MLS Regular Season | Match #18
New England Revolution vs. FC Cincinnati
Sunday, July 3 | 7:30 p.m. ET
Gillette Stadium | Foxborough, Mass.
Watch: WSBK-TV38, myRITV (Rhode Island)
- Talent: Brad Feldman (play-by-play), Charlie Davies (analyst), Tamara Brown (sideline)
Listen: 98.5 The Sports Hub (English), 1260 AM Nossa Radio (Portuguese)
CURRENT FORM
New England Revolution
7th in Eastern Conference (6-5-6, 24 pts.)
Last Result | 0-0 draw at Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Djordje Petrović put together an MLS Team of the Week performance last Sunday night, making six saves to register his first MLS shutout in the Revs’ 0-0 draw with Vancouver Whitecaps FC. It was the Revolution’s first clean sheet since a 2-0 win over Inter Miami CF in late April, coincidentally the result that kickstarted New England’s current nine-game unbeaten run (4-0-5).
Now the Revs return home to Gillette Stadium, where they’re 2-0-3 during that unbeaten streak and 4-2-3 on the year, having claimed a comeback win over Minnesota United FC in their last home game. They’ll host an FC Cincinnati side they’ve already beaten twice this year, including once in the U.S. Open Cup (5-1 on May 11) and once in the regular season (3-2 on May 21).
FC Cincinnati
6th in Eastern Conference (7-7-3, 24 pts.)
Last Result | 4-4 draw vs. New York City FC
Cincinnati recently wrapped up an unbeaten month of June, going 1-0-2 against three of the top five teams in the Eastern Conference standings. They opened the month with a 1-1 road draw against the Philadelphia Union, then came home for a 1-0 win over Orlando City SC and a wild 4-4 draw with New York City FC this past Wednesday night. FCC took a 3-0 lead in that midweek meeting with the defending MLS Cup champs, but ultimately trailed 4-3 before finding a late equalizer and claiming a point.
The Orange and Blue are the rare case of a team that’s been better on the road than at home, going 3-4-1 at TQL Stadium but 4-3-2 on their travels, making them one of just nine teams in the entire league with a winning record away from home.
KEY PLAYERS
Revolution goalkeeper Djordje Petrović
With 27 goals scored through 17 games, FC Cincinnati are tied with the Revs and FC Dallas for the sixth-best attack in Major League Soccer at the season’s midway point. They’ve now scored in a club record 10 straight league games, totaling 19 goals during that stretch, and put up four on NYCFC this past Wednesday night.
Coming off his MLS Team of the Week performance in Vancouver last weekend, Petrović could be called upon to make a key save or two on Sunday night as the Revs aim to tighten things up defensively at Gillette Stadium, where they’ve kept just two clean sheets in nine league games.
Cincinnati forward Brenner
One player who didn’t feature in either of the first two meetings between these sides this year but could play a key role on Sunday is Brenner, who has exploded by scoring four of Cincinnati’s five goals in their last two games. Highlighting that scoring burst was the first hat trick in FCC history on Wednesday night, while the 22-year-old Brazilian had two other goals ruled out by Video Review.
Brenner started 33 of Cincinnati’s 34 games last year and never quite hit the heights with eight goals and two assists, but recent form would indicate he’s settling into life at TQL Stadium.
STATUS REPORT
Revolution
The hosts will be without a pair of central midfielders on Sunday night as both Tommy McNamara (yellow card accumulation) and Matt Polster (head) are listed as unavailable on the Revolution’s availability report. McNamara was one of two players – along with Carles Gil – to play in each of the first 17 games of the season.
Meanwhile, the trio of Brandon Bye, Henry Kessler, and Sebastian Lletget – all listed as questionable with leg injuries – could be in line for a return against FC Cincinnati. Kessler is aiming to get back on the field for the first time since May 15, having missed the last six games.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
New England Revolution sporting director and head coach Bruce Arena
“I think as we get through the month of July, as we enter August and September and October as we close out the regular season, we'll have hopefully a healthy team and a team that's pretty competitive. We will have brought in a number of new players, and that takes a little bit of time. So, you see our goalkeeper is getting caught up to speed, as is [Dylan] Borrero as well. And we'll likely have an addition next week. So, it takes a little bit of time but I think we're heading in the right direction. We're in much better shape now than we were in the beginning of the season, so hopefully that means we're going to have a promising second half of the season.”
New England Revolution midfielder Arnór Traustason
“Obviously, we didn’t have the start we wanted but we kind of built and just take one game at a time. We’ve been building, like you said, for nine games now and we just want to keep on building. We’re halfway through, we wanted to be higher, but we’ve set our goals for the second half of the season and we want to achieve that.”
