MLS Regular Season | Match #11
New England Revolution at Philadelphia Union
Saturday, September 12 | 7:30 p.m. ET
Subaru Park | Chester, Pa.
Watch: NBC Sports Boston
Listen: 98.5 The Sports Hub (English), 1260 AM Nossa Radio USA (Portuguese)
Revolution Pregame Live presented by Dan O’Brien Automotive Group (6:45 p.m.)
- Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, revolutionsoccer.net
CURRENT FORM
New England Revolution
5th in Eastern Conference (3-2-5, 14 pts.)
Last Result | 2-1 win at Chicago Fire FC
Teal Bunbury’s brace led the Revs to an important 2-1 win over Chicago Fire FC last Sunday night, lifting them from ninth all the way to fifth in the crowded Eastern Conference, now just four points back of third-place Philadelphia. Bunbury leads the Revs with four goals on the season, including three in the last four games.
New England are 2-1-2 in five games since returning to league action in mid-August, including wins in both of their road trips to Chicago and D.C.
Philadelphia Union
3rd in Eastern Conference (5-2-3, 18 pts.)
Last Result | 3-0 win at New York Red Bulls
Philadelphia have been one of the league’s best teams through the first half of the 2020 schedule, going 7-2-3 in all competitions since a season-opening loss at FC Dallas. Most recently the Union claimed a 3-0 win over the Red Bulls this past Sunday night, with goals from Brenden Aaronson, Kacper Przybylko, and Matt Real.
This will be the Union’s third game this year at Subaru Park, where they’ve won their previous two contests against D.C. United and the Red Bulls.
KEY PLAYERS
Revolution goalkeeper Matt Turner
Head coach Bruce Arena has called goalkeeper Matt Turner the Revolution’s “most consistent player” in 2020, as evidenced by his 0.89 goals against average and three shutouts. Turner has conceded just one goal in 180 minutes against the Union this season, and he could need to come up big again on Saturday night as Philly are heating up with seven goals in their last three games.
Union forward Kacper Przybylko
Philly’s imposing, 6-foot-4 forward Kacper Przybylko is currently one of the league’s most in-form strikers, having scored four goals in the Union’s last four games. The 27-year-old target man has been a consistent threat since debuting with the Union last season, scoring at an impressive clip of 20 goals in 36 appearances.
STATUS REPORT
Revolution
Lee Nguyen hasn’t featured for the Revolution in almost three years – his last appearance coming in October 2017 – but the veteran midfielder could make his return on Saturday night after being re-acquired in a trade with Inter Miami CF earlier this week. Nguyen drove from Fort Lauderdale to Foxborough and after a brief quarantine period in New England, is expected to be available for selection in Philadelphia.
Union
Veteran center back Aurelien Collin has yet to make an appearance in 2020, and he remains sidelined having totaled just 22 appearances since the start of 2017. Meanwhile, five potential contributors – Kai Wagner, Sergio Santos, Warren Creavalle, Ilsinho, and Jack Elliott – are all listed as questionable.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
New England Revolution head coach Bruce Arena
“Adam [Buksa] is 23 years old. We expected that there’d be a transition period for him, and there is. It’s like any other player of his background. He’s still not a player with a whole lot of experience at high levels. It’s taking time. He’s adapting to the league, he’s adapting to our tactical instructions, and we are fully confident that over the next couple of years he’s going to turn out to be a very good number nine.”
New England Revolution center back Henry Kessler
“For sure expecting a battle. Both games [against Philadelphia] have been really hard-fought, really close games. I think in the first game we were maybe unfortunate to lose 1-0. But the second game we were really locked in defensively and I thought we had a few chances. Hopefully we’ll create more, but it’s a team we’ll be well-prepared for. We’re now very familiar with them, having played them twice in recent succession. I think we’ll certainly be prepared and hopefully we can execute.”
Philadelphia Union head coach Jim Curtin
“I do see this game against New England – coming off a big result, a big 3-0 win and the complete performance – as a bit of a trap for our guys. So, again, we’re guarding against that … Like I mentioned, it sets up as a real dangerous game against a really good New England team who we’ve had some decent results against recently, so again, we’ll have to be on our ‘A’ game. They have a very good team. They’re coming to our building, but we are warning the players that it’s not a time to feel good about our last performance. We’re going to be missing some bodies, obviously, and we have to have everybody step up and perform well.”
Philadelphia Union midfielder Alejandro Bedoya
“At home I think we know that we’re probably going to have more possession of the ball, so we have to use it in a smarter, better way, be sharper with it in our final third, and then just stay compact – be wary of their transitions and set pieces. But I think as long as we’re sharper with the ball, we get good movement up front, and better in our final third and finish off our chances, we should be fine.”
