FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Revolution will look to make it five wins in six on Sunday afternoon when they continue their quest for an Audi MLS Cup Playoffs berth on the road against the Chicago Fire.
It’ll be the Revolution’s last road game of the regular season before closing out the campaign at home next weekend against the Montreal Impact. The Revs (10-13-9, 39 pts.) and Fire (6-16-10, 28 pts.) will kick off with the rest of the Eastern Conference at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday at Toyota Park.
Brad Feldman and Paul Mariner will have the call on CSN and 98.5 The Sports Hub HD2, while Portuguese radio listeners can tune into WMVX 1570 AM Nossa Radio USA.
Current Form: Red-hot Revs in the thick of the East playoff race heading into Week 33
Only Seattle Sounders FC (4-0-1, 13 pts.) have accumulated more points than the Revs (4-1-0, 12 pts.) through the last five games, making New England one of the league’s most in-form sides coming down the stretch. Most recently the Revs rolled to a 3-1 win over Sporting Kansas City, with Juan Agudelo and Kei Kamara leading the way with one goal and one assist apiece.
It’s a run that’s kept the Revolution within touching distance in the East, as they enter the weekend three points back of the Philadelphia Union for the sixth and final playoff spot. Now they’ll need to stay red-hot through the final two games – and get a bit of help – to clinch a fourth consecutive postseason berth.
READ: What needs to happen for the Revolution to reach the playoffs?
“We’re really confident,” said Andrew Farrell. “We’re coming off a good result the last time we played and we’re excited for how we’ve been playing … We’ve got to take it one game at a time. Going against a team like Chicago this Sunday should be fun, and should be a good challenge for us.”
Chicago does, indeed, present a unique challenge for the Revolution. Already eliminated from playoff contention and sitting at the bottom of the MLS standings, the Fire are playing out their schedule as spoilers. They already played a part in officially eliminating Columbus Crew SC on Thursday night in a 2-2 draw at Toyota Park.
The Fire have been particularly difficult to beat at home, where they’ve lost just three games this season.
“I was here my first year (in 2012) when we were mathematically out, and we played spoiler in a good amount of games,” said Kelyn Rowe. “They’re fighting for pride and that’s one of the hardest things to play against. We’ve got to go in, play our game, and show that we’re a playoff team.”
Past Meetings: Revs head to Chicago aiming to complete a four-game sweep of the Fire
It’s been 11 years since the Revolution beat an opponent four times in a single season, but that’s what they’ll be looking to do on Sunday afternoon when they visit Toyota Park.
The Revs have already won a trio of meetings with the Fire this season, winning a pair of regular-season games and a U.S. Open Cup semifinal, all at Gillette Stadium. They’ve outscored Chicago 6-1 in the process.
Another victory would mark the first time New England defeated an opponent four times in a year since 2005, when they went 4-2-0 in six meetings with the Fire. They haven’t swept a four-game series since 1999, when they beat the New York/New Jersey MetroStars in all four meetings.
Sunday’s showdown, however, is a bit different than the previous three encounters. Not only is it on the Fire’s home field, but there’s also an entire season’s work at stake.
“I think they’re completely different circumstances,” said head coach Jay Heaps. “The level of the match, the implications for us, and both teams are different than when we played earlier in the summer. So it’s a huge game for both teams, and something that both teams are going to put everything into.”
Injury Report: Goncalves and Koffie return to training as Revs near full health
Jose Goncalves (two games) and Gershon Koffie (three games) have both missed time in recent weeks because of ankle injuries, but the duo returned to training this week and there is hope that both could be available for selection this weekend in Illinois.
READ: Goncalves and Koffie back in training ahead of Week 33 clash with Chicago
If available, it would give Heaps close to a full complement of players as both Juan Agudelo and Je-Vaughn Watson have returned from national team duty, and Rowe has declared himself “fully recovered” after he was hospitalized by an infection in his small intestine three weeks ago.
Final Thoughts: Revs focused on the task at hand as they hit the road one more time
“At this time, every game matters, for all different reasons,” said Heaps. “It’s important that we go out there and control what we can control. [We don’t know] exactly what their lineup will be – they had a game on Thursday night – but we know what we’re going to do when we step on the field on Sunday. We’ll be prepared to play one play at a time and try to get three points.”
