MLS Regular Season | Match #19
New England Revolution vs. Toronto FC
Saturday, June 24 | 7:30 p.m. ET
Gillette Stadium | Foxborough, Mass.
Watch: FREE on Apple TV
- English Talent: Jake Zivin (Play-by-Play), Taylor Twellman (Analyst)
- Spanish Talent: Pablo Ramirez (Play-by-Play), Carlos Ruiz (Analyst)
- French Talent: Matt Cullen (Play-by-Play), Sebastien Le Toux (Analyst)
Listen: 98.5 The Sports Hub (English); 1260 AM Nossa Radio (Portuguese)
- Radio Talent: Brad Feldman (Play-by-Play), Charlie Davies (Analyst)
o Call also available to sync on MLS Season Pass
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CURRENT FORM
New England Revolution
3rd in Eastern Conference (9-3-6, 33 pts.)
Last Result | 3-1 win vs. Orlando City SC
Three second-half goals saw New England equal a club record, extending their unbeaten run at Gillette Stadium to 6-0-3 in 2023 to match their best-ever home start to a season. Strikes from Emmanuel Boateng and Gustavo Bou handed Bruce Arena’s side a two-goal cushion, before Carles Gil made sure of the points late on after Duncan McGuire had halved the deficit. The triumph also continued the Revs’ five-game unbeaten streak, and impressive run of scoring three or more goals in more than half of their home matches this term. Just two points shy of second-place Nashville SC in the Eastern Conference and with a game in hand, the Revolution will look to make it three wins in a row, hungry to break the club record for the longest home undefeated streak to open a season, when Toronto FC visit this weekend.
Toronto FC
14th in Eastern Conference (3-6-10, 19 pts.)
Last Result | 3-0 loss at FC Cincinnati
The Reds head into Saturday’s clash on the back of a tough defeat at Supporters’ Shield leaders FC Cincinnati on Wednesday night. Santiago Arias, Luciano Acosta and Dominique Badji were on target at TQL Stadium, as the Ohio outfit claimed a record-matching 10th straight victory on home soil, becoming the first team since the 2002 San Jose Earthquakes to achieve a 10-0-0 to start a campaign. Toronto have won just once in their last 10 games – a run that started with New England’s 2-0 victory at BMO Field in early May. They are also winless on the road so far this term (0-5-4) but were unbeaten in four prior to Wednesday’s defeat.
HEAD-TO-HEAD HISTORY
This weekend’s game marks the 39th overall meeting between the two sides with New England winning 15 and drawing 13 of the previous matches. Bruce Arena’s side are unbeaten in the last four encounters (2-0-2) and emerged victorious from May’s road fixture, thanks to goals from Bobby Wood and DeJuan Jones. However, the Revs have not beaten Toronto on home soil in the last four meetings at Gillette Stadium (0-2-2) – last triumphing over the Reds in Foxborough in 2018.
Overall Record vs. Toronto: 15-10-13
Home Record vs. Toronto: 10-4-6
Last meeting at Gillette Stadium: Revs 0, Toronto 0 (July 30, 2022)
Last meeting at BMO Field: Revs 2, Toronto 0 (May 6, 2023)
KEY PLAYERS
Revolution defender Dave Romney
Clocking every minute of league action this season (and the second-most minutes among all MLS outfield players since the start of 2020, including playoffs), Romney has been an integral part of the Revs backline, earning praise from his head coach for his athleticism, leadership and positive influence on younger players. The defender gained an inclusion on the bench in the MLS Team of the Matchday following a solid display against Orlando last time out (tallying a team-high 12 recoveries, six clearances and three tackles), and ranks fifth in the league this season with 88 clearances. With left back DeJuan Jones absent on international duty, Romney’s experience will be crucial in organizing the defense, and he will hope to keep former Nashville SC teammate C.J. Sapong quiet in a bid to record a clean sheet.
Toronto forward Lorenzo Insigne
On the scoresheet in two of his last three games, the Italian forward seems to have found his scoring touch, and has had a hand in each of Toronto’s last four goals. After missing a large part of the season through injury at the start of the 2023 campaign, he opened his account for the term in April, and has crafted four goal involvements in five appearances (two goals, two assists) to climb joint-top of the Reds’ scoring charts for the team, alongside compatriot Federico Bernardeschi, who edges top of the rankings with four assists to Insigne’s two. The pair have registered 20 goals and 11 assists in 53 appearances between them since 2022, and with just 17 goals scored in total in the Eastern Conference so far (the third-lowest return), Toronto will hope Insigne can build upon his recent run, while New England will hope to inflict a second successive shutout upon Bob Bradley’s side.
STATUS REPORT
New England Revolution
Sporting director and head coach Bruce Arena confirmed Christian Makoun is ruled out of Saturday’s game having suffered a right leg injury while on international duty with Venezuela. Arena also explained Djordje Petrović is yet to return from representing Serbia and will be assessed on Friday, so second-year goalkeeper Jacob Jackson could once again be named on the bench, while Damián Rivera is available after representing Costa Rica’s Under-23s. However, DeJuan Jones is away with the United States Men’s National Team squad for the Concacaf Gold Cup.
Ryan Spaulding (who was recalled from his loan spell with the Tampa Bay Rowdies this week) is match fit, and Noel Buck made his return to action against Orlando, alongside Brandon Bye who started the game against the Lions but was replaced at halftime with muscle tightness. Dylan Borrero (ACL), Nacho Gil (right leg), Henry Kessler (hamstring), Maciel (Achilles), and Tommy McNamara (left leg) remain unavailable.
Toronto FC
The Reds will be without goalkeepers Sean Johnson and Tomás Romero, who are also away on international duty at the Gold Cup with the USA and El Salvador, respectively. Greg Ranjitsingh started in goal in midweek against Cincinnati, while Richie Laryea and Jonathan Osorio also featured before returning to international duty with Canada. Michael Bradley, Alonso Coello, Adama Diomande, Hugo Mbongue, Victor Vazquez, and Matt Hedges were all noted as sidelined with lower body issues.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
New England Revolution sporting director and head coach Bruce Arena on whether his side holds an advantage with Toronto playing on Wednesday:
“We’re going to find out on Saturday. That doesn’t necessarily give one team the advantage over the other from what I’ve seen in all my years of doing this. We’ve got to be ready to play. I’m sure Toronto will be prepared to bounce back from their game. Our home form is good. I would trade one of those draws for a win – I think the most important thing is getting maximum points at home, so we’ve fallen short there – but it’s been a positive venue for us up to now.”
New England Revolution defender Dave Romney on defensive solidity despite player absences:
“I thought we've done extremely well outside of a handful of games. I think we've done extremely well at keeping teams to zero or one goals for most games, and our offense has been clicking extremely well. It's nice to know that if we do our job defensively, and only let them score zero or one goal, that our attackers are talented enough to score one, two, or three and give us a win. I think for the number of times we have changed the backline, we've been decent, and it's just another test this weekend to see how we react to losing guys – whether it be to injury, or national team. No games in MLS are easy, and we know we're going to have to take it extremely seriously to get three points.”
