New York City FC will host the New England Revolution on Saturday at Yankee Stadium in a matchup featuring two of the bottom three sides in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS).
The Pigeons played to a 1-1 draw with Atlanta United last weekend, giving them five points for the season, one more than the Revolution, who remain bottom of the Eastern Conference despite winning their first domestic fixture of the year, 1-0 over Charlotte FC.
Match preview
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To this stage of the 2024 campaign, things in New York City have looked eerily similar to what we saw from this team a year ago.
Consistently failing to maintain their advantages was part of the reason they missed the playoffs for the second time in club history last year, and that has plagued Nick Cushing's men in the early portion of this season, dropping five points when leading in the second half.
Four matches remain on their current homestand as the Boys in Blue return to the Bronx this weekend, the site of their only victory in the league this season (2-1 over Toronto).
While they have only suffered two regular-season defeats in the Bronx since May 2022, only two of their previous eight matches in this competition at Yankee Stadium have ended in a victory for the home side.
It has been over a year since they last won consecutive MLS matches at Yankee Stadium, defeating Inter Miami (1-0) and DC United (3-2) in March 2023.
NYCFC are undefeated in three successive home matches against the Revs in this competition, posting a clean sheet on two of those occasions.
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At long last, Caleb Porter collected his first victory as the Revs manager last Saturday, while New England also ended a 14-match MLS run in which they had conceded at least one goal in regular-season play.
Their victory on matchday six marks the longest winless stretch for New England to start an MLS campaign since 2001, when they did not earn a domestic triumph until their sixth game of the regular season.
While Porter did not enjoy much success in his final two seasons as manager of the Columbus Crew, missing the post-season in 2021 and 2022, the Revs boss now has 114 wins as a head coach in this competition, the 12th most of all time.
Throughout most of the 2024 domestic campaign, the Revolution have been playing from behind, with their victory over Charlotte being the only time they had been in front in an MLS contest this season.
Dating back to the 2023 league season, the Revolution are winless in 14 successive domestic encounters outside Gillette Stadium, losing both of their away contests in MLS this year by a combined score of 7-2.
New England have not beaten NYCFC at Yankee Stadium since 2021 (2-1), though they have claimed at least a point in three successive encounters against them in this competition.
Team News
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In their draw with Atlanta, the Boys and Blue were once again without Maxi Moralez due to a right knee issue, while Talles Magno is back training but did not play last weekend because of a knee injury and Jovan Mijatovic was not on the team sheet.
Birk Risa returned from a leg injury, playing the full 90 minutes in their previous encounter as he and Kevin O'Toole were inserted in a back four with Strahinja Tanasijevic and Mitja Ilenic was relegated to the bench to start that match.
Santiago Rodriguez had the only goal for New York City FC last weekend, converting his penalty kick just before half time, his team-leading third of the campaign.
Peyton Miller missed the Revs' previous MLS fixture due to a sore foot, while Brandon Bye and Dylan Borrero are still recovering from ACL injuries sustained last season.
Giacomo Vrioni, who had a brace in their 5-2 loss versus Club America on Tuesday in the CONCACAF Champions Cup (CCC), made his 20th MLS start last Saturday, while Nick Lima collected his 200th MLS regular-season cap.
Carles Gil scored the only goal for New England in their victory over Charlotte, while Henrich Ravas made three stops for his fourth clean sheet in nine starts across all competitions.
New York City FC possible starting lineup:
Freese; Gray, Martins, Risa, O'Toole; Sands, Parks; Wolf, Rodriguez, Fernandez; Bakrar
New England Revolution possible starting lineup:
Ravas; Lima, Mensah, Kessler, Jones; Polster, Kaye; N. Gil, C. Gil, Chancalay; Vrioni
We say: New York City FC 2-0 New England Revolution
While both sides have had their share of flaws this season, NYCFC have looked much more cohesive than the Revs, particularly on the defensive side, and we believe the Pigeons will be able to bury their opportunities on Saturday and collect a much-needed victory.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joel Lefevre
