MLS Regular Season | Match #6
New England Revolution vs. Columbus SC
Sunday, May 16 | 6 p.m. ET
Gillette Stadium | Foxborough, Mass.
Watch: ESPN2, ESPN Deportes
Listen: 98.5 The Sports Hub and SiriusXM FC 157 (English), WBIX 1260 Nossa Radio (Portuguese)
Revolution Pregame Live (3:30 p.m. ET)
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CURRENT FORM
New England Revolution
2nd in Eastern Conference (2-1-2, 8 pts.)
Last Result | 1-1 draw at Philadelphia Union
Teal Bunbury came off the bench to give the Revs an 85th-minute lead on Wednesday night in Philadelphia, but Kacper Przybylko equalized three minutes later as the Revs and Union shared the points in a 1-1 draw at Subaru Park. There was some frustration that Przybylko’s goal was allowed to stand as he appeared to elbow Revolution goalkeeper Matt Turner in the face as they challenged for a cross, but nevertheless the Revs were pleased with their effort as they bounced back following last weekend’s loss in Nashville.
On the back of a positive performance midweek, the Revs will now close out their first three-game week of the season as they host Columbus SC on Sunday evening. It’s a rematch of last year’s Eastern Conference Final, which Columbus won, 1-0, en route to lifting the second MLS Cup trophy in club history.
Columbus SC
8th in Eastern Conference (1-1-2, 5 pts.)
Last Result | 2-0 loss at Toronto FC
It’s been a busy week for the defending MLS Cup champions, who rebranded from Columbus Crew SC to Columbus SC with an announcement on Monday, although the “Crew” moniker remains as an unofficial nickname.
Just two days later Columbus traveled to Orlando for a meeting with Florida-based Toronto FC, dropping a 2-0 result to suffer their first loss of the regular season after a 1-0-2 start. The league’s second-best defensive side in 2020 (0.91 GAA), Columbus have continued in a similar vein to start this season, already keeping a pair of clean sheets while conceding just three goals through their first four games.
KEY PLAYERS
Revolution center back Andrew Farrell
One of just two Revolution field players to have played every minute through five games – along with Carles Gil – veteran center back Andrew Farrell has become the unquestioned leader on New England’s backline. As the 29-year-old approaches the club’s all-time records for games played, games started, and minutes played, Farrell has been a mentor to young center backs Henry Kessler and Jon Bell.
Farrell could be tasked with helping to track Columbus forward Gyasi Zardes on Sunday. The former LA Galaxy man is still searching for his first goal of 2021 but has registered double-digit goals in each of the last three seasons, including 14 goals in 25 appearances last season as part of Columbus’ title-winning side.
Columbus midfielder Lucas Zelarayán
Although it was Columbus’ defense that set the stage for last year’s title – keeping three straight clean sheets in the Eastern Conference Semifinal, Eastern Conference Final, and MLS Cup – much of the credit must also go to playmaking midfielder Lucas Zelarayán. The 28-year-old Argentine was magic in the postseason, particularly MLS Cup, registering two goals and one assist in Columbus’ 3-0 win over Seattle Sounders FC.
This year Zelarayán is the only Crew field player to have started each of the first four matches, and he once again showed just how lethal he can be with a stunning free kick goal in a 3-1 win over D.C. United two weeks ago.
STATUS REPORT
Revolution
New England enter Sunday’s showdown largely healthy with only Luis Caicedo (out) and Collin Verfurth (questionable) listed on the availability report, although Bruce Arena also mentioned on Friday that left back Christian Mafla only recently returned to full training and is not expected to feature against Columbus.
The big question is how much Arena will rotate the lineup at the end of a busy week, which has already seen the Revs play a pair of road games in Nashville and Philadelphia in the past nine days.
“I think you can expect to see some changes again this weekend to keep the legs fresh and keep the intensity high,” said Turner.
Columbus
Kevin Molino was one of the bigger free agent signings this past offseason as the former Minnesota United attacker joined up with the defending champs after registering 13 goals in 2020, but he has yet to feature for Columbus as he’s been sidelined by a hamstring injury.
Aidan Morris, who burst onto the scene with a solid performance in last year’s MLS Cup, is expected to miss the entire season after tearing his ACL in CCL play, while Marlon Hairston, Perry Kitchen, and Milton Valenzuela are all unavailable this weekend, as well.
Josh Williams and Pedro Santos are both listed as questionable, but Columbus head coach Caleb Porter did say on Saturday that Liam Fraser could be in line to debut on Sunday after arriving on loan from Toronto FC.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
New England Revolution head coach Bruce Arena
“We’re looking forward to the game. Obviously, the defending MLS Cup champions are coming into Foxborough in Gillette Stadium, so it's obviously going to be a challenging game. They are off to a little bit of a slow start for them in the league, but we know they are a good team. They've had a lot of preparation for the season with the [Concacaf] Champions League games, so they'll be a team that's going to come into Foxborough and be a handful. Our team continues to move forward. I think the Philadelphia game, we played a good game. We certainly have a lot of areas where we can improve and that'll be the challenge for the next game.”
New England Revolution forward Gustavo Bou
“We feel good. I think we are in a good place. We have the chance to play against a good opponent that we saw last year in the conference final. They beat us by one goal, but the positives are that this is a new game and we’re the home team. It will be important for us to be focused and play the game we want to play in order to win and continue improving. We want to try and win every game, but also continue improving in every game. We know we have to do everything we can to take three points from our home games. Last year, we didn’t do that. We didn’t play well at home and that forced us to win games on the road. I think things have changed. We’ve won our first few games at home. We’re still looking for the first win on the road., but the season just started and hopefully we can grab three points this weekend.”
