MLS Regular Season | Match #8
New England Revolution vs. New York Red Bulls
Saturday, August 29 | 8 p.m. ET
Gillette Stadium | Foxborough, Mass.
Watch: FS1
Listen: 98.5 The Sports Hub (English), 1260 AM Nossa Radio USA (Portuguese)
Revolution Pregame Live presented by Dan O’Brien Automotive Group (7:15 p.m.)
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CURRENT FORM
New England Revolution
6th in Eastern Conference (2-1-4, 10 pts.)
Last Result | 2-1 win at D.C. United
Gustavo Bou and Teal Bunbury led the Revolution’s offensive breakthrough as both capitalized on corner kicks 12 minutes apart in Tuesday night’s 2-1 road win over D.C. United. New England held on for the full three points despite playing the final seven minutes of regulation and 10 minutes of stoppage time down man after Scott Caldwell was sent off via Video Review.
The win stretched the Revs’ league unbeaten run to six games (2-0-4) as their only loss remains the season opener at Montreal on February 29, while they’ve now conceded just five goals on the year, second-fewest in the Eastern Conference.
New York Red Bulls
5th in Eastern Conference (3-3-1, 10 pts.)
Last Result | 1-0 loss at Philadelphia Union
The Red Bulls got off to a flying start in 2020 – going 2-0-1 in their first three games – but they’ve since sputtered a bit, going 1-3-0 in their last four matches while scoring just one goal in the process. Chris Armas’ side was also on the road Tuesday night, falling 1-0 to the Philadelphia Union at Subaru Park.
Still, RBNY sit tied with the Revs on 10 points in the Eastern Conference standings.
KEY PLAYERS
Teal Bunbury
After appearing off the bench three times at the MLS is Back Tournament, veteran winger Teal Bunbury has worked his way back into the Revolution’s starting XI since resuming regular-season play, scoring the eventual game winner on Tuesday night at Audi Field with just the fourth headed goal of his 11-year career.
Bunbury has had a fair amount of success against the Red Bulls in the past, including a dramatic brace in last year’s 3-2 win in the Fourth Round of the U.S. Open Cup. And, of course, there’s also the time he did this.
Kyle Duncan
There’s been something of a changing of the guard within the Red Bulls in recent years – longtime stalwarts like Bradley Wright-Phillips, Luis Robles, and Kemar Lawrence departed this past offseason – and younger players like right back Kyle Duncan have stepped into the spotlight.
Duncan is the only Red Bulls player to play every minute of their first seven games, and he leads the team in both goals (2) and assists (2) from his position on the backline. On Saturday night the Revs will aim to be on the front foot and pin back the visitors, limiting Duncan’s opportunities to get forward.
STATUS REPORT
Revolution
The wait is over for Kekuta Manneh and Tommy McNamara, who will both be available for Saturday night’s meeting with the Red Bulls. The duo was acquired by the Revolution last Monday, August 17, but both were required to complete a 10-day quarantine period before joining their new teammates on the training ground, which they did for the first time on Wednesday.
Antonio Delamea looks likely to be available on Saturday night, as well, having missed the last two games while dealing with a minor injury.
Bruce Arena, meanwhile, will serve the third and final game of his suspension, meaning assistant coach Richie Williams will assume head coaching duties for a third straight game. Scott Caldwell will also be unavailable because of suspension, having been sent off in Tuesday night’s win over D.C. United.
Red Bulls
New York’s official injury report lists the Red Bulls with a clean bill of health ahead of Saturday night’s game, with no players injured or suspended.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
New England Revolution head coach Bruce Arena
“Well, we don’t know where (Kekuta Manneh and Tommy McNamara) are in terms of fitness because they haven’t played a game. Practice is one thing. For soccer players, games are different. They’ve been out of action since – if I’m not mistaken – at some point in Orlando. It’s going to take them a little bit more time to position themselves, to use the term ‘match fit.’ We’ll see. Obviously, they’re not expected to be playing a whole lot of minutes. We haven’t finalized our game day roster yet. Certainly they’re under strong consideration.”
New England Revolution goalkeeper Matt Turner
“I think it’s one game at a time. These games are going to come with unique circumstances. We had a lot of guys on the field (on Tuesday night) that went through a similar, not exactly the same situation with the long lightning delays and cancelled travel. We’ve gone through a lot over the past two seasons so we rely on our experience and it was a huge three points. We’ve been really needing to put the ball in the net. And I’ve said all along, if we can keep it one or zero goals against it will give us the best chance to maximize our points. We were able to put two away (against D.C.) and that was huge.”
