MLS Regular Season | Match #26
New England Revolution at CF Montréal
Saturday, August 20 | 7:30 p.m. ET
Stade Saputo | Montréal, Québec, Canada
Watch: TV38, myRITV (Rhode Island)
- Talent: Brad Feldman (play-by-play), Charlie Davies (analyst)
Listen: 98.5 The Sports Hub (English), 1260 AM Nossa Radio (Portuguese)
CURRENT FORM
New England Revolution
6th in Eastern Conference (8-7-10, 34 pts.)
Last Result | 2-2 draw at Toronto FC
Tommy McNamara (one goal, three assists in the last three games) stayed red hot with a close-range finish and Justin Rennicks added his second MLS goal as the injury-hit Revs claimed a 2-2 draw with Toronto FC on Wednesday night at BMO Field. The result stretched the Revs’ unbeaten run to five games (2-0-3) and moved them back above the playoff line in the East, as they’re now 6-2-9 in their last 17 league contests.
New England’s 402-minute shutout streak – the second-longest in club history – did come to an end in Toronto, but goalkeeper Djordje Petrović put together another strong performance as the Revs have now gone 548 minutes (more than six games) without conceding a goal from the run of play.
CF Montréal
2nd in Eastern Conference (13-8-4, 43 pts.)
Last Result | 3-2 win at Houston Dynamo
Montréal have been one of Major League Soccer’s hottest sides over the course of the past month, going 4-0-2 since mid-July to recover from a slow start to the season and climb into second place in the Eastern Conference standings. They’ve been bolstered by an electric attack that has scored 43 goals – fifth-most in MLS – including 14 games in which they’ve scored multiple goals.
In an odd twist, Montréal have actually been slightly better on the road than at home, going 7-4-2 on their travels and 6-4-2 at Stade Saputo. They’ve been somewhat vulnerable at home, drawing their last two matches in Québec, where the Revs have won on their last two visits in 2020 and 2021.
KEY PLAYERS
Revolution forward Justin Rennicks
The vast majority of New England’s current injuries are along the forward line, with Dylan Borrero, Gustavo Bou, Giacomo Vrioni, and Ismael Tajouri-Shradi all missing time in recent weeks. That has meant increased minutes for Homegrown forward Justin Rennicks, who has started the past four games and helped the Revs to a 2-0-2 record during that stretch.
Rennicks garnered praise for a smart run and clever finish in the midweek draw with TFC, but the 23-year-old striker has been relied upon for more than goals. Leading the line as a lone forward, Rennicks has been tasked with providing an outlet, linking play, and stretching opponents’ defenses with his burst of acceleration.
Montréal midfielder Djordje Mihailovic
Few players had a better start to the 2022 campaign than Djordje Mihailovic, who had seven goals and four assists in his first 13 league appearances to push himself into the early-season MVP conversation and earn a call-up to the U.S. Men’s National Team. Injury sidelined the 23-year-old midfielder in late May, however, and Mihailovic has cooled off since returning in mid-July with zero goals or assists in six appearances.
The former Chicago Fire FC Homegrown Player still remains a threat, as evidenced by his 16-assist haul last season, second only to league leader and reigning MVP Carles Gil. Mihailovic is certain to return to form at some point as Montréal aim to lock in playoff positioning, and it’ll be up to the Revs to slow him down on Saturday night.
STATUS REPORT
Revolution
Injuries continue to pile up for the Revs, who saw Wilfrid Kaptoum forced off in the 24th minute of Wednesday night’s draw with a leg injury. The midfielder is listed as questionable for Saturday night’s visit to Montreal along with Dylan Borrero (leg), Gustavo Bou (leg), Maciel (leg), and Giacomo Vrioni (leg), all of whom were unavailable midweek at BMO Field.
Henry Kessler (health and safety protocols), Ismael Tajouri-Shradi (leg), and Jacob Jackson (ACL) are all listed as out and will miss the visit to Stade Saputo.
The Revs have largely managed those absences in recent weeks, putting together a five-game unbeaten run while conceding just two goals during that stretch.
“We’ve had injuries, a bunch of injuries have been in the attacking players, so I think we’ve had a really good, solid defense,” said assistant coach Richie Williams. “We’ve picked up goals from some players that usually don’t score, which has been very helpful, and again, I just think it comes down to really good competitive mentality, good team effort from everyone and we move along here now to the next match against Montréal.”
Montréal
The hosts list three players as out for the weekend: midfielders Tomas Giraldo and Ahmed Hamdi, and defender Rudy Camacho.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
New England Revolution assistant coach Richie Williams
“Montréal’s had a really good season. They’re high up in the standings. They’ve gotten some good results. They’ve got good players and so it’s going to be a challenging game. We feel like they are a good possession-based team, they pass the ball very well. They have a lot of good attacking players that can score at any time, so we have to continue to play very well on the defensive side of the ball.”
New England Revolution midfielder Tommy McNamara
“I think the group has responded very well. Everybody that has stepped onto the field has been very committed to the team, has given everything, has fought in every moment of the game and I think we've seen that over the past five games with the results that we've had. It's been a total collective effort from everybody, from all 11 guys plus the substitutes that have come into the game, they've made differences for us. So, that's really what it's been all about: the mentality and the approach of we're all going to be committed to doing everything we can to fight for each other for 90 minutes.”
