Can the four-headed attack of the New England Revolution keep D.C. United spinning?

Diversity is always good. Having an array of different options to throw at an opponent makes a decent team dangerous and an also ran into a title contender. That is the reason why the New England Revolution (6-4-6, 24 points) are one of the top teams in Major League Soccer. With their four-headed monster of Charlie Davies, Lee Nguyen, Juan Agudelo, and Teal Bunbury the Revs have punished the league with their scoring prowess. Can they do it again on Sunday evening when they travel RFK Stadium to take on D.C. United (8-5-4, 28 points; 5pm EST ESPN2, ESPN Deportes)?

Although D.C. United have proven themselves to be quite a difficult team to break down on defense against New England in recent years they have sputtered. Whereas most teams like to take on United at the center of the pitch, the Revolution have found success against D.C. by taking on their outside backs. New England has kept United from a victory in four consecutive matches by using their speed on the wings against left-back Taylor Kemp/Chris Korb and right-back Sean Franklin.

Few teams can match D.C.’s speed on the outside but the Revs can . New England coach Jay Heaps likes to run a 4-2-3-1 with Davies (6 goals,) Bunbury(4 goals,) and Agudelo (3 goals) switching between the left and right attacking midfield positions and at the center-forward position. Each player possesses lightning quick pace and are some of the fastest players on the pitch. But beyond just their physical skills it is their runs that make them deadly. Heaps’ system calls for the wing players to make diagonal runs directly pointed to the center of the pitch. With the speed and the expert passing of Nguyen, the Revolution are second in the league 22 goals. They also have 10 road goals which is tied for second with four other teams for the best in Major League Soccer.

For D.C. United to turn things around against the Revolution (United has just one win in five opportunities) they will need to close up those holes. That responsibility will fall on defensive midfielders Perry Kitchen and Markus Halsti. The back two in the midfield have formed a solid partnership with Kitchen serving as playmaker and Halsti acting as a stopper. If both players can stay back an additional 5-10 yards they should be able to narrow the Revs window on the counter-attack.

When United faces teams with as many attacking options as the Revolution have, the club likes to drop back a little bit and go for the counter-attack. It might not be the sexiest brand of soccer it is effective. For the past two years, the team has proven that it is at its best when Kitchen can jump start the attack off of a simple steal and a chip to either flank.

This is precisely how the club came back to beat the Chicago Fire three weeks ago, with Kitchen and Halsti finding forward Fabian Espindola on the break. Without center-back/midfielder Jermaine Jones, New England will look to Kellyn Rowe to help contain the streaking Espindola.

On defense, New England will need to avoid making careless mistakes and drawing unnecessary cards. The Revolultion currently lead the league with 9 yellow cards and 219 fouls. D.C. has 8 goals off of set pieces this season and has proven that they have multiple players (Espindola, Chris Rolfe, Luis Silva) who are comfortable with drilling a chance into the back of the net. Revolution goalkeeper Bobby Shuttlesworth has at times carried this defense to a result and is often forced to fend for himself. But against a United squad that can score from any direction in the box he might not be enough.