FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Revolution will head south down I-95 this weekend to kick off a two-game road trip against both of Major League Soccer’s New York-based clubs, beginning on Saturday night when they’ll visit the New York Red Bulls.
The Revs (4-4-4, 16 pts.) and Red Bulls (5-6-2, 17 pts.) will get underway at 7:30 p.m. at Red Bull Arena, with Brad Feldman, Paul Mariner and Naoko Funayama handling the call on CSN New England and 98.5 The Sports Hub. Portuguese radio listeners can tune into WMVX 1570 AM Nossa Radio USA.
New England’s traveling support will provide a taste of home at Red Bull Arena, as the club is bussing approximately 1,000 Season Members to the match.
Current Form: Consecutive wins offer Revs a spark to take back on the road
New England picked up their first back-to-back wins of the season the past two weekends, rolling over Real Salt Lake, 4-0, before grinding out a come-from-behind, 2-1 victory over Columbus Crew SC.
Diego Fagundez (three goals, one assist) starred for the Revs in that two-game stretch, although New England received contributions from across the board as they showed an ability to win in multiple different ways.
HIGHLIGHTS: Fagundez shines once again as Revs take down Crew SC in Foxborough
“Both games were very different in how we played and how the performances were,” said head coach Jay Heaps. “Against Salt Lake, I thought it was a really good performance front to back. Columbus was a little different in the sense that we didn’t go out and blow them out of the water, but we fought really hard.”
It’s those types of gritty performances that Heaps believes will benefit the Revolution away from home, as they’ll visit both the Red Bulls and New York City FC in a five-day stretch.
“That’s the kind of performance you need to take and need to have on the road,” Heaps said. “Things aren’t always going to go right. We made some adjustments and we were able to take advantage of the opportunities when they were there.”
The Red Bulls got off to a hot start in 2017 but have stumbled in recent weeks, going 0-3-1 in their last four games, including 0-1-1 at Red Bull Arena. Still, Jesse Marsch’s side is 4-1-2 at home on the campaign and will present a formidable test for the Revs on Saturday night.
“It’s a tough environment, but for most of us, we’ve been there before,” said Lee Nguyen. “We know what it’s going to take to get three points. We know that they’re going to come out with high intensity, high pressure, so we’re going to have to be able to withstand that for the first half.
“Once that happens, we know the game is going to open up and those are the types of games we like.”
Past Meetings: Home-field advantage a major factor in Revs-RBNY series
Home teams have had a distinct advantage in the historical series between the Revs and Red Bulls, as the road team has won just 13 of 68 regular-season meetings dating back to 1996.
While the Revs have won their last three home games against the Red Bulls, they’ve lost on their last three regular-season visits to Red Bull Arena. In fact, the Revs have never won a regular-season contest in Harrison, New Jersey, going 0-7-1 in eight visits since 2010.
The Revs did, however, win at Red Bull Arena when it mattered most, securing a 2-1 victory in the first leg of the Eastern Conference Championship back in 2014.
Injury Report: Angoua, Farrell both suspended; Agudelo poised to return vs. former team
New England will be forced to make a pair of changes to their backline on Saturday night as both Benjamin Angoua and Andrew Farrell will be suspended following incidents in last weekend’s win over Columbus. Farrell was issued a straight red card in stoppage time, while Angoua received retroactive punishment.
While rookie Josh Smith has rotated with Angoua alongside Antonio Delamea in central defense for much of the season, Farrell has started every game at right back, meaning someone will have to step up in his absence.
“It’s always difficult because Andrew has played every game there for us this season, so it’s going to be tough to fill his spot,” Heaps said. “But at the same time, I think it’s good, because we have three games in a week, so we’ll be able to rotate a little bit, and we’re being forced to in this first game (against the Red Bulls).”
There is good news on the injury front, as Juan Agudelo – sidelined for the past two games by an upper extremity injury – is on course to return against the club that signed him as a Homegrown Player in 2010.
READ: Agudelo slated to return from injury after two-game absence
New York’s injury report features a pair of defenders, as Gideon Baah is out for the season and Aurelien Collin is doubtful with a groin injury. Another defender, Michael Murrillo, is suspended.
Final Thoughts: Delamea hopes Revs, traveling fans “can celebrate this victory together”
“I didn’t know this until now,” Delamea said when told there would be almost 1,000 traveling Revolution supporters at Red Bull Arena on Saturday. “It will be a huge, huge impact for us. They’re very good here in [The Fort] cheering for us. I’m really looking forward for them to be there, and I hope we can celebrate this victory together. It’s up to us to give our all on the field and to pay back to them.”
