TUCSON, Ariz. – Wednesday night’s Desert Diamond Cup meeting between the New England Revolution and Houston Dynamo is technically a preview of the March 6 regular-season opener, as the two sides will meet again just 11 days later at BBVA Compass Stadium to kick off the 2016 campaign.
In reality, however, Wednesday night’s preseason match at Kino North Stadium will be a “preview” in name only, as both sides are likely to mix and match lineups in the midweek showdown.
Recent history tells us this is the case. New England encountered an identical situation last year, facing off against Seattle Sounders FC in the Desert Diamond Cup just 11 days before visiting CenturyLink Field in the regular season. While the Revs actually started eight players in both the preseason meeting and the season opener, Seattle started entirely different lineups in both matches.
Jay Heaps’ method may also dictate the kind of lineup we see from the Revolution on Wednesday night. In years past, Heaps has opted to play most of his starting group between 75-90 minutes in the final preseason game on Saturday, meaning many starters see limited minutes in the Wednesday game.
In fact, New England’s starting lineup in their third Desert Diamond Cup game in 2014 was an entirely different 11 than the group that started in Houston a little more than one week later.
Regardless of what the lineups look like on Wednesday night, it’ll be another good test for the Revs as they inch ever closer to that season opener. Kickoff against the Dynamo is set for 7:30 p.m. ET and we’ll have a live stream available for you here on revolutionsoccer.net.
