MLS Regular Season | Match #20
New England Revolution at FC Cincinnati
Saturday, July 1 | 7:30 p.m. ET
TQL Stadium | Cincinnati, Ohio
English Talent: Jake Zivin (Play-by-Play), Taylor Twellman (Analyst)
Spanish Talent: Oscar Salazar (Play-by-Play), Carlos Ruiz (Analyst)
Radio: 98.5 The Sports Hub (English); 1260 AM Nossa Radio (Portuguese)
Radio Talent: Brad Feldman (Play-by-Play), Charlie Davies (Analyst)
CURRENT FORM
New England Revolution
2nd in Eastern Conference (10-3-6, 36 pts.)
Last Result | 2-1 win vs. Toronto FC
The New England Revolution head into Saturday’s clash having made history last weekend with a record-breaking win at home to Toronto FC. Goals from Bobby Wood and Giacomo Vrioni clinched a hard-fought 2-1 comeback victory, extending the Revs’ unbeaten record at Gillette Stadium in 2023 to 10 games (7-0-3), securing the club’s best-ever home start to a campaign. The triumph made it six straight unbeaten (with three consecutive wins) and lifted Bruce Arena’s side to second place in the Eastern Conference and Supporters’ Shield standings. The Revolution will look to cut table-topping FC Cincinnati’s lead to four points when the league’s top two lock horns this weekend.
FC Cincinnati
1st in Eastern Conference (13-2-4, 43 pts.)
Last Result | 3-0 loss at D.C. United
Alongside New England, Cincinnati stands as the only other team to remain undefeated at home this term. The Orange and Blue have recorded a perfect 10-0-0 mark at TQL Stadium in 2023 (becoming only the second team in MLS history to do so), but head into this meeting on the back of a 3-0 reverse at the hands of D.C. United last time out – only their second loss of the season. Early goals from Pedro Santos and Derrick Williams handed the Red and Black a two-goal lead after just 17 minutes (marking only the second time Cincy had conceded first this year), and Cristian Dájome struck just minutes before the break to give the visitors a mountain to climb. Matters worsened for the Supporters’ Shield leaders with Ian Murphy sent off for a second yellow late on, and unable to find the net for just the second time in the campaign, Cincy saw their 14-game unbeaten streak in all competitions (10 in league play) snapped.
HEAD-TO-HEAD HISTORY
Unbeaten in the last seven of the eight meetings between the two sides in all competitions, New England has dominated the series, 5-1-2. Cincinnati claimed the first-ever showdown in March 2019 before the Revs triumphed in the next five fixtures, earning a perfect 3-0-0 record in the Queen City in the process. However, the last two encounters have both ended in stalemate at Gillette Stadium, including April’s 1-1 draw, which saw Emmanuel Boateng strike on the brink of halftime to cancel out Yerson Mosquera’s opener.
Overall Record vs. Cincinnati: 5-1-2
Away Record vs. Cincinnati: 3-0-0
Last meeting at Gillette Stadium: Revs 1, Cincinnati 1 (April 29, 2023)
Last meeting at TQL Stadium: Revs 3, Cincinnati 2 (May 21, 2022)
KEY PLAYERS
Revolution midfielder Carles Gil
Big games call for big players and captain Gil has starred for the Revs throughout the 2023 campaign. Set to surpass 10,000 MLS minutes this weekend, he heads into the trip to Ohio in superb form, tallying five goals and five assists in his last eight appearances, including his 100th goal involvement for the club (33 goals, 67 assists in total) last weekend. Joint-top of the league’s assist charts with nine, and having crafted the Revs’ highest number of goalscoring attempts this term (38), his creativity will be key to unlocking a mean Cincy defense, which has only conceded five league goals at TQL Stadium this year (recording 11 clean sheets in all competitions), while his leadership will also be vital as Arena’s side bid to halt the hosts’ imperious home record.
FC Cincinnati midfielder Luciano Acosta
With nine goals and four assists to his name in 18 regular season appearances, Acosta is one of the most in-form players in MLS, topping Cincy’s scoring charts for the campaign. On the scoresheet in four successive league games prior to Saturday’s trip to the capital, he has blazed a hot scoring streak since the beginning of May, bagging eight goals – that run bettered only by Nashville SC’s Hany Mukhtar (10). The attacking midfielder leads his side’s goalscoring attempts (44 – with half of those efforts on target), as well as total attacking assists (41). A goal and assist in the Orange and Blue’s victory over Toronto FC saw Acosta become the eighth active MLS player to hit 50 career goals and 50 assists, and it was no surprise to see his name on the league’s All-Star roster for the second time earlier this week.
STATUS REPORT
New England Revolution
The Revolution will be without DeJuan Jones, who is away representing the United States Men’s National Team squad at the Concacaf Gold Cup. Meanwhile, Christian Makoun missed last weekend’s win over Toronto having suffered an injury while on international duty with Venezuela.
Noel Buck also missed Saturday’s victory with a knock, but Gustavo Bou was in training this week after being replaced at halftime with muscle discomfort. Dylan Borrero (ACL), Nacho Gil (right leg), Henry Kessler (hamstring), Maciel (Achilles), and Tommy McNamara (left leg) remain unavailable.
FC Cincinnati
Cincy were without several regular starters against D.C. Forward Brandon Vazquez and defender Matt Miazga are also currently on duty with the USMNT, while Yerson Mosquera was unavailable, and Yuya Kubo missed the game through illness. Junior Moreno was also sidelined (leg), but Nick Hagglund made his return to the starting lineup following an injury. Following his red card, Ian Murphy will be suspended for this weekend’s encounter, and Brenner (who is set to join Serie A side Udinese early next month) has not featured since May.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
New England Revolution sporting director and head coach Bruce Arena on FC Cincinnati:
“It should be a good game. They’ve been the best team in the Conference to date. They have a good group of players – an exceptional one in [Luciano] Acosta – and overall, they are a good, solid team. They work really hard for each other, they have a great stadium, and a capacity crowd each and every game so it’s going to be a good challenge.”
New England Revolution goalkeeper Djordje Petrović on the team’s form, and the previous meeting with Cincinnati:
“As a team, we have oscillated. We had four losses, but we didn’t play at home [in those losses]. When we returned to our home field, we had three consecutive wins and I think as a team, we will be even better, and that includes our [next] performances.
“The first time we played [FC Cincinnati] this season, we tied it 1-1 and I thought we had some chances. I can say that the game against Cincinnati will be demanding, but they’re missing two players including [Matt] Miazga. This game will be very demanding in how to approach this game so we can get all three points.”
New England Revolution midfielder Latif Blessing on the keys to achieving a positive result:
“I think we are doing good. We are going to play against a good team. You can see all of the guys’ mentality is good. We’ve got to put our mindset, and we’ve got to play a good game. If we don't play a good game, we're going to lose because they have good players. [Luciano] Acosta is a very good player, so I think we’ve got to do a better job – keep marking, keep doing the right thing – and I think we can get points on Saturday.”
