spark the Revs to that win by making four changes to the starting XI, and as players now battle to either retain their spots or fight their way back into the lineup, competition on the training ground has only intensified.
READ: Friedel says there are “some interesting decisions to make” ahead of Saturday
“The competition amongst ourselves in training has been great, so I think it shows when the lineup did get switched around a bit, everyone was ready to play,” said Scott Caldwell. “Everyone responded really well, and it’s only going to make it better throughout training.”
Columbus, meanwhile, have climbed to second place in the East with a five-game unbeaten run (3-0-2), punctuated by a string of three consecutive shutouts. They’ve conceded a total of just five goals in their last seven games, and the only team to score multiple goals against Crew SC in that stretch was the Revs, in that 2-2 draw four weeks ago.
“They have two really good fullbacks in (Harrison) Afful and (Milton) Valenzuela that play almost as wingers, so it’s a unique challenge,” said Chris Tierney, who made his first start of the season last weekend. “But they take risks in doing that. We have plenty of guys who can really hurt you on the counter, as we’ve shown all year.
“If that’s the game that they want to play, I don’t think we mind having guys with the pace of Teal and Luis (Caicedo) and Penilla on the counterattack. Those are guys they’re going to have to deal with.”
Past Meetings: Friedel expects “another exciting game” after wild draw last month
Last month’s 2-2 draw at MAPFRE Stadium felt at times like it could’ve finished 4-4, as both teams committed numbers forward and created several clear-cut scoring chances.
HIGHLIGHTS: Revs battle back twice to claim a valuable road point in Columbus
While both sides will have learned something about their opponent from that encounter, Friedel said he’s not expecting either side to drastically change their game plan on Saturday night, and that could mean another wide open contest at Gillette Stadium.
“I don’t think they’re going to change too much, and I don’t think we’re going to change a lot, so I think it’ll probably be another exciting game if truth be told,” Friedel said. “I’m sure they’re going to send their fullbacks high, they’re going to try to create overloads, and they’re going to try to create a lot of chances. We’re going to do the same on the opposite side of the field.
“I’m sure it’s going to be a very, very competitive game – two teams that are going to go out and try to win the game, not try to get a draw. Hopefully the fans come out and they’ll get entertainment, but with that said, we hope that is with us with the three points.”
Injury Report: Fagundez suspended; Agudelo (hamstring) on the road to recovery
Diego Fagundez has started the first 10 games of the 2018 season, but he’ll be unavailable on Saturday night as he’ll serve a one-game suspension for yellow-card accumulation. Fagundez ranks third in MLS in chances created (34), according to Opta, leaving Friedel with a gap to fill at attacking midfield.
That gap seems unlikely to be filled by Juan Agudelo, who continues to recover from the hamstring injury that kept him out of last weekend’s win over Toronto, although Friedel remains optimistic that the 25-year-old forward will be back in the mix in the near future.
“Juan’s good. He’s coming along nicely, and hasn’t had any setbacks – knock on wood – to his recovery,” Friedel said earlier in the week. “I don’t know if he’ll be ready for this weekend, but if he’s not ready for this weekend, then hopefully next.”
Final Thoughts: Revs understand importance of upcoming home matches
“Going into the summer, we want to be as strong as possible,” Jalil Anibaba said of the Revs’ current stretch of critical home games. “My experience in this league has taught me that summer form is one of the most crucial times of the year. If you can hammer out good results at home, then you pull some things off on the road, you’re normally in good shape heading into the crucial moments of the fall.
“We’re looking forward to the summer and obviously our home games are very important to us.”
